Today’s post is much shorter than last week’s, and that’s for two reasons:
- Japan has no wild big cats.
- There are very few Iriomote cats and they only live on one small island.
Many biologists consider the Iriomote cat a subspecies of our friend, the leopard cat.
This video takes a general look at both:
Fortunately for Yama-neko, as the Iriomote cat is known locally, it doesn’t face palm oil plantations, development, and other challenges that humans throw at leopard cats in so many places.
Iriomote Island is remote, has a small population, and offers many places for a little cat to hide out in:
More information:
- Iriomote Wildlife Conservation Center page on the cat.
- UNESCO page on the general World Heritage site that includes Iriomote.
- Outdoor Japan article on the Iriomote cat.
- Animal Diversity’s page on Iriomote cats.
- No more than 1,200 tourists a day. (Source)
Featured image: Close-up of the yama-neko statue on Iriomote Island, by Rawmy Jurshad/Shutterstock.
Flight To Wonder 