Ruby cat

		Ruby cat
		He is a wild animal


Origin			Nepal and India
Translation			Francis Vandersteen

The possession of this animal is not authorized Royal Decree establishing the list of mammals not kept for production purposes that may be kept (M.B. 24.08.2009)

The ruby cat, also known as the Indian leopard cat, the reddish cat or the rusty spotted cat, is a species of feline found in Nepal, India and the island of Sri Lanka.

This carnivore remains poorly known, despite being, along with the Black-footed Cat, one of today's smallest felines: the average adult weighs less than 1.5 kg.

The ruby cat's elongated body measures 35 to 48 cm in length, not including the 15 to 25 cm tail. Height at the withers is 25 to 28 cm. Females weigh from 1.1 to 1.6 kg, while males reach 1.5 to 1.8 kg, a third of the weight of a domestic cat.

The coat is more or less gray with rust-colored patches on the back and flanks, while the belly, chest and inside of the legs are white. The rather thick tail, measuring almost half the length of the body, is darker than the rest of the coat, and the spots fade into barely visible rings on the tip of the tail. Black stripes mark the legs and the base of the head.

The face is marked by two black stripes on the cheeks and two very clear white stripes running up from the tip of the pink nose to the forehead. The back of the ear is reddish-gray, with no white spots, unlike those of tigers, for example. The large eyes with slit pupils are finely rimmed in white.

The ruby cat bears a striking resemblance to its cousin, the Bengal leopard cat.

Because of its small size, very little is known about the ruby cat. We don't know, for example, the size of its territory, or its habits towards other cats (its solitary behavior is only a hypothesis).

The Indian range of the ruby cat is still poorly known. Although it has been seen in Jammu and Orissa in the north of the peninsula, it seems to be essentially present in southeast India, from Gujarat to Kerala.

The Indian population of the ruby cat lives mainly in tropical forests and dry grasslands, but in Sri Lanka, tropical forests are the preferred habitat. The reason for this difference may lie in competition with the Bengal leopard cat, which occupies the tropical forests of the Asian continent. As for Sri Lanka, the chaus populations, which prefer open environments such as grasslands, "force" the ruby cat into the forests.

Island populations can be found at altitudes of up to 2,100 m.

This nocturnal cat is partly arboreal. Probably solitary, it spends the day hidden in a shelter. It feeds mainly on rodents, birds and lizards. Local people in Sri Lanka and India report that they are visible after heavy rains, when they come out to feed on frogs and small rodents. The ruby cat is naturally friendly and playful, which makes it a good candidate for domestication, especially as it is not afraid to approach houses and towns (sightings have been made on the outskirts of Bangalore and in tea plantations). Occasionally, this feline will attack poultry.