Seven species of representatives of wild cats live in the nature of Turkmenistan: leopard (leopard, gaplan), dune, steppe and reed cats, lynx and caracal, as well as manul (from Mongolian - “wild cat”, from Turkic - “fast”, and also - "Pallas" in honor of the German scientist Peter Pallas, who first described the species).
All of them lead a secretive, most often, nocturnal lifestyle, are listed in the Red Book of Turkmenistan, as well as in the "Red" list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the State Publishing Service of the country reports.
A booklet about the life of cats in the nature of Turkmenistan was published, which was prepared by the scientists of the Kopetdag State Nature Reserve.The educational material was compiled based on the results of many years of research work, during which information was collected and the Red Book representatives of the family were monitored.
Ecologists sought to understand how wild cats are currently known to the inhabitants of mountain settlements, and, therefore, are rare in nature, update the available information about the boundaries of their habitat, as well as identify possible factors of concern that affect the range and conditions of their existence, develop recommendations for conservation, gain a deeper understanding of the features of biology.
The publication was supported by the International Pallas' Cat Conservation Alliance (PICA).