Pallas cats are kinda cute in a quirky way. Their flat faces and small ears set low on their heads gives them that endearing “grumpy” look. In addition, they are really fluffy.

Their fur is like a heavy parka, and covers their ears like a hood, and protects their paws like mittens. They have the thicket fur of any cat to endure the extreme cold in their primary habitats of Mongolia and Russia, in steppes reaching up to 16,500 feet. Their tails are long enough (8″-12″) to wrap around their bodies for additional warmth. Their fur is so thick that although Pallas cats are from 27-36” long, all that fur makes them look bigger than they really are, which is closer to the size of a house cat. In fact, they weigh between 6 – 11 lb.s

A Pallas’s Cat as a Pet?

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a Pallas cat as a pet? Actually, no. They are ferocious creatures and don’t have the temperament to be domesticated, and like most cats prefer solitary lives. More important, however, is their health. Pallas’s cats immune system is adapted to their high-altitude environment; they aren’t capable of fighting bacteria and viruses found in lower terrain. A high mortality rate while in captivity is evidence of this.

Female Pallas cats are in heat for only two to four days a year, occurring December through March. The gestation period is sixty-six to seventy-five days (domestic cats typically are pregnant sixty-three to sixty-five days). Usually Pallas cats have litters of three or four, although one to six kittens is possible. Kittens are independent by four to five months old.

By nine to ten months, they reach sexual maturity. They can live for eight years. A few in captivity have lived to twelve years old.

What’s on the menu for Pallas’s cats?

These guys like to eat marmots, pikas, ground squirrels, voles, gerbils and hamsters. Birds like sandgrouse, partridges and larks are also on the menu since these birds spend time on the ground. Pallas cats ‘periscope.’ It’s a hunting technique enabling them to inconspicuously keep an eye on prey. Their small, low set ears help keep them concealed when peering over the top of where they’re hidden. They repeatedly peek then dip down behind the rock.

This technique also works when avoiding predators.

Predators like eagles and other birds of prey (raptors), grey wolves, herding dogs and red foxes. Humans also hunt Pallas cats. In Mongolia hunting is legal, and Pallas cats are killed for their pelts, and their fat and organs are used medicinally. Happens in Russia, too. They’re also mistaken for marmots, which are hunted, particularly since Pallas cats use marmot burrows to hang out in.

The IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species) considers the Pallas cat “near threatened.” Their habitat is disrupted by removal of resources like mining, oil and gas, and threatened by human encroachment by an increasing human population. Ranchers compete for grassland for their grazing livestock; and farmers destroy grasslands for crops, treading on Pallas’s cats territory. The framers also poison vermin, which impacts the Pallas food source and also directly kills them. The number of wild Pallas cats is difficult to determine but it’s believed to be around 15,000 although some say 58,000. Guess no one really does know.

Apparently, Pallas cats don’t meow, they grunt and growl, but they do purr. They are, after all, CATS.