Five Wild Cats You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Lions get the headlines. Meet the small cats doing the quiet work of being wild.

There are about 40 species of wild cat. Most are small, shy and rarely seen.

• Pallas’s cat (manul). Central Asia’s grumpy-faced steppe cat, with fur so thick it looks permanently annoyed.
• Fishing cat. A stocky swimmer of South and Southeast Asian wetlands, listed as Vulnerable as those wetlands disappear.
• Sand cat. A desert specialist with fur on the soles of its feet to cross scorching sand.
• Kodkod. The smallest cat in the Americas, living in the forests of Chile and Argentina, and listed as Vulnerable.
• Rusty-spotted cat. One of the world’s smallest cats, found in India and Sri Lanka.

Small cats get a fraction of the conservation attention big cats do. Learning their names is where caring for them begins.

The Cat House Foundation ■ Modeling for a Cause. Photo: Pexels.