Head of a cat, ears of a man, body of a fox, tail of monkey. It sneaks into wealthy houses at night and copulates with the maids while they're asleep. That way, whenever one gets pregnant out of wedlock, they can blame it on the Cat-Faced Demon.
Possibly the most mysterious and little-known cat species in the world. None in captivity (edited to add: none legitimately in captivity), and only a very, very few people have ever had their hands on one to examine it. They are so secretive and rare that I don't think anyone has ever seen a kitten/cub of this species.
Or its breeding habits, its gestation period, the usual litter size, how long the kittens stay with their mom, etc.
It's extremely frustrating. Other than making trade in them illegal, nothing is actually being done to learn more about them so they can be saved. No one seems interested in funding the necessary research.
We literally know far more about Smilodon fatalis (we actually know those kinds of information for it) than the bay cat. We know how long it took for this sabretooth to grow up (similar to Panthera, took around a couple of years to reach independence, but with a longer tooth replacement period because sabreteeth are precision killing tools that require practice to effectively use), what sorts of animals it ate (mostly forest/woodland-living larger ungulates), preferred habitat, etc. Not so much for the bay cat.
When you mention Borneo, the scarcity of sightings becomes clear. I've never been there, but from what I understand it remains as one of the least explored places in the world. Heavy tropical vegetation combined with lots of near vertical terrain.
Add in a few unfriendly locals, and this cat will hopefully continue to survive in obscurity.
Dude looks like a Japanese demon illustration
Head of a cat, ears of a man, body of a fox, tail of monkey. It sneaks into wealthy houses at night and copulates with the maids while they're asleep. That way, whenever one gets pregnant out of wedlock, they can blame it on the Cat-Faced Demon.
Possibly the most mysterious and little-known cat species in the world. None in captivity (edited to add: none legitimately in captivity), and only a very, very few people have ever had their hands on one to examine it. They are so secretive and rare that I don't think anyone has ever seen a kitten/cub of this species.
More info:
https://www.catsg.org/living-species-baycat
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/on-the-trail-of-borneos-bay-cat-one-of-the-worlds-most-mysterious-felines/ (This link has more pics and a short video of camera trap footage.)
https://wildnet.org/ignorance-is-the-greatest-threat-to-borneos-bay-cat/
We also have no idea what it eats, what preys on it (presumably larger carnivores), what time of day it’s most active, etc.
Or its breeding habits, its gestation period, the usual litter size, how long the kittens stay with their mom, etc.
It's extremely frustrating. Other than making trade in them illegal, nothing is actually being done to learn more about them so they can be saved. No one seems interested in funding the necessary research.
We literally know far more about Smilodon fatalis (we actually know those kinds of information for it) than the bay cat. We know how long it took for this sabretooth to grow up (similar to Panthera, took around a couple of years to reach independence, but with a longer tooth replacement period because sabreteeth are precision killing tools that require practice to effectively use), what sorts of animals it ate (mostly forest/woodland-living larger ungulates), preferred habitat, etc. Not so much for the bay cat.
When you mention Borneo, the scarcity of sightings becomes clear. I've never been there, but from what I understand it remains as one of the least explored places in the world. Heavy tropical vegetation combined with lots of near vertical terrain.
Add in a few unfriendly locals, and this cat will hopefully continue to survive in obscurity.
Beautiful tail! I hope the specie is going to survive!
Its head looks slightly outta ratio with rest of body
I feel like this happens with the mid-sized cats a lot. Ocelots also feel like their head to body ratio is a little off.
Yeah you’re right, it’s something with the mid sized cats
I much prefer a compact cat, although, a full size cat does have it's advantages. And don't get me started on crossovers.
That is one sick-ass panther
Hide and seek champion!
The classic "LOOK AT MY BALLS" cat stance.
He looks like the recreations of south Asian Tiger statues I saw growing up!
This animal is so rare we have less than 30 direct observations of it and even camera trap records are rare.
We literally know far more about the lifestyle and ecology of recently exticnt felids like Smilodon fatalis or Panthera spelea than about the bay cat.
Cat o puma, who knows, some day we’ll get a better look!
Him gots r/troublepuffs!!!
What a weird sub
The species needs those trouble puffs!
It's wild that something like that exists. They are so rare that there is such a gap in sightings but they still manage to find a mate and keep going.
this looks like real life r/MedievalCats/
Good for them
Looks possessed
Bill?
The name sounds like someone really bad at naming cats.