Marbled Cat

Resembling a miniature Clouded Leopard, the Marbled Cat is a beautiful feline of South and Southeast Asia. It is another cat adept at an arboreal lifestyle. Weighing around ten pounds it is up to three and a half feet long, it's tail nearly comprising half of that. Pardofelis Marmorata, Marbled Cat is believed to be closely related to the Asian Golden Cat.

Elongated canines and fur pattern highlight the resemblance of the Marbled Cat with the Clouded Leopard. Tail is more bushy though and face resembles smaller felines. Fur is brownish yellow and covered with big blotches on body, spots on limbs and stripes on face and neck. The long tail, believed to assist in tree climbing, is spotted and tipped with black. Ears are small and rounded, forehead is wide and pupils appear to be large. It is believed that the cats hunt both on ground and trees, taking birds, insects, frogs, lizards and rodents as prey animals.

Few sightings of the Marbled Cat have occurred in the dense forests of its terrain. It is known to extend from Nepal and Assam in India down to Malaysia and Borneo in Southeast Asia. Two subspecies are recorded:

Pardofelis Marmorata Marmorata - Nepal

Pardofelis Marmorata Charltoni - Southeast Asia

A solitary and nocturnal feline, the Marbled Cat is known to have a gestational period of around eighty days following which two kittens on average are born. The fur pattern is less well defined in early age. Maturity is reached at around twenty one months. Though not many specimens exist in captivity, lifespan has been recorded to be up to twelve years.

Natural habitat of the Marbled Cat is rapidly shrinking owing to human encroachment. Less than ten thousand adults are believed to exist in the wild. Accompanied by hunting pressures to a degree this has led to this beautiful cat being currently classified as vulnerable.