Asia, the largest continent in the world, is home to several big cats and small wild cats. The big cats are the tiger, leopard, Asiatic lion, snow leopard and clouded leopard. There are also several small wild cats such as the marbled cat, fishing cat, Asiatic wildcat and Asiatic golden cat.

wild cats asia mapMore About Asia

Asia covers almost 9% of the planet.  With more than 4.3 billion people, it also has the highest human population on Earth. There are 48 countries in Asia, including Russia.

Geography ranges from coastal areas (Asia has the largest coastline in the world) to the Himalayan mountain range with some of the highest peaks on the planet. The climate is also diverse, including desert, tropical, arctic and subarctic regions.

Asian Wild Cat Species

Big Cats

Big cats that are native to the region include the clouded leopard, tiger, leopard, Asiatic lion and snow leopard.

The clouded leopard is a small wild cat that can be found in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains (Nepal, Bhutan and India to Myanmar), across Southeastern Asia and into China. They mostly inhabit tropical forests.

A malayan tiger walking in the wildTiger populations have decreased in the world by 95%. Most of the tigers that are left inhabit Asia. They include the Sumatran tiger, Amur (Siberian) tiger, Indian (Bengal) tiger, South China tiger, Malayan tiger and Indo-Chinese tiger. Three tiger species, the Javan, Caspian and Bali tiger, are now extinct. It is estimated that there are more than 5,000 tigers living in captivity, compared to only 3,890 tigers still living in the wild.

There are several species of leopards that live in Asia, the Indian leopard (Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh), the Javan leopard (Java), the Anatolian leopard (Southern Russia), the Amur leopard (Russian Far East and northern China), the Indochinese leopard (Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and South China), and the Sri Lankan leopard (Sri Lanka).

The home of the Asiatic lion, also called the “Indian lion” and “Persian lion” is India. Its range is the Gir National Park.

Snow leopards live in Central and South Asia. During the winter, snow leopards roam forests in altitudes of 1,200 to 2,000 feet. During the summer, they can be found above the tree line at altitudes up to almost 20,000 feet.

Small Wild Cats

Asia has more small wild cats than any other continent. Here is a list of the cats:

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Asian Wild Cats Conservation

Here is a list of groups involved in Asian wild cats and small wild cats conservation.


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