In China, Mongolia and Russia, the Pallas's cat used to be hunted for its fur in large numbers of more than 10,000 skins annually. In China and the former Soviet Union, hunting of the Pallas's cat decreased in the 1970s when it became legally protected. Mongolia exported 9,185 skins in 1987, but international trade has ceased since 1988. However, domestic trade of its skins and body parts for medicinal purposes continues in the country, and it may be hunted throughout the year.