Wildcat Information
www.tigerace.com/info_wildcat.html
Species: Felis silvestris and/or Felis lybica
Sub-species: silvestris, lybica, catus, grampia, ornata, chutuchta, vellerosa (and more)
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Conservation status: Though some wildcat sub-species are threatened (eg. Scottish Wildcat), none are critically endangered. The main threat to this adaptable animal is loss of genetic purity by interbreeding with domestic cats. It is also a victim of culling and revenge-killing for preying upon domestic fowl.
Distribution: Wildcats can be found in southern Europe, Scotland, Africa and western Asia.
Size: With a body length of 50–75 cm and a tail length of 21–35 cm, wildcats can measure up to 110 cm long. Wildcats usually way between three and eight kilograms.
Appearance: Some wildcats have the appearance of a heavily built domesticated tabby cat. Others, particularly the African sub-species are slighter with coat colours ranging from sandy or gray to ochre brown. The Scottish wildcat subspecies generally has a broader head and a shorter blunt-tipped tail than domesticated cats. Due to interbreeding between wildcats and domestic cats, it is sometimes difficult to classify an animal as one or the other.
History: One of the African sub-species, Felis Silvestris lybica, is probably the ancestor of modern, domesticated cats. Today, the African wildcat often lives in close proximity to humans and its young can easily be tamed. In contrast, European wildcats usually avoid people and are said to be untamable.
Common Names/Species list*:
Felis silvestris brockmani - African Wildcat East Africa
Felis silvestris cafra - African Wildcat Southern Africa
Felis silvestris caucasia - Wildcat (Caucasian Mountains and Turkey)
Felis silvestris caudata - Asiatic Wildcat (Caspian Sea area)
Felis silvestris chutuchta - Asiatic Wildcat (southern Gobi)
Felis silvestris foxi - African Wildcat West Africa
Felis silvestris grampia - Scottish Wildcat (Northern Scotland)
Felis silvestris griselda - African Wildcat Central Africa
Felis silvestris jordansi - African Wildcat Majorcan wild cat
Felis silvestris lybica - African Wildcat (North Africa)
Felis silvestris ocreata - African Wildcat East Central Africa
Felis silvestris ornata - Indian Desert Cat (India to Iran)
Felis silvestris pyrrhus - African Wildcat West Central Africa
Felis silvestris sarda - African Wildcat Sardinia and Sicily wild cats
Felis silvestris shawiana - Asiatic Wildcat (China and Mongolia)
Felis silvestris silvestris - European Wildcat
Felis silvestris vellerosa - Ordos Cat (south-eastern Mongolia)
Sources: The Noble Cat by Howard Loxton, CITES, Time magazine (August 23, 2004), Pocket Cats by David Alderton (Dorling Kindersley, 1995), Wild cats of the world by David Alderton (Blandford, 1998).
If you are not sure of some of the terminology used on this site,
click here for an excellent glossary at Lion Crusher.com.
Copyright: All elements on this website are copyright. More information.
You may not use anything from this website without contacting me for permission.
* Nb. as with the classification of many animals, and especially the cat family, there are some discrepancies about the best way to classify wildcats. Some texts place all the wildcat sub-species as Felis silvestris xxxx, whereas others list the European wildcats under the classification of Felis silvestris xxxx and the African wildcats under Felis lybica xxxx. I have chosen the former for simplicity, however you will notice that on my 'information' page, each count as one of the 36 species. So if it is decided these animals only represent one species, perhaps that means there are only 35 wild cat species, not the commonly reported 36.
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