Wild cat
Encyclopedia
The wildcat is a small cat
with several subspecies
and a very broad distribution, found throughout most of Africa
, Europe
, and southwest
and central Asia
into India
, China
, and Mongolia
. It is a hunter of small mammals, birds, and other creatures of a similar or smaller size. Sometimes included is the ubiquitous domestic cat (as F. s. catus), which has been introduced to every habitable continent and most of the world's larger island
s, and has become feral
in many of those environments.
In its native environment, the wildcat is adaptable to a variety of habitat types: savannah
, open forest, and steppe
.
Genetic, morphological and archaeological evidence suggests that the housecat was domesticated from the African wildcat, probably 9-10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent
region of the Near East
, coincident with the rise of agriculture and the need to protect harvests from grain-eating rodents. This domestication
probably occurred when grain was yielded from the Agricultural Revolution
onwards, which was stored in granaries that attracted rodents, which in turn attracted cats.
The closest relative of the wildcat is the Sand Cat
(Felis margarita).
(all-black) individuals have been reported, but are probably the result of hybridisation with domestic cats.
Wildcats range from 36.5 to 80 cm (14.4 to 31.5 in) in head-and-body length, with an additional 21 to 45 cm (8.3 to 17.7 in) of tail. The standing height at the shoulder ranges from 25 to 40 cm (9.8 to 15.7 in). Weights can vary considerably, with smaller races weighing as little as 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) and larger races up to 13 kg (28.7 lb), although few are over 8 kg (17.6 lb). However, most wildcats weigh between 3 and 6 kg (6.6 and 13.2 lb). The African and Asian subspecies tend to be more slender than the European wildcat, with shorter hair of a lighter brown colour.
Wildcats also have the same range of vocalisations as domestic cats, including purring, meowing, hissing, and growling. Except during the mating season, they tend to be quiet animals, vocalising only when close to each other.
, Ireland
and some of the smaller islands. Relict
populations now survive in scattered locations across Europe, from Portugal
and northern Scotland
to Turkey
and the Carpathian Mountains
. Populations also survive on Sicily
, and Sardinia
. The African subspecies are found throughout the continent, avoiding only the deserts and dense tropical forests, and also in the Middle East
, ranging as far as Iran
. The Asian wildcat lives further east, from Pakistan
and north-west India
in a band through central Asia as far as Mongolia
.
As might be expected, given their wide distribution, wildcats are able to adapt to a range of different habitats. They require some degree of cover from which to stalk or ambush their prey, but almost any form of cover is suitable, including scrubland, rocky terrain, or agricultural land. They are commonly found in deciduous or tropical woodland, but also inhabit heathland, savannah, and swamp. They avoid areas with heavy winter snowfall, or where there is a limited supply of water.
As of 2007, the following subspecies are recognized:
Wildcats compete with fox
, marten
, Golden jackal
, and jungle cat
. Where their ranges overlap in the Caucasus
, jungle cats inhabit lowland sections while wildcats reside in beech forests on the mountain slopes; at exact places where one of these two species exists, the other is altogether absent or only a few individuals are found. Marten
s kill many young wildcats in Central Europe, and forest martens have occasionally killed and eaten adult wildcats.
s and plants are minor parts of its diet. Regardless of subspecies, most of its prey consists of small mammals, mainly rodents and rabbit
s, with lizard
s being the third most common prey in Portugal
, and bird
s the least common. Wildcats are, however, opportunistic predators, and have also been observed to eat amphibians, fish, weasels, scorpion
s, and even young roe deer
or antelope
s.
from 56 to 69 days, tending to be slightly shorter in the African subspecies than in the European wildcat.
The mother prepares an underground den or other sheltered location before giving birth. In the wild, litter sizes range from one to five kittens, with three or four being the most common. The kittens weigh between 75 and 150 g (2.6 and 5.3 oz) at birth, and are blind and helpless. They are initially spotted, but the spots may fuse into stripes as the cat ages. The eyes open after seven to twelve days, and they begin to hunt live prey at ten to twelve weeks of age. They are fully weaned at two months, begin to live independently after about three months, and have dispersed to establish their own territories within a year, by which time they are sexually mature.
Wildcats live up to sixteen years in captivity.
The main central European population is in the Eifel
mountains of Germany. There have been reintroduction efforts in Southern Germany. The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
(EAZA) is trying to establish a European studbook for the species, which would contain data on the captive population in its member institutions. The wildcat was part of the EAZA European Carnivore Campaign http://www.carnivorecampaign.eu/, running from 2008–2010, with the goal of furthering the acceptance for living together with carnivores and ultimately supporting various field projects in Europe on each of the sixteen chosen species.
, and Felis silvestris used by Aldrovandi
. In his description, he compared features of domestic and wild cats, of which he thought that they are native only to Europe and adjacent Asia, not far beyond the Black Sea
.
Between 1777 and 1943, different authors described 40 more wildcats from different parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. The following wildcats were described from European countries:
The Cretan Wildcat
was described in 1953 by Theodor Haltenorth
.
