Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

Abymummy · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 74 Location: Kuala Lumpur

Hey Y'all,

There was an enquiry about the Malaysian fishing cat on MCF and I assumed that he was talking about our kucing batu (something bengalis) - actually, does anyone here know how many not so big cats (I mean not including the tiger) there actually are in Malaysia? All I can think of is the ALC (asian leopard cat) and our kucing batu. Also, is our musang (Civet cat) actually of the feline family or the fox family?

Hmmm :?:

varanus · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 469

Neither. They are Viverridae, related to binturong and linsang. But their dentistry are more related to cat family as compare to fox which is in dog family.

Dr csh · Joined: 21 Jan 2006 Posts: 425

Dear Abymummy,

I have never heard of the "Malaysian fishing cat". I remember seeing fishing cats Felis (Prionailurus) viverrinus in the singapore zoo night safari and if my memory serves me correctly, they do not occur in the wild in Malaysia.

Kuching batu is another name for the leopard cat or Felis (Prionailurus) bengalensis which is quite different from the fishing cat. Leopard cats are quite abundant and are much smaller than the fishing cat.

I believe you also asked something about 'not so big cats'. There are 3 rough classifications of wild cats. of course we all know the big cats which are tigers, lions, etc. Then there are the medium cats which are the lynx and bobcats, and finally the small cats. Yes, the group is actually called small cats.

You also asked if there were other small cats that occur in the wild in Malaysia. I believe PERHILITAN will have the official list but from what I know, we should have leopard cats of course, the asiatic golden cat Felis (Profelis) temmincki, flat headed cat Felis (Ictailurus) planiceps, Marbled cat Felis (Pardofelis) marmorata, and if you considered them small, the coulded leopard Neofelis nebulosa.

The final part of your question was brilliantly answered by varanus.

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:32 pm Post subject:

BTW I have asked Dr Abraham who is now working in the wildlife department to join this forum but I guess he is still not right here yet... Hopefully he can give us some input..