It is not often that you can describe a wild cat, albeit a small one, as “quite friendly” as Mel and Fiona Sunquist did in their excellent book1. And yet a well-known British biologist, R.I. Pocock described captive Pallas’s cats (alternative names ‘manul’ or ‘Pallas cat’) as follows:
The manul is markedly different in both behavior and appearance from the majority of the specimens of the genus Felis kept in captivity…..no fear or desire to hide from spectators.”
The genus Felis is the family of cats on the planet so he is comparing Pallas’s cat to all other wild cat species.

This observation begs the question why this wild cat was not domesticated along the lines of the African-Asian wildcat (the domestic cat’s ancestor). The answer is probably one of common sense and practicalities. Pallas’s cat lives in relatively remote regions while the Africa wildcat lived near human settlements and became integrated into those settlements.
People consider Pallas’s cat to be cute and there is a desire amongst some to try and adopt one as a pet. Bearing in mind what Pocock said it might be workable but it is not a good idea and it, too, is impractical.
I am strongly against pet wild cats of any species as it is against conservation first and foremost and there are very few people who can do justice to the demands of looking after a small wild cat. It can be cruel because of the unnaturalness and small size of the environment. I am against zoos as well. Humans should not possess any wild creature as far as I am concerned. Let them live freely in the wild and let’s stop breeding as a human race, please. I know I am being entirely unrealistic which is depressing.
Captive Pallas’s cats are incredibly rare in the USA or at least they were in 1989. In that year only ten were held in institutions participating in ISIS (International Species Information System – now called Species360). At that time, it was believed that virtually all Pallas’s cats born in North America were the offspring of two individuals who were related and probably past the age of breeding. In addition, they breed badly in captivity and the offspring have high mortality rates; not good at all.
I made a map of all American zoos and listed the wild cat species at those zoos. I don’t recall any keeping Pallas’s cat but I am happy to be corrected. – The map is no longer because Google stopped providing the service.
The Pallas’s cat’s cuteness extends to the sounds it makes. It’s sexual call is a combination of a dog bark and an owl’s hoot.
Note 1 — Wild Cats of the World page 223.
I have seen it. Charlton Heston. Good movie.
If you’ve never seen the movie Soylent Green you need to. I think that’s the world we will be someday here in the USA. And the way we are treating this planet using chemicals, oil, plastic islands in the oceans etc we could possibly turn humans into food.
So it got me to thinking about the conditions on Mount Everest. And sure enough the glaciers are melting, fast. Bodies are popping up.
So the Pallas’s cat is moving up to cooler climates and I’m sure other animals are too. I live in SW Missouri and a few years ago I saw a roadrunner! I think animals are moving north to get away from the heat. We are all frogs sitting in a pot boiling slowly and yet the nuts are still screaming hoax.