Some population units are threatened by poaching, prey base decline due to rodent control programs, and habitat fragmentation as a result of mining and infrastructure projects.

As of 2018,[update] 60 zoos in Europe, Russia, North America and Japan participate in Pallas's cat captive breeding programs.

[3][4][5] Several Pallas's cat zoological specimens were subsequently described: Otocolobus was proposed by Johann Friedrich von Brandt in 1842 as a generic name.

[10] In 1951, John Ellerman and Terence Morrison-Scott considered Since 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group recognises only two subspecies as valid taxa, namely:[1] Phylogenetic analysis of the nuclear DNA in tissue samples from all Felidae species revealed that the evolutionary radiation of the Felidae began in Asia during the late Miocene around 14.45 to 8.38 million years ago.

[13] The Pallas's cat is estimated to have genetically diverged from a common ancestor with the genus Prionailurus between 8.55 to 4.8 million years ago based on analysis of nuclear DNA.

[19] The Pallas's cat's range extends from the Caucasus eastward to Central Asia, Mongolia and adjacent parts of Dzungaria and the Tibetan Plateau.

It inhabits montane shrublands and grasslands, rocky outcrops, scree slopes and ravines in areas, where the continuous snow cover is below 15–20 cm (6–8 in).

[14] In the southwestern part of its range, the habitat of the Pallas's cat is affected by cold and dry winters, and moderate to low rainfall in warm summers.

[14] In the central part of its range, it inhabits hilly landscapes, high plateaus and intermontane valleys that are covered by dry steppe or semi-desert vegetation, such as low shrubs and xerophytic grasses.

[17] In January 2020, an individual was sighted about 140 km (90 mi) farther north in Tavush Province; the habitat at this location transitions from semi-desert to montane steppe at an elevation of about 570 m (1,900 ft).

[22] Records in Azerbaijan are limited to a Pallas's cat skin found in Karabakh and a sighting of an individual in Julfa District, both in the late 20th century.

[23] In the same year, a camera trap recorded a Pallas's cat on the southern slopes of the central Alborz Mountains in Khojir National Park shortly after heavy snowfall.

The surrounding area consists of rocky steppe habitat dominated by mountain almond (Prunus scoparia), Astragalus and Artemisia.

[27] In the Hindu Kush, a Pallas's cat was observed sunbathing at the fringe of a rocky high-elevation plain near Dasht-e Nawar in Afghanistan's Koh-i-Baba range in April 2007.

[20] In Pakistan's Qurumber National Park in Gilgit-Baltistan, an individual was recorded on a ridge in a juniper dominated forest at 3,445 m (11,302 ft) in July 2012.

[29] In the Transcaspian Region, its presence was first reported in the Kopet Dag mountains and in the vicinity of the Tedzhen and Murghab Rivers in the late 19th century.

[50] In Shey-Phoksundo National Park, Pallas's cat scat was detected at 5,593 m (18,350 ft) in 2016, the globally highest record to date.

[51] In January 2012, it was recorded for the first time in Bhutan, namely in rolling hills dominated by glacial outwash and alpine steppe vegetation in Wangchuck Centennial National Park.

[53] In 2019, scat samples of two individuals were found in Sagarmatha National Park, providing the first genetic evidence of the cat's presence in the eastern Himalayas.

[39] In an unprotected area in central Mongolia, Pallas's cats were mainly crepuscular between May and August, but active by day from September to November.

[57] Pallas's cats recorded in four study areas in the western Mongolian Altai mountains were also active during the day, but with a lower frequency at sites where livestock was present.

[58] The Pallas's cat is a highly specialised predator of small mammals, which it catches by stalking or ambushing near exits of burrows.

[14] Scat samples of the Pallas's cat collected in the bufferzone of Khustain Nuruu National Park in central Mongolia contained foremost remains of Daurian pika, Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus), Mongolian silver vole (Alticola semicanus) and remains of passerine birds, beetles and grasshoppers.

[60] Scat found in Shey-Phoksundo National Park contained remains of pika species and of woolly hare (Lepus oiostolus).

[62][63] A captive male Pallas's cat housed under natural lighting conditions showed increased aggressive and territorial behaviour at the onset of the breeding season, lasting from September to December.

[56] In Iran, a Pallas's cat was observed using cavities of aged Greek juniper (Juniperus excelsa) as breeding dens for a litter of four kittens.

In Mongolia, the use of the rodenticide bromadiolone in the frame of rodent control measures in the early 21st century poisoned the prey base of carnivores and raptors.

[21] In the Sanjiangyuan region of the Tibetan Plateau, 54,147 km2 (20,906+1⁄4 sq mi) of grassland was poisoned between 2005 and 2009, leading to an estimated loss of 50,000–80,000 tonnes (55,000–88,000 short tons) of pika biomass.

[2] On the IUCN Red List, the Pallas's cat is classified as Least Concern since 2020 because of its wide-spread range and assumed large global population.

[72] Almost half of the kittens born in member zoos died within the first 30 days, reaching the highest mortality rate in captivity of any small wild cat.