ABOUT PALLAS CAT
Red Data

Choose region: China Iran Kyrgyzstan Mongolia Turkmenistan

Pallas' cat is a rare cat species that lives in the steppes of Central Asia. Most countries where Pallas' cat can be found (Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) have banned the hunting of this animal in 1960-1980, for by that time the trend towards extinction of Pallas' cat had become evident. There were many reasons for it, but the unrestricted hunting was the major one. For example, in the beginning of the last century Mongolia alone exported up to 50.000 Pallas' cat pelts per year. In Tyva, Altai, Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan and many other regions Pallas' cat was hunted mercilessly as well. The hunting ban significantly reduced the risk of Pallas' cat extinction and, in some places, allowed the replenishment of its number and area.

Pallas' cat is listed by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Near Threatened. CITES places Pallas' cat on Appendix II.

Pallas' cat status in national Red Lists:

• Kazakhstan: rare species throughout the area (category 3), 1996
• Azerbaijan: very rare species with number declining
• Armenia: very rare species on the verge of extinction
• Kyrgyzstan: rare species throughout the area (category 6)
• Russian Federation: rare species at the borders of the habitat (category 3), 2001
• Turkmenistan: rare and insufficiently known species in the northern part of the habitat (category 3), 1999

Pallas' cat status in Red Data Lists of Russian Federation's subjects:

• Altai Republic: rare species with number declining (category 2), 1996, 2007
• Tyva Republic: increasing trend (category 5), 2002
• Buryatia Republic: rare species with local distribution and number declining (category 3), 2005; in previous edition: rare species (category 1), 1988
• Irkutsk region: rare species dispersing throughout the habitat (category 6)
• Krasnoyarsk region: rare species with unclear residence (category 4), 2000
• Khakassia Republic: rare species with unclear residence (category 4), 2004
• Chita region and Aginski Buryatski autonomous district: : rare species with number declining (category 2), 2000

Articles of Pallas cat in some regions above are available only in Russian page