Did you know that these adorable Pallas’s cats are considered vulnerable, or near threatened to be exact?
I only discovered these adorable feline cuties when I stumbled upon an article about their preservation. Take a look at them!
Baby Pallas’s cats are indescribably cute, with their fluffy coats, round bodies, and wide eyes that can melt your heart.
Despite their small size, these little feline explorers grow up fast and start venturing out into the world with all the curiosity similar to our domestic cats.
However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for these guys. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the Pallas’s cat as near threatened.
They’re facing some serious threats out there in the wild. From habitat loss to predators, these cats are up against tough odds. According to the International Society for Endangered Cats, their main threats are:
• habitat loss
• predators
• mines/ infrastructure
• poisoning meant for rodents
• hunting (for their fur or as an exotic pet choice)
• marmot depletion (Pallas’s cats would usually use their dens for shelter)
Luckily, there’s hope on the horizon! There’s a project underway aimed at preserving these unique and rare cats. By studying their biology and habitat, we can better understand how to help them thrive.
This project is all about expanding our knowledge about these amazing creatures so we know how to help them in the best way possible.
The project discusses remote collar marking (which seems similar to the one used for sand cats), photo recording, and all sorts of tech gadgets to gather data on where these cats live and how.
But it’s not just about collecting data, the researchers also aim to come up with environmental recommendations to make sure these cats have the best shot at survival. As explained in the “Protection of Endangered Species“:
“The project will allow widening knowledge on the animal’s biology and finding main reasons of population size oscillations. Remote collar marking and photorecording are supposed to help to get new data about key habitats of Pallas’s cat and its migration reasons, evaluate kittens and adult cats survival rate under different food and weather conditions, and their liability to infectious diseases.”
Another one of their goals in this research is to make photos and videos and share them in order to help people understand the importance of preservation, especially those living near these cats.
“Environmental recommendations will become the result of the project. Production of popular scientific movie, photo illustrations etc. are also planned for production. These materials will be demonstrated to people living close to the Pallas’s cat and thus will help to overwhelm ignorance and apathy to save the predator.”
Let’s face it, the more people know, the more they will care about these tiny wild cats.
Until we learn the results and hear something new on the topic of Pallas’s cats’ preservation, only one question comes to mind: If Pallas’s no want kisses, why face so kissable? Hahaha, all jokes aside, I sincerely hope the Pallas’s Cat project is fruitful and successful.
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