Biet's cat: characteristics and behavior

2023 Author: Alex Livingston | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 11:39

Hands up those of you who know the Chinese mountain cat - the Biet's cat - or in the exact term Felis Bieti! Or rather, how many of you have seen it? In this article we address features and behavior typical of this very rare feline.

The Chinese mountain cat is one of the few wild cats that are hardly seen in nature. It is also known as the Mongolian cat, Monsignor Biet's cat, the Gobi cat. It lives in the eastern part of the Tibetan plateau, in grasslands and scrublands between 2500 and 5000 m of altitude.

As regards the characteristics the cat of Biet it is a feline with a strong and robust constitution, with short legs and a thick tail. It is a cat with a thick fur that goes from brown to light gray with shaded spots of a darker color. Instead the front legs, the face and the tail have clear streaks.

The ears have a plume of dark hair. It measures an average of 115.7 cm in total length, so it is larger than a house cat. Its average weight is 5.5 kg.

Biet's cat is a feline that usually goes out at night and that hunting small animals, such as mole rats, pikas, voles, marmots, hamsters and gerbils, and birds such as partridges, pheasants and larks.

This feline, considered a rare species, is protected by law throughout the area. Unfortunately, there are two causes for this wild cat. First of all, the poisoning campaigns against rodents and especially pika, which drastically reduce the number of its prey.

Then there is the illegal trafficking of fur coats, which although prohibited, continues to be a very worrying reality. poachers in fact use the furs of Biet's cat to make warm hats and small furs for the living room.

The few testimonies that we have have been found thanks to photographic traps in Sichuan. Let's hope that with the passage of time Biet's cats will be more and more respected and protected.