What is your favourite small cat species ?

My personal favorite is the Bornean bay cat.

Interesting, no one has mentioned this species so far.

To be honest, I don't know very much about this animal other than it being a similar colour to the flat-headed cat , similarly cryptic, an endangered species and also from South-East Asia.

What is it about this particular felid that makes it your favourite ?

Have you ever seen one of these animals in captivity or the wild ?
 
Probably my favourite small cats I've seen are the Marbled Cat and Flat-headed Cat. Favourite small cats I want to see are the Bay Cat and Andean Mountain Cat. And African Golden Cat.
 
To be honest, I don't know very much about this animal other than it being a similar colour to the flat-headed cat , similarly cryptic, an endangered species and also from South-East Asia.

They are, more or less, an island dwarf form of Asian Golden Cat :) a tiny handful of Zoochatters have seen the species, but none of the active ones!
 
Of those I have seen in the wild:-
5. Geoffroy’s Cat - just a brief glimpse from a vehicle
4. African Wild Cat - brief but decent view in Southern Africa
3. Leopard Cat - frequently seen on night drives in Borneo
2. Jungle Cat - impressive reed bed haunted in Israel
1. Iberian Lynx - as good as reported, saw 6 or 7 really well in a long weekend.
 
Sand cat. They're just too cute to resist. Closely follow my Black footed cat, which are also cutie.

Both of these species interest me.

I find the sand cat both beautiful and fascinating in its resilience / adaption to the extremes of the environment it occupies. I saw these at Parc des felins and the London Zoo many years ago.

The black footed cat intrigues me because of its conservation status, how notoriously aggressive it is and because I haven't yet seen one in the flesh (fingers crossed I'll see one in the future).

Probably my favourite small cats I've seen are the Marbled Cat and Flat-headed Cat. Favourite small cats I want to see are the Bay Cat and Andean Mountain Cat. And African Golden Cat.

You have seen both of these ?! They were in the wild or captivity ?

I have to admit I'm a bit jealous of your luck in seeing these :p, it must have been an absolutely incredible experience!

They are, more or less, an island dwarf form of Asian Golden Cat :) a tiny handful of Zoochatters have seen the species, but none of the active ones!

I never knew this, so I've learned a bit more about this species :) .
 
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Of those I have seen in the wild:-
5. Geoffroy’s Cat - just a brief glimpse from a vehicle
4. African Wild Cat - brief but decent view in Southern Africa
3. Leopard Cat - frequently seen on night drives in Borneo
2. Jungle Cat - impressive reed bed haunted in Israel
1. Iberian Lynx - as good as reported, saw 6 or 7 really well in a long weekend.

That is quite an impressive list there.

I'm particularly impressed with the 6 / 7 Iberian lynx, that must have been the weekend of a lifetime !

Of those five species, which encounter stands out to you as the most memorable / personally significant ?
 
Not a small cat, but hoping that Jaguars in the Pantanal will top it in the near (ish) future!

You stand a good chance of seeing some I think. It is without question the best place in the world to see jaguars in the wild.

It is pretty good for seeing a lot of other species too including some of the small cats (I know someone who has seen pampas cat there) so you may well be adding more to that list.
 
Probably my favourite small cats I've seen are the Marbled Cat and Flat-headed Cat.
You have seen both of these ?! They were in the wild or captivity ?
I have to admit I'm a bit jealous of your luck in seeing these :p, it must have been an absolutely incredible experience!
I've seen both in captivity, but only the Flat-headed Cat in the wild.

Marbled Cat at Taiping last year:
full


Flat-headed Cat at Melaka in 2011:
full


I'm not sure if @TeaLovingDave has seen these cats or not?
 
I've seen both in captivity, but only the Flat-headed Cat in the wild.

Marbled Cat at Taiping last year:
full


Flat-headed Cat at Melaka in 2011:
full


I'm not sure if @TeaLovingDave has seen these cats or not?

Beautiful shots and cats!

The marbled cat in the picture looks to be fairly young, was it bred in captivity or rescued as a cub?

How difficult was it to see the flatheaded cat in the wild ?
 
Interesting, no one has mentioned this species so far.

To be honest, I don't know very much about this animal other than it being a similar colour to the flat-headed cat , similarly cryptic, an endangered species and also from South-East Asia.

What is it about this particular felid that makes it your favourite ?

Have you ever seen one of these animals in captivity or the wild ?

Bornean bay cats are interesting because of their rarity, and I love their colorations. Unfortunately I have not had the chance to see any, nor in the wild or captivity.
 
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