Research overview: leopard cat distribution across Asia

The leopard cat is the most widespread small cat in Asia, ranging from the Russian Far East and Korea through China, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia to the islands of Sundaland and the Philippines. This overview compiles records describing its presence across an exceptional variety of habitats, from tropical and temperate forest to scrub, agricultural land, and the edges of settlements. This adaptability underlies one of the broadest distributions of any small felid. Mapping the species is aided by its frequent appearance in camera-trap surveys, though regional taxonomy complicates the picture. The leopard cat wide range and tolerance of human-modified habitats make it both a conservation success relative to specialists and a useful model for studying small-cat adaptability.