A Central Asian cat with long, dense fur. Its rounded head and low-set ears give the face a flattened appearance.
Its legs are short and stocky, and its tail is thickly furred. Dark lines run from below the eyes across the cheeks.
How does a Pallas's cat's diet relate to local changes in small mammals? In eastern Mongolia's Sukhbaatar Province, Brandt's voles began increasing in 2017, peaked in 2018–19 and declined in 2020. Researchers examined cat scats every month from May 2019 to May 2020. Brandt's vole remains appeared in 82.6–89.9% of the monthly scat samples. This is the share of samples that contained vole remains.
In a separate study in central Mongolia, researchers examined 146 scats and identified 249 prey items. Daurian pikas were the most frequent prey and were eaten more often than their availability predicted. Together, these studies show how the small mammals found in Mongolian steppe habitats are reflected in Pallas's cat diets.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern (LC) · Global
The IUCN Red List assesses Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul) as Least Concern (LC) globally. The assessment date is 6 November 2019 and the publication year is 2020. The same record lists a decreasing population trend and 58,000 mature individuals. It also notes sparse records and no current monitoring that allows empirical population estimates.
A separate IUCN Green Status assessment classifies global Pallas's cat recovery as Indeterminate and gives a species recovery score of 78% (estimated range 52–93%). It was assessed on 23 May 2025 and published in 2026. This is separate from the Red List extinction-risk category.