A photography team in Shenzhen recently announced that they have captured footage of three elusive leopard cats in the city’s Nanshan District.
The videos were taken by camera traps set on Tanglang Mountain by the Shenzhen Biological Agency Team.
Li Cheng, a member of the research team, told Tencent News that three infrared cameras were set up – all of which captured footage of leopard cats.
“It is proof that there is more than one,” said Li. “There is a population here.”
The species has also been spotted at Wutong, Maluan and Qiniang mountains in Shenzhen, according to Shenzhen Daily, although how recently is not specified.
Watch the footage of Tanglang Mountain’s leopard cats below (VPN off):
The leopard cat is approximately the size of a house cat, albeit with longer legs and a more slender body, and has been cited as the first domesticated cat species – as suggested by bones dating to between 5,000-4,900 BP that were discovered in China.
The animal’s ‘domestic’ status was allegedly short-lived, however, as the species was supplanted by the wildcat – which all domestic cat species in present day China are linked to.
[Images via QQ Video]
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