Sample collection
We utilized two distinct sampling strategies for collecting tissues and blood. The first strategy involved fresh tissues collected from live leopard cats captured in Miaoli and Taichung counties from 2017-2020. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology granted permission for the capture project (Permit numbers: 106003, 106014, 107041). The second sampling scheme involved tissues collected from road-killed and rescued leopard cats from 2002-2021. We obtained 184 samples for our analyses. The methods for sample preservation and DNA purification are described in detail in the Supplementary Materials & Methods (SMM).