This feline was last seen in the republic in the 1920s. Since then, the Pallas' cat was included in the Red Book of Armenia, and many experts considered it a species that was exterminated on the territory of this country.
Marina Karapetyan, a representative of the Caucasus Nature Fund, said that WWF specialists were able to film a manul in the Tavush region in northeastern Armenia, about 140 kilometers from the nearest historical settlements.
Pallas' cat is one of the rarest mammals in Armenia, and many even considered it an exterminated species. The animal was last seen in the 1920s-1930s in the south-west of the republic. Also, biologists managed to find his skin in 1996.
Pallas's cat recorded in Armenia in January 2020 (footage by an anonymous hunter)
Suitable habitats for the species in Armenia are limited: scientists believe that there are only five small areas in the country suitable for Pallas' cat. The largest area of potential habitat is the western borders of the Khosrov Forest State Reserve.
Pallas' cat is a predatory cat that lives in the steppes and mountainous regions of Central Asia, Siberia, the Middle East and the Caucasus. Over the past 10-15 years, the Pallas' cat in the open steppes has been practically exterminated, and its range is acquiring the appearance of isolated foci. In addition, until the early 1970s, only two Pallas cats were registered in the Transcaucasus: both were found near the Aras River in northwestern Iran.