a small East Asian wild cat that has a yellowish-brown coat with black spots and often lives near water.
The leopard cat is a small cat, from east asian wild cat has a yellowish-brown spots – often living near water. These cats vary widely across their range. there does appear to be a significant difference between the Leopard cat found on Borneo and Sumatra, and the specimens found on the mainland. so they have been split As a generalisation, however, the Sunda Leopard Cat appears to have smaller dark spots and blotches than its cousin, the Mainland Leopard Cat.
Given this variability, there has also been the suggestion of up to 12 subspecies of the leopard cat. However, more recent analysis suggests a Northern Leopard Cat (amur leopard cat) and a Southern Leopard cat. There is then also the Sunda Leopard cat which is found on Java, Bali, Borneo, Sumatra, Palawan, Negros, Cebu, Panay, and possibly the Malay Peninsular. It was only declared a separate species back in 2017, but there is still much debate on its classification.
Suffice to say, if they are separate species, they are similar enough to be handled as one.
Leopard cats are live alone except during breeding season. While some are active during the day, most hunt at night, preferring to stalk murids, tree shrews and hares. They are effective climbers and quite arboreal in their habits. They will often rest in trees, but also hide in dense thorny undergrowth on the ground.