[3][4] The fur of the Iriomote cat is mostly dark gray and light brown, with lighter hair on the belly and insides of the limbs.

[5] In addition to this, unlike most other subtropical mammals, Iriomote cats' teeth give details about their year-to-year history.

[6][7][8][12][13][14] Iriomote consists predominantly of low mountains ranging 300–460 m (980–1,510 ft) in elevation with subtropical evergreen forest, including extensive belts of mangrove along the waterways.

Their prey also includes a wide range of birds, such as the Eastern spot-billed duck, slaty-legged crake, Eurasian scops-owl, pale thrush, and white-breasted waterhen.

[6][8][9][13] As their hunting grounds tend to be in swamps or on shores, they sometimes swim and dive to catch water birds, fish, and freshwater prawns.

[11][18] The mating season lasts from December to March, and females go into heat several times during this period, with the peak being in January and February.

[27] He at first assumed that, like reports of the extinct Japanese wolf, people must have been mistaking escaped and feral house pets for wild animals.

[27] He returned to Koura and sent the two skins, the feces, and the skull to Yoshinori Imaizumi at the National Museum of Nature and Science where The Mammalogical Society of Japan (日本哺乳動物学会, Nihon Honyū Dōbutsu Gakkai) examined the remains.

[27] In June 1965, Togawa returned to Iriomote with Koura in order to obtain a complete set of remains, a live specimen, and information regarding the cat's ecology.

[28] In May 1965, prior to Togawa's return to the island, a group of children from Ōhara Elementary School (大原小学校) on a field trip to the southern part of the island found a weakened, injured male Iriomote cat at the base of the small Maaree Waterfall (マーレー滝, Maaree Taki) on Haemita Beach (南風見田の浜, Haemita no Hama).

[5][28] In addition to this example, the scientists also were able to obtain the crushed skull of a kitten from the neighboring Yubu Island that was later reconstructed by Imaizumi.

[29] In January 1966, the body of an Iriomote cat that had been caught in a wild boar trap in the mid-basin of the Nakama River was sent to Koura at the University of the Ryukyus, but there was no more information regarding captures for some time after this.

[5] On January 15, 1966, local hunters caught a young female Iriomote cat near Nakama Mountain (仲間山, Nakama-yama).

[29] At the persuasion of the director of the District Forestry Office, the hunters accepted an award within the budget as a "daily allowance" or "finder's fee".

[29] During this time, the mayor of Taketomi was making negotiations with the Southern Japan Liaison Offices (南方連絡事務所, Nanpō Renraku Jimusho) and the Ryukyu government.

[29] With Togawa pressuring the newspapers and Yoshinori Imaizumi urging the Ryukyuan government and Southern Japan Liaison Offices through the Ministry of Education, the Southern Japan Liaison Offices denied the possibility of giving the cats to the emperor, and the Ryukyuan government persuaded the mayor not to follow through with his plans.

[31] In contrast to Imaizumi's assertions about its unique characteristics, other researchers strongly disputed the idea that the Iriomote cat is its own species ever since its discovery.

[13][35] Destruction of habitat due to development, predation by dogs, traffic accidents, and traps set for wild boar and crabs all contribute to the decline in number of Iriomote cats.

The report attached to the letter (written by Professor Leyhausen) suggested outlawing any further migration to the island as well as banning the cultivation of the land.

[11] In response, Crown Prince Akihito said that he wished for a way that would allow for the preservation of the cats and the continued habitation of people on the island.

[11] In 1972, the National Museum of Nature and Science prepared for researching the ecology of Iriomote cats, and in November 1973 the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Ministry of the Environment conducted a joint preliminary investigation regarding the cat's ecology,[2][5] and from 1974 the Ministry of the Environment conducted a comprehensive investigation that lasted three years.

[2] In 1979, the EPA began a three-year-long feeding operation in order to increase the survival rate of kittens,[11] but these actions have received some criticism.

In 1977, a prefectural road was built that circles half of the island, which has led to a few Iriomote cat deaths every year due to traffic accidents.

[13][47] However, many residents have objected to restrictions on land cultivation and improvement brought about by the measures in place to protect the Iriomote cat and other species on the island.

[11] On August 6, 1996, a male kitten that would later be known as Yon was taken into care at the Iriomote Wildlife Protection Center after being involved in a traffic accident.

[24] On August 6, 1996, a young Iriomote cat was involved in a traffic accident near Nadara Bridge on the northern part of the island.

Originally labeled W-48 due to the fact that he was the forty-eighth confirmed sighting of an Iriomote cat on the western part of the island, he eventually was given the name Yon.

[48] From the beginning, Yon's caretakers took careful measures in order to avoid acclimation to humans so that one day he could be released back into the wild.

[53] The comedy manga series Azumanga Daioh and subsequent animated adaptation by Kiyohiko Azuma features an Iriomote kitten named Mayaa.

As their class go on a school trip in Okinawa, the main characters decide to visit the Iriomote island where Sakaki bonds with Mayaa, and ends up raising it.