500 Tögrög Manul

The Pallas's cat — Otocolobus manul — is native to the Central Asian steppe and was first described scientifically by Peter Simon Pallas in 1776. Mongolia issued this miniature gold piece as part of a broader wildlife conservation series; the manul remains poorly studied relative to other wild felids, and international attention to its status has increased largely through numismatic and documentary projects rather than field research funding.