The Jungle Cat Felis chaus is the largest species of the genus Felis and belongs to the domestic cat lineage. According to Kitchener et al. (2017), the Jungle Cats occurring at the southern tip of eastern Europe represent the subspecies Felis chaus chaus. Further subspecific delineation needs to be clarified (Kitchener et al. 2017).

European regional assessment: Not Applicable (NA)
EU 27 regional assessment: Not Recorded

Only a small population of some 300 Jungle Cats (Yarovenko 2014) occurs in the European assessment region, in South European Russia. Although no range-wide estimation is available, this is assumedly less than 1% of the global population, and the assessment at the European regional level is considered Not Applicable. The species is Not Recorded in the EU 27 Member States.

In the European region, this species is restricted to the European part of Russia, where the Jungle Cat occurs in the Astrakhanskaya Oblast and the Kalmykia Republic in Southern European Russia. The species is of marginal occurrence in the European assessment region. It also occurs north to the delta of the Volga River (Yarovenko 2014, Red Book of Russian Federation 2021). In the delta of the Volga River on the territory of the Astrakhanskii Nature Reserve, the Jungle Cat was occasionally registered during the period 1971-2015 (Strelkov 2016). This seems to be consistent with the “reconstructed range” in the Caucasus region according to Heptner and Sludskii (1991), although historically, the species seems to have occurred further west along the foothills of the Greater Caucasus.

The Jungle Cat has a broad but patchy distribution. The global range of the Jungle Cat extends from Southeast Asia west through India, Southwest and Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and finally into Africa along the Nile River Delta. Out of the European assessment region, in the Russian Northern Caucuses and the Caucuses, the species has small populations in the Cis-Caspian region and the Caucasus along the Caspian Sea from sea level up to 1,000 m (Yarovenko 2014); the species generally occurs up to 300-400 m reaching not more than 800 m (Heptner and Sludskii 1991). The species occurs in Türkiye, but not in the European part of the country. It is also found in the Republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia and North Ossetia (Red Book of the Russian Federation 2021). In Dagestan, the species inhabits the vаllеуs of the Araks and Sunzha rivers and is common along the coast of the Caspian Sea, especially near Samur and near the estuary area of the rivers Sulak and Terek.

The Jungle Cat is a relatively common species throughout much of its range. However, in Europe, it is of marginal occurrence, and the European population has been rapidly declining since the 1960s but survived despite permanent ecological stress and anthropogenic pressure. In Astrakhanskaya Oblast, c.300 individuals are estimated, and in the Kalmyk Republic, not more than 50 individuals are estimated.

There are small populations bordering the European assessment region in the Cis-Caspian region and the Caucasus along the Caspian Sea: North Ossetia (10-15), Chechnya (52-56), Dagestan (100-150).

In the Chechenskaya Republic (North Caucasus, Russia), the number of Jungle Cats is stated to be 52-56 individuals (Red Data Book of Chechenskaya Republik 2020). In the territory of North Ossetia there are not more than 10-15 individuals (Red Book of the North Ossetia 2022). In the Astrakhan Nature Reserve, 14 individuals were registered during 1975-2015 (Strelkov 2016). Marked population fluctuations are characteristic of this species, probably because of the absence of adaptations to cold winters. Despite these fluctuations the long-term trend in Europe is of decline in both population and area of occupancy. Data from Russia suggest that there are about 500 animals left in the wild (Prisazhnyuk and Belousova 2007). A very small population persists in Georgia (I. Macharashvili pers. comm. to K. Tsysulina 2007).

The Jungle Cat lives in wetlands habitats and forests with water and dense vegetative cover, especially reed swamps, marsh, bulrushes and littoral and riparian environments, scrubland, and deciduous dipterocarp forest but also in oases, and along riverbeds, grasslands, shrubby woodland, dry deciduous forest and clearings in moist forests (Gray et al. 2021, Red Book of the Russian Federation 2021). In the Republic of Dagestan (Russian Federation), the favourite habitats of the species are reed thickets, thorn bush thickets and thick lowland forests near water bodies (Yarovenko 2014, Red Book of the Russian Federation 2021).

