12 Rare Wild Cat Species You Probably Didn't Know Exist

We all know about the wild cats such as lions, tigers, cougars, leopards and even jaguars, but there's a whole world of small and big cats out there, especially a bunch of rare cat breeds that you've probably never heard of.

Clouded Leopard (Neofelis Nebulosa): Clouded leopards, Neofelis nebulosa, are found south of the Himalayas in Nepal, Bhutan, and some areas of northeastern India. Myanmar, southern China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and mainland Malaysia make up the southern parts of its geographic range. Three subspecies are recognized, occupying different regions within the range. Neofelis nebulosa nebulosa is found from southern China to mainland Malaysia; Neofelis nebulosa brachyura formerly lived in Taiwan but is now probably extinct; and Neofelis nebulosa macrosceloides is found from Myanmar to Nepal. Until recently, Neofelis diardi was classified as a subspecies of Neofelis nebulosa, but researchers studying molecular evidence now consider it to be a separate species. Neofelis diardi inhabits the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.