Asian Leopard Cats are generally solitary and nocturnal in behavior and prefer brush and forest as their habitat. They make their dens in hollow trees, small caves or under large roots and, living in a wide variety of environments, have an unusually wide variety of skills. For example, they often live near water and are accomplished swimmers and fishers. This legacy lives on in the Bengal’s liking for playing in water, and pawing at aquariums! Equally, they are very agile climbers - very much at home in the trees, hunting for birds, squirrels, tree shrews and other prey. Indeed there are some reports of tropical Leopard Cats being totally tree dwelling in their nature.

Leopard Cats are carnivorous, and feed on variety of small prey, including mammals, lizards, amphibians, birds, and insects. In Northern region, the subspecies of Leopard Cat also eat hares. The diet is often supplemented with grass, eggs, poultry, and aquatic prey.

The Leopard Cat has the widest geographic distribution of all felines. It can be found in forest areas throughout Indonesia, Philippines, Borneo, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, China and Taiwan. The Leopard Cat also can be found in Korea, India, and Pakistan. Their range of habitat is varied, and includes tropical forest, scrubland, pine forest, second-growth woodland, semi-desert, and agricultural regions, especially near water sources, and may be found at heights up to 3000 m.

Asian Leopards from TexasStar Safari