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Potential threats to Mainland Leopard Cat vary across its geographic range, but overall, there is no evidence of any serious threats operating over large areas. Hunting and snaring occur in most parts of Mainland Leopard Cat’s range and is particularly intense in South-east Asia (Gray et al. 2018, Harrison et al. 2016, Willcox et al. 2014). But surveys in areas affected by heavy snaring show the Mainland Leopard Cat to be one of the most resilient species of small carnivores (Willcox et al. 2014). Hence there is little evidence to suggest that hunting and/or snaring is reducing Mainland Leopard Cat’s population at a global scale. The species is traded or hunted for meat in parts of north-east India (Selvan et al. 2013), in parts of Afghanistan (Karlstetter 2008), Bangladesh (S. Chaudhary pers. comm. 2021) and in South-east Asia (Willcox et al. 2014) but there is no evidence that this practice has dramatically reduced the species’ populations in those areas. A recent report shows that from North China to Sichuan, from Jiangxi to Yunnan, and areas like Guangxi and Guangdong showed a lower than expected number of wild Mainland Leopard Cat. The contributing reason behind the population decline in southern China is believed to be hunting for food and fur, however, more recently evidence shows illegal adoption, domestication, and hybrid breeding of Bengal Leopard Cat maybe other main factors (CFCA 2017). In recent years, the data indicate that the hunting pressure on the Chinese Mainland Leopard Cat populations has been dramatically reduced (Yu 2010). Additionally, China’s massive natural forest protection campaign since 1998 may also be very helpful for habitat recovery, which should be beneficial for the Leopard Cat (Yu 2010).

Retaliatory killings in response to perceived poultry depredation are common though not at a rate to threaten its population either locally or globally. Misidentifications (as, for example mistaking the species as Leopard Panthera pardus or Snow Leopard Panthera uncia cub or Fishing Cat Prionailurus viverrinus) leading to lethal anthropogenic responses are common in countries like Bangladesh and Nepal. These perspectives instil fear, resulting in stern retaliatory anthropogenic responses however most of these responses are few and far between, with little impact in the global or even local scale.

Deforestation is potentially an important driver of habitat deterioration and may be a localised threat to Mainland Leopard Cat survival in certain areas such as the eastern Afghanistan. Habitat loss or deterioration from other countries in its range has also been documented. Also, a recent study using ecological niche models suggests that the primary macroscale factors that negatively impact Leopard Cat are, climate change and human induced habitat degradation (Silva et al. 2020). However, its occurrence in areas without actual forests indicates that this is less of a threat than previously perceived. In Thailand, it is presumed to have higher mortality due to increased proximity to humans (Haines et al. 2004), but recent research in China shows much better adaptation by the species to human disturbance (Wu et al. 2018). The species’ overall tolerance to human disturbance allows for a much wider population of the species than would be the case if it inhabited in areas infrequented by humans. The species’ ability to disperse between the many isolated forest fragments in which it currently occurs is unknown, though available evidence suggests it may be limited in Taiwan (Chen et al. 2016). By contrast, in southern Korea, the species disperses freely across non-forest landscapes as shown by its strong colonisation of newly-reclaimed areas of formerly intertidal habitat converted to rice fields and brackish wetlands. In principle, inter-patch dispersal ability depends on the structure and composition of the surrounding matrix and overall landscape permeability, features that can be both site- and period-specific (Metzger and Décamps 1997). As such, the long-term viability of isolated populations living within many forest fragments is uncertain and probably variable.

Free roaming dogs, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) transmission from feral cats and reduced prey availability can also threaten the Mainland Leopard Cat in specific areas, such as for example the population on Tsushima island, Japan (Ministry of the Environment of the Government of Japan, no date). Protoparvovirus have also been found in Mainland Leopard Cat in China (Chen et al. 2019). Road kills in and around protected areas and forests is another visible potential issue for the Mainland Leopard Cat in some areas (Kim et al. 2019, Chen et al. 2016, Baskaran and Bhoominathan 2010, Izawa et al. 2009), though it is presumably not a prominent overall threat at the moment.

Conservation measures tailored to the Mainland Leopard Cat are scarce, except the protected areas which provide safe refuge to the species, often under the umbrella of other keystone species. Generally, its population trend and status is not well known. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Leopard Cat is data deficient, hence the first concrete steps in these countries would be the systematic assessment of the species’ current range, abundance and threats. Its status in other countries of its geographic range is relatively more common though a comprehensive assessment in China regarding the illegal trade of the species would be a good step. In China, the species has been listed as Category II of National Key Protected Wild Animals (2021). The populations of the species in nature reserves are under protection, and it has been listed as Vulnerable in the China's Red List of Biodiversity (Jiang et al. 2021). Systematic monitoring of potential threats to the species is really the primary need, in case any of them should change into serious threats.

Generally, the species is widely reported and presumably abundant in Nepal, India, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. Thus, dedicated conservation measures targeting this species are rare in these countries. One of the important conservation initiatives for the Mainland Leopard Cat includes enlisting the species in the schedule I of National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973 in Nepal. The species is also protected in Bangladesh, included in schedule I of the Wildlife (Conservation and Protection) Act 2012. Myanmar too has provided complete protection to the species according to the newly updated Conservation of Biodiversity and Protected Area Law (2018). In Japan the species has been declared a National Nature Monument in 1971 and an endangered species in 1994 and a conservation project plan has been initiated since 1995. The species is listed in the schedule I of the Forest and Nature Conservation Act of Bhutan 1995. Hence, hunting or trade of any sort is completely prohibited in the country.

Since the species is not highly sought after by researchers it will be a great initiative if researchers from across its global range collaborate to produce a range-wide estimation of its habitat suitability including the already existing presence data of the species.