The jungle cat has a uniformly sandy, reddish-brown or grey fur without spots; melanistic and albino individuals are also known.

Mating behaviour is similar to that in the domestic cat: the male pursues the female in oestrus, seizes her by the nape of her neck and mounts her.

The Baltic-German naturalist Johann Anton Güldenstädt was the first scientist who caught a jungle cat near the Terek River at the southern frontier of the Russian empire, a region that he explored in 1768–1775 on behalf of Catherine II of Russia.

[4][5] In 1778, Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber used chaus as the species name and is therefore considered the binomial authority.

[9] Two years later, Johann Friedrich von Brandt proposed a new species under the name Felis rüppelii, recognising the distinctness of the Egyptian jungle cat.

[11] Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire described a jungle cat from the area of Dehra Dun in northern India in 1844 under the name Felis jacquemontii in memory of Victor Jacquemont.

[14] William Thomas Blanford pointed out the lynx-like appearance of cat skins and skulls from the plains around Yarkant County and Kashgar when he described Felis shawiana in 1876.

[18] A few years later, Alfred Nehring also described a jungle cat skin collected in the Palestine region, which he named Lynx chrysomelanotis.

[19] Reginald Innes Pocock reviewed the nomenclature of felids in 1917 and classified the jungle cat group as part of the genus Felis.

[23] The Russian zoologist Ognev acknowledged Zukowsky's assessment but also suggested that more material is needed for a definite taxonomic classification of this cat.

[25] The British natural historian Ellerman and zoologist Morrison-Scott tentatively subordinated the Maimanah cat skin as a subspecies of Felis chaus.

[27] In the 1930s, Pocock reviewed the jungle cat skins and skulls from British India and adjacent countries.

Based mainly on differences in fur length and colour he subordinated the zoological specimens from Turkestan to Balochistan to F. c. chaus, the Himalayan ones to F. c. affinis, the ones from Cutch to Bengal under F. c. kutas, and the tawnier ones from Burma under F. c. fulvidina.

[2] Results of an mtDNA analysis of 55 jungle cats from various biogeographic zones in India indicate a high genetic variation and a relatively low differentiation between populations.

[27] The coat, sandy, reddish brown or grey, is uniformly coloured and lacks spots; melanistic and albino individuals have been reported from the Indian subcontinent.

White cats observed in the coastline tracts of the southern Western Ghats lacked the red eyes typical of true albinos.

[40] Because of its long legs, short tail and tuft on the ears, the jungle cat resembles a small lynx.

[42] The jungle cat is found in the Middle East, the Caucasus, the Indian subcontinent, central and Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka and in southern China.

[1][43][40] A habitat generalist, the jungle cat inhabits places with adequate water and dense vegetation, such as swamps, wetlands, littoral and riparian areas, grasslands and shrub.

[45][46] In the Palestinian territories, it was recorded in the Nablus, Ramallah, Jericho and Jerusalem Governorates in the West Bank during surveys carried out between 2012 and 2016.

[48] In Pakistan, it was photographed in Haripur, Dera Ismail Khan, Sialkot Districts and Langh Lake Wildlife Sanctuary.

Jungle cats have been estimated to walk 3–6 km (1.9–3.7 mi) at night, although this likely varies depending on the availability of prey.

[55] When it encounters a threat, the jungle cat will vocalise before engaging in attack, producing sounds like small roars – a behavior uncommon for the other members of Felis.

Its prey typically weighs less than 1 kg (2.2 lb), but occasionally includes mammals as large as young gazelles.

Mating behaviour is similar to that in the domestic cat: the male pursues the female in oestrus, seizes her by the nape of her neck and mounts her.

Before parturition, the mother prepares a den of grass in an abandoned animal burrow, hollow tree or reed bed.

[60] Major threats to the jungle cat include habitat loss such as the destruction of wetlands, dam construction, environmental pollution, industrialisation and urbanisation.

[1] Since the 1960s, populations of the Caucasian jungle cat living along the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus range states have been rapidly declining.

[64] However, since the early 1990s, jungle cats are rarely encountered and have suffered drastic declines due to hunting and habitat destruction.

Hunting is prohibited in Bangladesh, China, India, Israel, Myanmar, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Thailand and Turkey.