Manul is the smallest wild cat in Russia. The second name of this animal, the Pallas cat, in honor of the scientist-biologist Peter Pallas, who first discovered it, and described in his notes. The Pallas cat is endangered, so it is listed in the Russian Red data book under category 3 with the status of rare species in the area of their
habitat.
The appearance of Pallas ' cat
The size of the manul is similar to an ordinary domestic cat: its body length is approximately two feet, a tail length of 25-35 cm and a weight of maximum 5 kg. Feature of Pallas is its very thick and fluffy fur, with massive body and short strong paws. His head is slightly flattened, the ears are small and wide apart, and an expression as if dissatisfied and aggressive. This unusual structure of the head has allowed scientists to say that a distant relative of the Pallas ' cat is a Persian cat.
Habitat
Manul lives in Central Asia, is found in Eastern Europe. In Russia, home to only one subspecies of Pallas ' cat – manul common, populations of which are in the Krasnoyarsk Krai, Republic of Altai, Transbaikalia, and Tuva. The other subspecies – the Caspian, the manul lives in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan. The area of distribution of the third subspecies – Tibetan manul – are the steppe and mountainous terrain of Nepal and Tibet. Traditionally, the Pallas ' cat inhabits the steppes and semi-desert with stunted grass and shrubs on the border with rocky slopes and low cliffs.
The character and behavior
Manul is an extremely cautious animal, which in case of danger rarely escapes. He usually hides in the grass and sits, not moving or giving voice for quite a long time. The Pallas cat preys on mice, small squirrels, small rabbits and birds. In times of famine and insects. The most active is early in the morning, evening or night and during the day are usually resting in the shelter. Lives in burrows left by foxes, marmots or badgers, hiding in crevices of rocks or under stones. Leads most often solitary and sedentary life. Natural enemies and competitors of the manul are wolves, foxes and various predatory birds, such as eagles or falcons.
Due to the fact that the Pallas cat is a very cautious animal and is rarely shown to the person the exact number of the wild cat is still not defined. According to scientists, the approximate number of Pallas ' cats in Russia, about 3000 individuals and continues to decline. Despite the fact that Pallas ' cat mainly inhabits the places few are involved in economic development and where human impact is minimal, the danger to him are traps and traps, or wild dogs, and poachers. Cold snowy winters and the reduction in the number of rodents also have an adverse impact on the number of manul.
Reproduction
Once a year, at Pallas ' cat may appear young. Kids are usually born in late spring. The litter is about five kittens, who are absolutely helpless and can't see anything. They begin to see clearly after about 2 weeks, in 3 months start your own to go hunting, and 9-11 months can breed. Life expectancy manul a little more than 10 years.
In captivity Pallas ' cat breeds are much worse than in the wild. This is largely due to strong stress that affects these animals when kept in zoos. Also in captivity the young of Pallas ' cats a very high mortality rate due to infections picked up by various, often toxoplasmosis. Despite this, Pallas kept in zoos and are currently in various zoos around 50 of Pallas ' cats.
Security
Manul is listed in the International Red book, in the International Convention CITES and the Red data book of the Russian Federation. Manul is protected in all countries in which it lives, and hunting it is strictly prohibited and is considered poaching. Because of the relatively weak knowledge of this animal, measures for its protection are under development. It is planned to create special reserves and protected areas where Pallas ' cats can live in a natural environment, scientists will study them without causing inconvenience this unusual wild cats.
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