Geographic Range
South and Central Asia.

Description and Behavior
The wildcats of central Asia differ from the European wildcats by having a more greyish-yellow or reddish background color, marked distinctly with small black or red-brown spots. Sometimes these spots are fused into stripes, especially in the central Asian regions east of the Tian Shan Mountains. The Asiatic wildcats tend to be smaller in size, weighing between 6.6-8.8 lbs (3-4 kg), with females smaller than males. Some authorities consider the Asiatic wildcats and African wildcats to be the same species and the European wildcat as a separate species.

Like the other wildcats, rodents are the preferred prey: jerboas, gerbils, voles, and mice. The diet also includes hares, young ungulates, birds, insects, lizards, and snakes. One mother was observed teaching her young to kill by bringing them injured gerbils; she also brought them beetles and eggs of ground birds. Asiatic wildcats rest and den in burrows, and they are frequently observed in the daytime.

Biology
Reproductive season: Mating season March-April and November-December (Rajasthan, India); January-February (central Asia); year-round (Sind, Pakistan).
Gestation: 58-62 days.
Litter size: 2.75; up to 5-6.
Age at sexual maturity: 10 months, but up to 21-22 months for males.

Habitat and Distribution
Asiatic wildcats are most typically associated with scrub desert. They do not occur in the steppe grasslands of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, nor in alpine steppe. They range up to 6,600-9,800 feet (2,000-3,000 m) in mountain areas with sufficient dense vegetation. Wildcats can be found near cultivated areas and human settlement. They usually occur in close proximity to water sources, but are also able to live year-round in waterless desert. Snow depth limits the northern boundaries of their range in winter. The Caucasus is the transitional zone between the European wildcat (silvestris group) to the north and west, and the Asiatic wildcat to the south and east. In this region, European wildcats are found in montane forest, and Asiatic wildcats are found in the low-lying desert and semi-desert areas adjoining the Caspian Sea.

Population Status
Global: Category 5c. Regional (Asia): Category 2. IUCN: not listed. In the central part of its range, the wildcat is common and populations stable in the lowlands of Kazakhstan. In Azerbaijan, the ornata-silvestris transition zone, a pronounced loss of range has been documented. In India, the eastern limit of its range, the Wildlife Institute of India considers that 90% of the species' habitat in India has been lost. On the other hand, introduced mesquite Prosopis juliflora, which provides favorable habitat for the wildcat, was reportedly spreading extensively in various regions of the Indian desert.

Protection Status
CITES Appendix II. National legislation: fully protected in the east of its range; elsewhere hunted commercially or not protected. Hunting and trade prohibited: India, Pakistan. Hunting and trade regulated: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. No legal protection: Georgia, Iran, Mongolia. No information: Armenia, Azerbaijan.

Principal Threats
In the past, Asiatic wildcats have been trapped in large numbers in several areas: e.g., 12,800 in Kazahkstan; 1,350 in the Kyzylkum desert; 1,500 annually in the 1980s in Xinjiang. In 1979, traders in India declared stocks of 41,845 pelts for an export amnesty. Widespread hunting of the wildcat has been reported for the fur trade in Afghanistan, and large numbers of pelts were seen for sale in Kabul bazaars.The cat's rarity in Pakistan can be equated with demand from the fur trade according to one expert. At present there is little international trade in Asiatic wildcats.

Hybridization with domestic cats has been reported in Pakistan and central Asia.The situation in other parts of its range, including India, is probably similar. It has been reported that the most common race of the domestic cat occurring in rural areas in India is colored dark grey, with black stripes and spots, similar in appearance to wildcats but less pale. There are published reports of predation on domestic poultry, but two authorities claim that feral domestic cats and hybrids attack poultry more often than wildcats.
 

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