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Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum here furry, funny, and fascinating. The Palace's cat

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Speaker 1: is perhaps one of the most expressive felines in the world,

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Speaker 1: and that's saying a lot. These cats famously appear cantankerous,

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Speaker 1: in part due to their flat faces and large eyes

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Speaker 1: with round pupils, a bit more like a human or

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Speaker 1: a monkey than a house cat. With their distinctive black

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Speaker 1: and white markings down their cheeks, drooping whiskers, and long fur,

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Speaker 1: they look like grumpy old men who are unamused with

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Speaker 1: your Shenanigans. Also known as the manual cat after their

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Speaker 1: taxonomical species name Autocolobus manual, these wild cats are only

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Speaker 1: about the size of your average housecat. They look a

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Speaker 1: little larger because they have the longest and densest fur

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Speaker 1: in the feline world. It's mostly solid gray in the winter,

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Speaker 1: but as summer arrives, their coats gain faint stripes and

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Speaker 1: some earth the rusty highlights. But why all that fluff.

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Speaker 1: It's less about making them look larger and more about

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Speaker 1: having a camouflaged winter parka That abundance of long fur

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Speaker 1: helps them stay warm in the frigid temperatures of their

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Speaker 1: high altitude habitat, while keeping them hidden from deadly predators

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Speaker 1: amidst rocky landscapes. Palace's cats are found throughout Central Asia,

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Speaker 1: with the largest populations thought to be in cold, dry

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Speaker 1: parts of Mongolia and Russia, where they've long held a

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Speaker 1: level of celebrity status. They've played the role of mascot

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Speaker 1: for the Moscow Zoo for over thirty years. The name

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Speaker 1: Palace's Cats comes from one Peter Simon Palace, a German

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Speaker 1: zoologist who was the first to describe them. Palace was

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Speaker 1: part of the first Russian Siberian expedition to survey the

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Speaker 1: Russian Empire in the seventeen hundreds. There are also an

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Speaker 1: assortment of birds, other mammals, and plants that bear his name.

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Speaker 1: Their Chile habitat is also the reason for Palace's cat's

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Speaker 1: trademark tiny ears, which bear the same cup shape as

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Speaker 1: other cats, but are much smaller and rounded instead of pointed,

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Speaker 1: increasing their resemblance to cranky muppets. Their genus name, Autocolobus,

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Speaker 1: actually means ugly ears, but whatever you think of them personally,

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Speaker 1: this ear shape plays a crucial part in their survival.

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Speaker 1: For the article this episode is based on How Stuff Works.

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Speaker 1: Spoke via email with Jim Sanderson, the founder and director

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Speaker 1: of the Small Wildcat Conservation Foundation. He explained winter in

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Speaker 1: the Asian Step, especially at high latitudes in Mongolia and

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Speaker 1: North and to Russia and the windswept grasslands of Kazakhstan,

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Speaker 1: can be brutally cold. Large ears, like those of a

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Speaker 1: jack rabbit, give off a lot of body heat, an

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Speaker 1: advantage in the hot desert like the Saunarin Desert, but

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Speaker 1: a disadvantage in cold places. Having no ears would be best,

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Speaker 1: but Pallas's cats must also listen for rodents, so they

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Speaker 1: need ears. Evolution has produced the perfect compromise. During the day,

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Speaker 1: Pallace's cats lounge and dens they create in small caves,

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Speaker 1: rock cracks, and under boulders. At dusk, they emerge to hunt,

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Speaker 1: searching for small prey like pikas, birds, voles, and hares.

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Speaker 1: They're quite cautious, squatting low to the ground or behind

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Speaker 1: rocks to blend in, a behavior which serves as both

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Speaker 1: an advantage for sneaking up on prey as well as

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Speaker 1: protection against predators. But once read into pounds, they're very

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Speaker 1: aggressive in or out of their dens. Palaces cats don't

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Speaker 1: socialize much, and the male cats don't stick around after mating.

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Speaker 1: Younglings will live with their mother and litter for a

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Speaker 1: few months up to a year after birth, and then

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Speaker 1: strike out and stake out their own territory. So is

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Speaker 1: it all the snarky attitude that keeps others away? Not

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Speaker 1: at all, explains Henderson a quote. All thirty three species

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Speaker 1: of small cats and six of seven big cats are solitary.

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Speaker 1: Lions are the single exception. While many feline fans would

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Speaker 1: love to have such a curiously cute furball join their home,

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Speaker 1: the palace's cat isn't suited for domestic life. Not only

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Speaker 1: are they solitary in wild animals that are built to hunt,

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Speaker 1: their health can be in serious jeopardy when removed from

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Speaker 1: their high altitude habitat. A palace's cats have a specialized

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Speaker 1: immune system that allows them to thrive in those high altitudes,

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Speaker 1: but it's not built to fight the increased number of

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Speaker 1: bacteria and viruses found in lower areas, ultimately causing a

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Speaker 1: high mortality rate in captivity. Populations of these cats are

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Speaker 1: in decline and they're currently considered near threatened. Human activity

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Speaker 1: seems to be their greatest threat. Some local peoples do

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Speaker 1: hunt them for their fur, meat and fat, but even

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Speaker 1: just the expansion of human settlements into their habitat has

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Speaker 1: been damaging. Pockets of the cats are now effectively isolated,

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Speaker 1: limiting their gene pools, and measures meant to control rodents

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Speaker 1: like peakas sometimes kill Palaces cats too. Given the dangers

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Speaker 1: of placing Palace's Cats in lower altitude habitats, conservation is

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Speaker 1: a bit tricky in comparison with many other near threatened animals.

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Speaker 1: They're not placed in zoos or other rehabilitation programs as often,

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Speaker 1: so the typical captive breeding approach doesn't increase the population

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Speaker 1: very much. Scientists and wildcat conservation societies continue to do

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Speaker 1: research to better understand and protect the Palace's Cat. Even

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Speaker 1: if you aren't able to trekt to high altitudes in

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Speaker 1: Asia to see one or find one of these fluffy

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Speaker 1: fur balls in a zoo, you can still enjoy a

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Speaker 1: treasure trove of online photos of their beautifully grumpy expressions.

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Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article The Palace's Cat

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Speaker 1: is the original grumpy Wildcat on HowStuffWorks dot com, written

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Speaker 1: by Katiecarmen. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership

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Speaker 1: with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

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Speaker 1: Four more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.