Meet Our Animals

Jungle Cat

Jungle Cat (Felis chaus)
Range: From Northern Africa and Southeastern Europe into Southeast Asia
Status: Listed on the Endangered Species Red List with populations trending down

There is a wide variation in the weight and markings of jungle cats over their broad range. They mostly eat rodents, but are very flexible in their feeding habits. They also eat birds, fish, snakes, frogs, and even small deer fawn. There is some evidence that jungle cats contributed to the origin of the domestic cat. Their probable legacy is most evident in the domestic Abyssinian breed. Jungle cats are very verbal. They growl and grumble at each other and at people, and make loud calls during mating season

Little One Jungle Cat

Little One could scare the pants off of a combat veteran in full battle gear with all his growling and grumbling, but talk baby talk to him and offer him a treat or toy and he turns into a pussycat. A tough guy with a heart of gold, he’s also a founder in our breeding program. His female companion is Sahara.

Little One was raised as a pet, but became very sickly after a long period of malnourishment from an improper diet. He was taken in at another sanctuary that has since changed its focus to large cats. Little One was healthy but out of place there, so we accepted him at the Center, where he could live with other jungle cats.

This species was once thought to be very common, but surveys and camera traps have discovered a significant decline in their numbers in recent years. It has been estimated that there are fewer than 20,000 of them in the world today.

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