Temminck's Cat: This large wild cat is almost unknown to the public, but it can take down a young deer or wild boar (8 photos)

In China, there is a legend about the yellow leopard - a dangerous and furious cat that can kill even a tiger. Villagers say that in the forest at night you can see a pair of eyes, constantly looking at you from the impenetrable darkness. Pray that you don’t get a closer look at Temminck’s cat, because you won’t be able to tell anyone about this meeting.





If you don’t trust old men and talkers, but delve into the scientific literature, you may be disappointed: our heroine’s maximum is hunting a buffalo calf or a young wild boar. And even then, most often they are content with fawns and hares.



Not a very impressive result. Until you correlate the size of the hunter with her prey. The largest Temminck cats are the size of an average dog: 90 centimeters in length and 16 kilos in weight. Such a tiny thing can knock down an animal weighing as much as an adult!





How does she manage to do this? It's all about the dexterity of the paws, and no deception! Like any other cat, our heroine is an elusive night animal, an excellent tree climber and a master of camouflage 100 LVL. Don't look at the fact that their coat is red - almost all herbivores do not see the difference between green and orange.



What makes our heroine stand out? Untamed ferocity. Among the peoples of Southeast Asia, where the cat lives, there is a belief that one hair from Temminka’s cat can drive away a tiger. As we have already found out, striped pussy is too much for our heroine. But their own relatives - very much so!



In November, girls go hunting for males. And it doesn’t always end amicably. People know about how cats undergo mura shivers exclusively from descriptions in captivity. So, in zoos, sweet couples “love” each other to death. Scientists have to dance separate dances with a tambourine so that lovers do not kill each other.



If everything goes without killing, the female gives birth to 1 to 5 cubs. For six months, the kittens will be under the protection of their mother and, possibly, their father. There is no exact information - some scientists have recorded how males tenderly care for their babies, others completely ignore or even attempt to attack their own cubs. Fortunately, mom is always there and ready to give a worthy rebuff to her former lover.



About a dozen cats are kept in zoos around the world.

But even cruel mating games do not harm cats as much as people do. The Chinese disassemble the poor creature into organs for the sake of traditional “medicine”, and the Indians - for the sake of a specific delicacy of meat.



In many regions, the meat of this cat is still consumed to ward off tigers.

My rating for Temminck’s cats: 8 deadly claws out of 10. It’s a shame that we sometimes learn about an amazing and unique species of animal only to write once again that it risks falling into oblivion.