The Sumatran cat is a wild cat with a small habitat, which includes the islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan and the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula.
This small feline predator belongs to the oriental cat family. It is also known as the flat-headed cat.
It prefers to live on the banks of freshwater rivers and lakes, where fish and reptiles abound. The Sumatran cat can also be found in mangrove forests, lowlands, river floodplains, and forest plantations, but it never strays more than 3 km from water.
The body length is 53–81 cm, and the weight is up to 2.7 kg.
She has a broad, flat head, large gray eyes set close to her nose, and small, low-set ears.
The body is muscular and elongated, with short legs and a tail. It has thick, soft fur. It somewhat resembles a loris.
The coat is typically reddish-brown, with a white chest and belly. Dark spots are located on the sides, and two white stripes extend from the nose upward on the muzzle, as well as white cheeks and chin.
They differ from most cats in that all their teeth are pointed, which helps them hold on to the caught fish well.
And the fact that they can't retract their claws. There's a little webbing between their toes.
These cats feed mainly on fish, lizards, frogs and other inhabitants of water bodies.
But they sometimes attack poultry as well. They also enjoy plant food—they dig up edible roots from the ground with their claws and happily eat fruit.
They are most active at night.
They live mostly alone, forming pairs only in the spring during the mating season. A litter typically contains up to four kittens.
These cats are not at all afraid of water and love to swim; they are very playful by nature.
When catching fish, the cat lowers its head completely under water, grabs the prey and quickly throws it onto dry land, away from the water.
Once the fish is caught, the cat may come up and rinse it in the water.
Because this cat is very cautious and rare, there are practically no films featuring them, only two videos where they filmed a cat that came to a person to eat.
Sumatran cat: video
https://www.youtube.com/embed/_0s3_ks5S9Q https://www.youtube.com/embed/H4Tt796djv4
In captivity, Sumatran cats live up to 13 years.
Since they are very secretive, neither their numbers nor their lifespan have been accurately determined in the wild, and it is assumed that this cat species is on the verge of extinction.
Hunting them is prohibited, but people still set traps and snares. Furthermore, the expansion of human activity is significantly reducing these cats' range each year. The IUCN Red List lists their status as "Near Threatened."
