There are Indian wild cat, margays, sand cats, ocelots, Andean mountain cats, pampas, black-footed, kodkod, rusty-spotted cat, Geoffroys, Iriomote, Chinese mountain cat, bobcat, and the fishing cat, to name a few.
Check this link for a pictorial of these beauties: http://www.wildcatconservation.org/cats/...
While doing research for this article, I found the International Society for Endangered Cats, ISEC, Canada. http://www.wildcatconservation.org/index...
ISEC was founded in 1990 and based in Calgary, Alberta as a non-profit, volunteer organization. Their wild cat conservation goals are impressive and include education, supporting captive breeding, research, loss of habitat and reintroduction.
There are many factors that surround the researching of the smaller felidae species making it difficult to study their habits in the wild. Their size alone makes them not easily spotted in the wild, they are mostly nocturnal, and some live in densely forested habitats making them even more elusive to researchers.
Obviously, because of their size, they have had to become extremely savvy in their ability to survive their environment, loss of habitat and much larger predators.
From the SlideShow, you can see how many, like the sand cat, for example, have coloring that allows them to blend into the landscape. Several, like the margay, serval and leopard cat, have specific markings that work as great camouflage in dense areas.
Saving our wild cats, whether large or small, is something we should take seriously and endeavor to support by educating ourselves on what we can do to help.
The smaller species, as predators, play an important role on this planet and help the environment by keeping the rodent population under control. So, in turn, we must help protect their habitats so they can continue to help keep the ecosystem in balance.
It's also important to educate children on the importance of these little animals to our environment and at the ISEC site, they have a page for kids with links to several pictures of cats that can be printed out and colored in. Please check their link here: http://www.wildcatconservation.org/kids/...
I hope you take advantage of the very informative information available at the ISEC site which includes fact sheets for many of the cats. The more we know, the more we can help to save these cats who have a direct effect on the environment.
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