Tiny cats, big landscapes: My manul summer story 📸

Plus where we're sending June's FUZZ Funds donation

By Dan Fletcher

After a whirlwind journey through Mongolia and a subsequent battle with a stubborn cold, I'm finally back and eager to share the story and pictures from my summer expedition to the steppe.

The landscape was unrecognizable compared to my February visit — not just because temperatures had soared 140 degrees (literally), but because the steppe was alive in a way that only a brief summer can bring.

This is the season when mother manuls guard their kittens in rocky dens, watching as their young take their first tentative steps into the world. Over just a week of observation, we witnessed one family of kittens transform from bird-wary balls of fur to confident rock-hoppers, their mother keeping a vigilant watch. Out here, you grow up fast or you don't grow up at all.

The family we followed most closely was a trio of kittens — two adventurous and one perpetually cautious. Unlike many manul dens where the mother remains invisible, this one was a constant, powerful presence. We watched her hunt with remarkable precision, taking down vole after vole. Most kills were for her own survival, but occasionally she'd bring prey back to the den, a critical teaching moment for her young. (We named her Nutella, after the one bit of western comfort present at our breakfasts each morning.)

From our camouflaged photo blind, we witnessed an intimate portrait of steppe survival. Though Nutella was aware of our presence, she remained remarkably calm — at one point, she nursed all three kittens in full view, her penetrating gaze a clear reminder that we were guests in her harsh, unforgiving world. In that moment, surrounded by rocky outcroppings and windswept grass, we were witnessing something awesome: the quiet, fierce resilience of a manul mom. These cats are small, twitchy and slow, but they’re tough — no other cat, big or small, can endure the scorching summer heat and the bitter winter cold like they can.

The wildlife was spectacular beyond just the cats. Corsac foxes darted between burrows, migratory Eurasian hoopoes arrived at their summer breeding grounds, and we even caught a glimpse of a Eurasian eagle-owl fledgling resting near its ground nest, parents perched protectively on the nearby hillside.

This particular stretch of steppe offered a reprieve from some of the typical threats these creatures face. Herding dogs — a significant danger to manuls — were notably absent, and the local Steppe Wildlife Center has been doing remarkable work monitoring population health, reintroducing marmots, and educating local villagers about the unique species sharing their landscape. (They also hosted us in traditional gers, which I navigated with varying degrees of success — mostly involving me repeatedly bumping my head on the tiny doorframe.)

Because of the incredible work I witnessed firsthand, we're sending our June FUZZ Funds donation of $298 to the Steppe Wildlife Center. A fuller update on FUZZ’s summer plans is coming Wednesday — we’re hitting the road and making some films! — but for now, I wanted to share a few of my favorite moments from this extraordinary trip, a thank you for supporting these tiny, tenacious cats in one of the world's most remote landscapes.