The Jungle Cat (Felis Chaus), is a highly successful, adaptable feline for all seasons and almost all habitats. The only environments it shuns are the two extremes of dense rain forest and arid desert. It is a cat of moderation in all things, not only environment, but also colour, size, shape and diet. A flexible, all-purpose cat, it has thrived through its determined lack of specialization.

The Pallas's cat (Felis manul), named after the German zoologist and explorer, Professor Peter Pallas, looks rather like a wary, crouching Persian Cat with an Abyssinian coat. Its legs are short, its typical posture is always rather flattened, and its fur is very thick, the thickest in the entire cat family. The Pallas's Cat prefers open terrain and has been observed living at elevations of up to 4,000 metres (13,000 feet). It is equally at home in deserts, steppe country, or on the rocky slopes of mountains. It stays close to the ground, but is a deft climber on steep rocky surfaces. Because of the generally open country in which it lives, it is essentially an ambush hunter, lying in wait, ready to pounce on small mammals or birds. Its flattened shape may help it to remain concealed while watching for prey.

The Himalayas constitute the point of junction of zoological groups of different sources, there are all the typical carnivores of the mountain. Felidae are largely represented and account for several species. Various races of cats still live in the Western solid masses among them the Golden Cat.

Nevertheless, it is the Snow Panther, or Snow Leopard, (Panthera uncia), which is the uncontested lord of the high mountains of Asia. Its massive legs and heavy tail help to protect its extremities from the freezing temperatures.