- Where to see one
- 3 U.S. zoos in our directory hold small cat, confirmed against each zoo's own animal list.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated
This species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List, so it sits outside the threat scale entirely.
About the small cat
Small cats belong to Felidae, the family of mammals commonly called cats, which has 41 recognised living species. Cats have slender, muscular bodies, retractile claws and a powerful bite, and all are obligate carnivores. Most are solitary predators that ambush or stalk their prey. Different species are adapted to forests, savannas, arid country, wetlands and mountains, and their activity ranges from nocturnal to diurnal. The smallest living cats are the rusty-spotted cat, at 0.9 to 1.6 kg, and the black-footed cat, whose recorded weight tops out at 2.45 kg. Cats show more variety in fur pattern than any other land carnivore.
Small Cat facts
- Felid eyes are about six times more light-sensitive than human eyes, thanks to a reflective layer called the tapetum lucidum.
- Cats cannot detect the sweetness of sugar because they lack the sweet taste receptor.
- Only lions, leopards, tigers and jaguars can truly roar; clouded leopards can neither purr nor roar.
- The black-footed cat has a head-to-body length of just 36.7 to 43.3 cm.
Where to see small cat in the U.S.
3 zoos across 2 states
Find the closest one
Rank the 2 zoos holding small cat by how far they are from you. Your location is used in your browser to sort this list and is never sent to us.
1 more zoo holds small cat but has no coordinates on file yet, so it isn't ranked here. It's in the full list below.
AZAThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Accredited members have passed an independent inspection of animal care and welfare, safety, conservation and education, repeated every five years. Many smaller facilities never apply, so “not accredited” isn't a verdict on its own. What accreditation means · How we check this
Built from each zoo's own published animal list.
