This wild cat's a real sourpuss: Fierce feline's glare makes her a favourite with zoo visitors (but not with the other animals)



Zurich Zoo's Pallas's cat greets visitors with a scowl

The animals are around the same size as domestic cats, but stockier

They are not known to necessarily be any grumpier



This zoo animal's wild mood swings have earned her a reputation as a real sourpuss.

The cranky cat, who lives in Zurich Zoo, had often been overlooked for more exotic creatures like lions and tigers.

But now her reputation for being grumpy has made her a firm favourite.

What a sourpuss: Zurich Zoo's Pallas's cat has earned a reputation for greeting visitors with an angry glare

Stroke me, I dare you: Bob Lima says he's seen people trying to cheer her up by talking to her and waving

Wild: She just gives a fierce glare back in response, he says

The animal is a Pallas's cat, also called the manul, a kind of small wild cat broadly distributed around the grassland and steppes of central Asia.

They are about the same size as domestic cats, but slightly stockier with shorter legs and flatter faces, and long, dense fur. They are not known to be any grumpier, necessarily.

Bob Lima, 38, from Zurich, photographed this fierce feline on a day out in the zoo.

He says he's even spotted people stopping near her cage trying to cheer her up by trying to talk to her and waving; she just gives an angry glare in response.

Cranky: Pallas's cats are about the same size as domestic cats, but slightly stockier

Fierce: But they are slightly stockier, with shorter legs, a flatter face, and long, dense fur

Perhaps she wants to go home? The small wild cats come from the grassland and steppes of central Asia

'I'm sure she has a name but 'grumpy' would be more suitable - I have never seen an animal behave like this it is very funny to see,' he said.

'She lives alone in her cage but that doesn't seem to influence her moods as she was already looking displeased when living with her tom cat previously.

'Her expressions vary from anger and displeasure to irritability and crankiness which is almost humanlike.



'Other zoo visitors often feel pity for her and try to cheer her up but she is too sour.

'I always have a good laugh with her, she looks constantly annoyed and reminds me of some fellow humans hopping mad because of nothing.'

Prized by hunters for their plush fur, Pallas's cats have been been classified as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2002.