TWO leopard cats were spotted at the Yangmeikeng outdoor observation station in Dapeng New Area by the Shenzhen environment supervision center Wednesday.

Unfortunately, one of the leopard cats, which was 34.2 centimeters long and 22.1 centimeters high and weighed nearly 1 kilogram, died after being attacked by the other leopard cat.

The supervision station has decided to use the dead cat as a specimen, said the report.

Yu Xinfan with the supervision center received three photos and a short video clip on her way to her office at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

“My intuition tells me it should be leopard cats. I sent the pictures to experts at Fudan University and they are indeed leopard cats,” said Yu.

The cats were confirmed as leopard cats, which are under level-2 State protection, after video analysis and field investigation.

At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, the two leopard cats were fighting and one unfortunately died, according to the video footage.

“We once discovered leopard cats at the Yangmeikeng outdoor observation station but it is so rare to see two at the same time,” said Yu.

Leopard cat is a small carnivorous animal, mainly inhabiting mountain forest areas, suburban shrubs and near forest margins. It feeds on rodents, squirrels, and also eats some young leaves. It is native to South, Southeast and East Asia and is one of the species domesticated in Neolithic China about 5,000 years ago.

The Yangmeikeng observation station is located near Qiniang Mountain. The discovery means that there may be signs of leopard cat population activity in Qiniang Mountain, which is of great significance to understand the leopard cats’ living habits and population distribution, said the report.

Leopard cats were once spotted in Mangrove Ecological Park in Futian and Tanglang Mountain in 2017.

Yu also said that the finding is an evidence of the city’s improved ecological environment. However, she reminded that leopard cats prefer to stay alone so less human intervention is necessary.

Meanwhile, staff with the Shenzhen environment supervision center suggested that they will conduct further research on the population, activity scale and categories of the leopard cats in the city.

(Wang Jingli)