Leopard Cat Facts For Kids

This is a page on leopard cat facts written for children and people who like straightforward English.


The leopard cat is a species of wild cat. “Species” means a sort or type of wild cat that is different enough from the other 35 wild cats to make it a separate species. This cat is not related to the much larger leopard. It does, though, look a bit like a miniature leopard. It is about the same size as a domestic cat. The name given to it by people who know the cat well (scientists) is Prionailurus bengalensis. This is written in the ancient language of Latin. Scientists like to do that as it makes them look clever.

Where It Lives

The leopard cat can be found over the largest part of Asia of all the small wild cats. It is one of the most common small wild cats. It lives from Afghanistan all the way up to the east coastal area of Russia in the north, which is where the Siberian tiger and Amur leopard lives too. The map in the picture shows you this large area.

Leopard Cat Facts For Kids
Leopard Cat Facts For Kids. Photo credits: Background picture by Big Cat Rescue. Tree shrew by anthonycramp. Picture top right and globe by WIkimedia Commons. Leopard cat in forest by siwild. Picture of leopard cat on left by M Kuhn. Middle top picture by Joachim S. Müller.

The sort of places that this cat likes to live in varies a lot depending on where it is. It can live in tropical forests, dry coniferous forest, on farms and islands. They do well living on farmed land where there are rubber plantations, for example. In Russia it is colder and there is snow. It finds it difficult to walk on snow that is more than 10 centimeters deep (about 4 inches deep). “Dry coniferous forest” is a dry forest of trees that lose their leaves in the autumn (fall). This cat likes dense forest.

What It Looks Like

The photographs show you a lot. This is a spotted cat. The background color is “tawny” on the top and sides, and white on the underneath. “Tawny” is a yellowish brown color. The markings on the face are high contrast between black and white. The Chinese people call this cat the “money cat” because the spots look like Chinese coins.

How It Behaves

The leopard cat is active during the day and night. They are not just nocturnal like some cats. They are excellent tree climbers and spend time in trees. They can hunt for rodents in trees. The tree shrew in the picture is an example. It will avoid the much larger leopard as this cat will try and catch and eat the leopard cat.

Feeding

I have mentioned the tree shrew. In the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand they mainly eat mice. This cat eats a large number of different animals such as rodents, lizards, frogs and other amphibians, birds and insects. They will also eat eggs and grass. As they can live on farms sometimes they will hunt farm animals such as chickens. This makes the farmers angry and they kill the cat if they can.

What Are The Dangers to The Leopard Cat?

I have already said that the leopard hunts the leopard cat. Also people in China and other countries have killed this cat for its pretty fur or for food. Also some people catch this cat and tame it to make it a domestic cat. The places where it lives, forests, are cut down. Also sometimes this cat mates with domestic cats. This means that the kittens are not pure leopard cats but “hybrids” (half wild cat and half domestic cat).

Although thousands are lost in these ways, the total number of leopard cats in the world is staying the same at the moment.

Bengal Cat

The well known domestic cat called the “Bengal Cat” is a wild cat hybrid. It is a mixture of domestic cat and leopard cat. You can read about the Bengal cat for kids by clicking on this link.

6 thoughts on “Leopard Cat Facts For Kids”

  1. All “nocturnal” cats are not entirely nocturnal. They may hunt at dawn, dusk and in the night. They will not rigidly stick to darkness. Hope this answers your query.

  2. Leopards are not entirely nocturnal. It depends where they are living. For example the leopards in the Judean desert rarely hunt at night. Often leopards are diurnal – active day and night. It depends. Hope this answers your query.

    Apologies, I misread your comment. I have responded regarding the leopard cat in another response.

    The article states: The leopard cat is active during the day and night. They are not just nocturnal like some cats.

  3. Thanks for this good information about the Asian Leopard Cat. Where can I find more info & photos? I’m interested because I have a fantastic F3 Female Bengal. She is so beautiful & has a plush fur overshoot with gold. Kiva loves to climb up high, she enjoys leaping up onto my screen windows that are over 6 feet tall, I put in Aviary Screening. She started jumping up that high after we watched a documentory on the large Leopards. She jumped up & sat in from of TV. When the Leopard went up the tree with it’s prey she climbed to the top of TV Screen to see where it had gone. The next day she sat on floor looking at screened window like she was measuring something. Then in the most beautiful & gracefull manner Kiva pushed off & upward landing at the top of this tall window….over 6′ in length. She does this routine at least 2-3 times weekly.

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