Wildlifeof Nepal
Pallas's Cat
Cats
Photo: Barry Stewart · CC-BY
Otocolobus manul
Basic stats
Diet
Mainly lagomorphs and rodents
Habitat
Rocky montane grassland and shrubland with little snow cover
Range
Central Asia, Mongolia and China; in Nepal in the Annapurna and Sagarmatha areas
Size
Head and body 46–65cm; tail 21–31cm
Weight
2.5–4.5kg
Pallas's cat, also called the manul, is a small wild cat with long, dense light-grey fur and rounded ears set low on the sides of the head. The fur is greyer and denser in winter, with fewer markings showing than in summer. The forehead carries small black spots, two black zigzag lines run along each cheek, and the chin and lips are white (Wikipedia, general species account).
It shelters in rock crevices, caves and marmot burrows and hunts mainly lagomorphs and rodents. In December 2012 it was photographed for the first time in the Nepal Himalayas, in alpine pastures at 4,200 and 4,650m in the Annapurna Conservation Area. In 2019, scat from two individuals in Sagarmatha National Park gave the first genetic evidence of the cat in the eastern Himalayas.
Quick answers
- What does the Pallas's Cat eat?
- Mainly lagomorphs and rodents
- What habitat does the Pallas's Cat live in?
- Rocky montane grassland and shrubland with little snow cover
- Where is the Pallas's Cat found?
- Central Asia, Mongolia and China; in Nepal in the Annapurna and Sagarmatha areas
- How big is the Pallas's Cat?
- Head and body 46–65cm; tail 21–31cm
- How much does the Pallas's Cat weigh?
- 2.5–4.5kg