Heptner and Sludskii (1991), described the diet of the Jungle Cat from the European part of its range (Caucasus-Volga) as a wider variety of small mammals and waterfowl, including Water Voles (Arvicola terrestris), other mouse-like rodents, hares, ground squirrels, shrews, and up to Wild Boar suckers and invasive Nutria (Coypu, Myocastor coypus), various species of ducks, sandpipers, small size herons but also moorhens, pheasants, francolins, partridges and songbirds. The Jungle Cat was reported to feed on turtles, snakes, lizards, fish and carrion, and to prey on chickens and domestic ducks and geese. The main prey, however, was rodents and waterfowl.

Heptner and Sludskii (1991) stated that in the Soviet Union, the fur of the Jungle Cat was considered of limited value and that it was not specifically hunted or trapped, however (opportunistically) persecuted as a predator harming game species such as pheasants, waterfowl, small mammal game or fish. During the 1990s, the species was popular for fur coats. The Jungle Cat is nowadays protected in its European range and put in the Federal and Regional Red Data Books of Russia. The main threats are uncontrolled fires in the early spring and early autumn when the surface part of herbaceous plants is dry. Flat and wide landscapes of deltas generate winds and air moving, which are especially strong during the firing in connection with a temperature gradient. Winters with a long period of thick ice layers can also cause higher mortality of Jungle Cats. During the open water period the anthropogenic disturbance, especially by boats, in the deltas is high which negatively impacts a secretive and vulnerable species such as the Jungle Cat. The main biotic threats for the Jungle Cat are wolves, jackals and shepherd dogs. Jackals are spreading to the southeast due the global warming and climate change. For the last 10 years, the jackal has become a common species in the mountains of Ossetia, Chechnya, in the steppes of Kalmykia, and in the reeds of the Astrakhan region in the delta of the Volga River. Jackals and stray dogs (which can reach very high densities in some areas) can kill litters of Jungle Cats. Jackals and stray dogs are also the main carriers of a number of diseases that can cause the death of Jungle Cats. Decreasing natural landscapes and habitats caused by anthropogenic activities also threaten the Jungle Cat (Red Data Book of Ossetia 2022; Red Data Book of the Russian Federation 2021; Red Data Book of the Chechnya 2020; Red Data Book of the Astrakhanskaya Oblast 2014; Red Data Book of the Dagestan Republik 2009, 2020).

At the global scale, Jungle Cats do well in cultivated landscapes (especially those that lead to increased numbers of rodents) and artificial wetlands. However, reclamation and destruction of natural wetlands, ongoing throughout its range but particularly in the arid areas, still pose a threat to the species, as density in natural wetlands is generally higher (Nowell and Jackson 1996). Nevertheless, the species' response to urbanisation and degradation of low-intensity agricultural landscapes is unclear and merits further research.

During the 1990ties the species was popular for fur coats. The Jungle Cat is nowadays protected in its European range and put in the Federal and Regional Red Data Books of Russia.

The Jungle Cat is listed on CITES Appendix II. The ecology and status of the Jungle Cat is poorly known. This species is considered threatened in a number of range states in Europe, and is included in the Federal Red Data Book of the Russian Federation and regional red books of the Republics of Kalmykia (2013), Dagestan (2020), North Ossetia–Alania (2022), the Chechen Republic (2007, 2020), the Astrakhan Region (2014) and the Stavropol Territory (2013).

The Jungle Cat is a specially protected species in: Astrakhan Region – Astrakhan Biosphere Reserve; Republic of Dagestan – Dagestan Reserve (Kizlyar Bay site), Samursky National Park, Agrakhan Reserve of federal significance, Tarumovsky, Hamamatyurt, Yangiyurt reserves of regional significance, estuary and floodplain complex "Sulak Lagoon"; Chechen Republic – Bragunsky Reserve of regional significance.

The Jungle Cat would benefit from improved protection of natural wetlands and reedbeds, particularly in the more arid parts of its range, and improved legislation prohibiting fur trade and activities preventing fires, as well as vaccination of stray and domestic dogs and cats.