Apologies if this doesn't fall under the category of "unidentified" as the image is well-known, but I'm referring to its origin. My friends and I have been discussing whether this image of a kitten is edited or not, with one insisting on finding the original, "unedited" photo. While I'm 99% sure it's not doctored and the cat really just looks like that, I am very interested in finding its origin. Who took this picture?
From the small amount of searching I did, it looks like it's a baby Pallas' cat (Manul), with one of its earliest appearances in a Russian forum (easily found through TinEye), but that's about it. Any other information is appreciated!