Extreme Habitat

Pallas cats live in incredibly high altitudes of mountains that span across Central Asia. According to the wildcatconservation.org, this range crosses "from the Caspian Sea through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India to central China, Mongolia and southern Russia," and is shown in the map above. The area the species is found most in is Mongolia. 

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The temperatures of the environment ranges from -50°C to summer temperature of 38°C and the surrounding area can be covered in ~6-8 in. of snow. There isn't much rain and there is a low humidity in the mountains. Avoiding the high levels of snow, especially over 10 in., "Pallas’ cats are primarily nocturnal, resting in shallow rock crevices and dens during the day. They typically rest in steep, rocky, semi-desert areas and hunt in open grasslands where the density and diversity of small mammals are highest," (Murdoch, Munkhzul, and Reading, 2006). Homes for these felines include caves and burrows, including those built by other animals

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The dens that are found are very important to the Pallas cats. This is the den that can be used to hide from predators but will be used to rest, mate, give birth in, raise and feed their kittens, and provide protection from the harsh terrain. Usually, the dens are up high in the mountains crevices and allow them to stay away from being prey by other animals or humans. A study was done on "101 dens used by 21 individual Pallas's cats [...] dens are a critical habitat for Pallas's cats and the availability of suitable den sites is critical for the conservation of the species. Repeated use of maternal dens suggested they may be a limiting resource," (Ross, S., et al., 2010). The species makes use of what they can without expending too much energy and staying out of harm's way. Photo 1 and 3 are from the same study. Photo 1 shows the relative probability of den occurrence in summer and winter from Pallas cats. Photo 3 shows a table that ranks the preference of dens in Mongolia based on several factors including safety, temperature, best, etc.((Ross, S., et al., 2010) Due to many outside threats such as poaching and losing territory to humans it has been harder for Pallas cats to be safe in their dens. 

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Photo above: Pallas's Cat (Manul) - Otocolobus manul - Carnivora

Photo 1 and Photo 2 below

Photo 3 below: Pallas Cat Camera - Bing images