Facts about one of the smallest wild felines in the world – the Pallas cat – including where it is from and how it survives in cold environments

By BBC Wildlife Magazine

Published: Friday, 09 February 2024 at 16:38 PM


Learn about the Pallas cat (Otocolobus manul), a resident of the Central Asian steppe that’s known as the grumpiest cat in the world owing to its rather pinched appearance. It features in BBC One’s Frozen Planet II.

Its correct common name – Pallas’s cat – honours Peter Simon Pallas, the Prussian naturalist-explorer who first described the species for science in 1776. However, the term Pallas cat, is more frequently used when searching for information on the feline online. Therefore, this article refers to the species in this way throughout.

The Pallas cat is also known as the manul, steppe cat or rock wildcat.

Where is a Pallas cat from?

The Pallas cat has a wide but fragmented distribution across the grasslands and montane steppes of Central Asia, including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India. Mongolia and Russia make up the majority of its range today, with Pallas cats living at altitudes up to nearly 5,600m.

Where do Pallas cats live?

Pallas cats live in abandoned marmot burrows and rock cavities on steppes and grasslands. Their silvery or orangey-buff coloration provides the perfect camouflage in the terrain of this inhospitable, sparsely populated grassland region.

Where can you see captive Pallas cats in the UK?

Tull and Penelope, Cotswold’s Wildlife Park’s pair of Pallas cats, had a litter of two kittens in August 2022, the first ever born at the zoo. There are also Pallas cats at Port Lympne Safari Park, The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent, and at Banham Biological Gardens in Norfolk.

How big is a Pallas cat?

A Pallas cat is 65–95cm long, from nose to the tip of its thick, bushy tail. The tail of a Pallas cat is around half the length of its body.

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