Iriomote cat
| Iriomote cat | |
|---|---|
| Iriomote cat | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Genus: | Prionailurus |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | P. b. iriomotensis
|
| Trinomial name | |
| Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis (Imaizumi, 1967)
| |
| Iriomote cat range | |
The Iriomote cat (Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis) is a subspecies of the leopard cat that lives exclusively on the Japanese island of Iriomote.
It has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008, as the only population comprises fewer than 250 adult individuals, and is considered declining. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment estimated in 2007 that 100–109 individuals remained and classified the subspecies as "facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the near future".
In Japanese, the subspecies is called Iriomote-yamaneko (西表山猫, "Iriomote mountain cat"). In local dialects of the Yaeyama language, it is known as yamamayaa (ヤママヤー, "wild cat" or "forest cat"), yamapikaryaa (ヤマピカリャー, "that which shines in the forest"), and meepisukaryaa (メーピスカリャー, "that which has flashing eyes").