The Hidden Wildcat in the Oriental Breed
In an extraordinary piece of research, Sarah Hartwell has discovered that there has been a relatively recent influx of wild cat genes into the Oriental breed. Read about it on this page.
african wildcat
African wild cat dives 30 feet out of tree followed by chasing Caracal
This caracal is hunting the African wild cat. The former is larger and more formidable than the latter but not by a lot. Clearly though the caracal considers the African wild cat prey. The wild cat climbs a tree to try and escape. The caracal follows forcing the wild cat to jump from the …
Why do domestic cats eat mice?
Because at the end of the day they are domesticated North African wildcats and these wild cats primarily live of small mammals such as rodents including mice. The domestic cat has inherited that trait from the wild cat even though first domestication took place around 9,500 years ago. It is as simple as that.
Eighty thousand wildcats buried on banks of Nile
In ancient Egypt, during the cult of Bastet, when the cat was elevated to a god around 1000 to 2000 BC, hundreds of thousands of cats were buried along the banks of the River Nile in great cat cemeteries which contained huge underground vaults. The cats became mummified. It is astonishing to think that …
Is the African wild cat endangered?
The African wild cat is not endangered at 2016. It is categorised as “Least Concern” (see chart below) in the scale of categories concerned the survival of species by the IUCN Red List. Obviously “least concern” means what it says namely that the scientists are, relatively speaking, the least concerned about the survival of …
Two Major Differences Between Domestic and Wild Cat Ancestor
The domestic cat is the same as the North African wildcat in terms of genetics; they both have 19 pairs of chromosomes (38 total). Therefore the domestic and wildcat can mate and produce fertile hybrids. But there are major fertility differences between these cats. Both are seasonal breeders but whereas the female wildcat has …
Caracal hunts African wildcat but he escapes by leaping 30 feet from tree
Location: Kgalagadi National Park, South Africa. Photographer: Tiaan Steynberg (33 years-of-age). The caracal is hunting what appears to be a domestic tabby cat (this is what the newspapers are saying). But is he? Is the hunted cat an African wildcat? He could be because they look very similar. Also it is probable that the …
African Wildcat Conservation Status 2014
The population trend for wildcats in general is downwards. That applies to the African wildcat – the wild ancestor to the domestic cat and an important species for that reason. Incidentally, there are two subspecies of African wildcat: the African wildcat, F. s. lybica, or North African wildcat and the southern African wildcat, F.s. cafra. …
Note: Some older videos on this page were hosted on Vimeo. That account has now been retired, so a few video blocks may appear blank. Thanks for understanding — there’s still plenty of cat content to enjoy!