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Felis silvestris ssp. bieti

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
ANIMALIA CHORDATA MAMMALIA CARNIVORA FELIDAE

Scientific Name: Felis silvestris ssp. bieti
Species Authority: Milne-Edwards, 1892
Common Name/s:
English – Chinese Alpine Steppe Cat, Chinese Desert Cat, Chinese Mountain Cat, Chinese Steppe Cat, Grass Cat
French – Chat De Biet
Spanish – Gato De Biet, Gato Del Desierto De China
Synonym/s:
Felis bieti Milne-Edwards, 1892
Taxonomic Notes: Long considered a separate species having a close relationship to the Wildcat, Felis silvestris, based on morphology (Garcia-Perea 2000, Wozencraft 2005). Based on genetic analysis, Driscoll et al. (2007) classified it as a Wildcat subspecies, F. silvestris bieti. Estimated time of divergence was recent (230,000 years BP), and further study is warranted before this classification can be definitely accepted.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria: Vulnerable C2a(ii) ver 3.1
Year Published: 2010
Assessor/s: Sanderson, J., Mallon, D.P. & Driscoll, C.
Reviewer/s: Hoffmann, M., Nowell, K., Breitenmoser, U. & Breitenmoser-Wursten, C.
Contributor/s:
Justification:
The Chinese Mountain Cat has a restricted distribution in China, occurring on the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau at elevations from 2,500-5,000 m (He et al. 2004). There is little information about its ecology and status (Yin et al. 2007, Wozencraft et al. 2008), but it is generally considered rare (Nowell and Jackson 1996). It is threatened primarily by large-scale poisoning campaigns targeting pikas, presumably their main prey (Nowell and Jackson 1996, He et al. 2004, Chen et al. 2005, Yin et al. 2008). Skins have also been seen in trade (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Chen et al. 2005). Its effective population size may be fewer than 10,000 mature breeding individuals, with a declining trend due to loss of prey base and persecution, and it may largely exist as a single interconnected subpopulation. Further information on distribution and status may warrant reclassification to a higher category of threat (IUCN Cats Red List workshop 2007).
History:
2008 – Vulnerable (IUCN 2008)
2008 – Vulnerable
2002 – Vulnerable
1996 – Data Deficient
1994 – Insufficiently Known (Groombridge 1994)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Map: Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population Trend: Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Systems: Terrestrial

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions: Listed on CITES Appendix ii (as Felis bieti).

Bibliography [top]

Chen, N.M., Li, L., Shan, S., Yin, Y.F., and Sanderson, J. 2005. Status of the Chinese mountain cat in Sichuan province (China). Cat News 43: 25-27.

Driscoll, C. A., Menotti-Raymond, M., Roca, A. L. Hupe, K., Johnson, W. E., Geffen, E., Harley, E. H., Delibes, M., Pontier, D., Kitchener, A. C., Yamaguchi, N., O’Brien, S. J. and Macdonald, D. W. 2007. The Near Eastern origin of cat domestication. Science 317: 519-523.

Garcia-Perea, R. 2000. Morphological characteristics and affinities of the Chinese Mountain Cat, Felis bieti. Preliminary report. Cat Action Treasury.

He, L., García-Perea, R., Li, M. and Wei, F. 2004. Distribution and conservation status of the endemic Chinese mountain cat Felis bieti. Oryx 38(1): 55-61.

IUCN. 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 5 October 2008).

IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.2). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 29 June 2010).

Nowell, K. and Jackson, P. 1996. Wild Cats. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Wozencraft, W. C. 2005. Order Carnivora. In: D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder (eds), Mammal Species of the World: A taxonomic and geographic reference. Third Edition, pp. 532-628. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA.

Wozencraft, W.C. 2008. Order Carnivora. In: Smith, A.T. and Xie, Y. (eds), A Guide to the Mammals of China, pp. 576. Princeton University Press.

Yin, Y. f., Drubygal, Achu, Lu, Z. and Sanderson, J. 2007. First photographs in nature of the Chinese mountain cat. Cat News 47: 6-7.
Citation: Sanderson, J., Mallon, D.P. & Driscoll, C. 2010. Felis silvestris ssp. bieti. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 23 May 2013.
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