Small paws, huge steppes
Why manuls command enormous ranges
Manuls are small — probably a lot smaller than you think if your only exposure to them has been photos on the internet. Weighing between 5 - 11 lbs (2.5 - 5 kg), they’re about the size of a house cat. But thanks to their absurdly dense fur (the densest of any feline!), they look much bigger than they actually are. Really poofy little things. But what they lack in size, they more than make up for in territory.
Despite their short, stubby legs, manuls cover massive areas. The average male manul travels around a territory of 100 km² — which is staggering for a cat this size. Between 2005 and 2007, a study in Mongolia tracked 29 manuls using lightweight radio collars, in an effort to understand how they move across their vast steppe habitat. The collars emitted signals that the researchers could pick up with receivers — think of this like a high-tech version of Marco Polo, but with a lot of very unimpressed wild cats. Using these signals, scientists mapped out the areas where manuls spent 95% of their time throughout the year (defining their home range).
The results? Some manuls really get around! The largest home range observed in the study for a single male was 207 km². That’s two times the size of Paris. And since this study was conducted in just one part of Mongolia, it’s likely that some manuls roam even farther.
Male and female manuls use space very differently. For female manuls, real estate is smaller (on average 23 km²) and rather exclusive — the study found that female territories rarely overlapped with each other. Meanwhile, males take a more expansive approach, overlapping with both rival males and potential mates. This pattern is common among solitary carnivores, where males roam widely to maximize breeding opportunities, while females set up shop and wait for suitors to make the trek to them.
For perspective, the average outdoor house cat has a home range of just 0.08 km², according to one study. European wildcats range from 2 km² for females and 14 km² for males, according to another. On the other hand, cheetahs, a much larger and faster species, display highly variable home ranges depending on habitat. In southern African woodlands, they may occupy territories of around 30 km², but in more open and desolate environments, where resources are scarcer, their ranges can reach a mind-boggling 1,500 km². This variation is largely driven by habitat type and prey availability.
The average male manul range is 1,250 times larger than an outdoor domestic cat’s range, or put another way, it’s the size of 14,000 soccer fields — an area larger than Manhattan!
On the surface, their huge ranges make sense — they inhabit wind-swept steppe regions where prey is sparse and well-hidden. But, from my perspective, the most interesting insight from the Mongolia study is that unlike many predators, manuls don’t seem to expand their range based on prey availability. They do it to find good hiding spots to avoid predation. And even in the winter when prey is rare, their home ranges don’t seem to increase, meaning manuls are more constrained by habitat structure than by food. A manul’s worst enemy isn’t hunger — it’s being seen.
These cats are not built for speed like servals or cheetahs. Instead, their survival strategy is to stick to rocky cover, minimize exposure, and hide. Eagles, foxes, wolves, and even dogs will take the chance at a manul meal. This explains why they favor rocky terrain over the open steppe, even if food may be more abundant and accessible in open areas.
A cat’s home range isn’t just a piece of trivia — it’s critical to understanding conservation needs. The size of a species’ range is directly tied to prey availability, habitat quality, and potential human interactions. The fact that manuls require such large, connected territories means that habitat fragmentation (think roads, settlements, and farmland) could pose serious risks to their survival.
When you see a manul, you’d never guess it was capable of such epic adventures. Especially when you see one grumpily napping, looking like it hasn’t moved in hours.
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