The wildcats described from Asian countries include:
The wildcats described from African countries include:
Felinae
Felinae is a subfamily of the family Felidae which includes the genera and species listed below. Most are small to medium-sized cats, although the group does include some larger animals, such as the Cougar and Cheetah....
with several subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
and a very broad distribution, found throughout most of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and southwest
Southwest Asia
Western Asia, West Asia, Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia are terms that describe the westernmost portion of Asia. The terms are partly coterminous with the Middle East, which describes a geographical position in relation to Western Europe rather than its location within Asia...
and central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
into India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
. It is a hunter of small mammals, birds, and other creatures of a similar or smaller size. Sometimes included is the ubiquitous domestic cat (as F. s. catus), which has been introduced to every habitable continent and most of the world's larger island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s, and has become feral
Feral cat
A feral cat is a descendant of a domesticated cat that has returned to the wild. It is distinguished from a stray cat, which is a pet cat that has been lost or abandoned, while feral cats are born in the wild; the offspring of a stray cat can be considered feral if born in the wild.In many parts of...
in many of those environments.
In its native environment, the wildcat is adaptable to a variety of habitat types: savannah
Savannah
Savannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-People:* Savannah King, a Canadian freestyle swimmer* Savannah Outen, a singer who gained popularity on You Tube...
, open forest, and steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
.
Genetic, morphological and archaeological evidence suggests that the housecat was domesticated from the African wildcat, probably 9-10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent, nicknamed "The Cradle of Civilization" for the fact the first civilizations started there, is a crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia. The term was first used by University of Chicago...
region of the Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
, coincident with the rise of agriculture and the need to protect harvests from grain-eating rodents. This domestication
Domestication
Domestication or taming is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of selection, becomes accustomed to human provision and control. In the Convention on Biological Diversity a domesticated species is defined as a 'species in which the evolutionary process has been...
probably occurred when grain was yielded from the Agricultural Revolution
Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution was the first agricultural revolution. It was the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlement. Archaeological data indicates that various forms of plants and animal domestication evolved independently in 6 separate locations worldwide circa...
onwards, which was stored in granaries that attracted rodents, which in turn attracted cats.
The closest relative of the wildcat is the Sand Cat
Sand Cat
The sand cat , also referred to as the "sand dune cat", is a small wild cat distributed over African and Asian deserts. The Sand cat lives in arid areas that are too hot and dry even for the African Wildcat: the Sahara, the Arabian Desert, and the deserts of Iran and...
(Felis margarita).
Characteristics
The wildcat physically resembles a domesticated cat in most respects. Although domesticated breeds show a great variety of shapes and colours, wild species are pale yellow to medium-brown with black stripes or spots. The underparts are light grey,and sometimes marked with black spots. MelanisticMelanism
Melanism is an undue development of dark-colored pigment in the skin or its appendages, and the opposite of albinism. It is also the medical term for black jaundice.The word is deduced from the , meaning black pigment....
(all-black) individuals have been reported, but are probably the result of hybridisation with domestic cats.
Wildcats range from 36.5 to 80 cm (14.4 to 31.5 in) in head-and-body length, with an additional 21 to 45 cm (8.3 to 17.7 in) of tail. The standing height at the shoulder ranges from 25 to 40 cm (9.8 to 15.7 in). Weights can vary considerably, with smaller races weighing as little as 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) and larger races up to 13 kg (28.7 lb), although few are over 8 kg (17.6 lb). However, most wildcats weigh between 3 and 6 kg (6.6 and 13.2 lb). The African and Asian subspecies tend to be more slender than the European wildcat, with shorter hair of a lighter brown colour.
Wildcats also have the same range of vocalisations as domestic cats, including purring, meowing, hissing, and growling. Except during the mating season, they tend to be quiet animals, vocalising only when close to each other.
Distribution and habitat
The European wildcat was once found throughout Europe, excluding far northern ScandinaviaScandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and some of the smaller islands. Relict
Relict
A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.* In biology a relict is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas....
populations now survive in scattered locations across Europe, from Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and northern Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
. Populations also survive on Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, and Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
. The African subspecies are found throughout the continent, avoiding only the deserts and dense tropical forests, and also in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, ranging as far as Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. The Asian wildcat lives further east, from Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and north-west India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in a band through central Asia as far as Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
.
As might be expected, given their wide distribution, wildcats are able to adapt to a range of different habitats. They require some degree of cover from which to stalk or ambush their prey, but almost any form of cover is suitable, including scrubland, rocky terrain, or agricultural land. They are commonly found in deciduous or tropical woodland, but also inhabit heathland, savannah, and swamp. They avoid areas with heavy winter snowfall, or where there is a limited supply of water.
Distribution of subspecies
- European wildcatEuropean WildcatThe European Wildcat is a subspecies of the wildcat that inhabits forests of Western, Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, as well as Scotland, Turkey and the Caucasus Mountains; it has been extirpated from Scandinavia, England, and Wales. Some authorities restrict F. s...
(Schreber, 1775) — was formerly very widely distributed in EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and absent only from FennoscandiaFennoscandiaFennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland...
; - African wildcat (ForsterGeorg ForsterJohann Georg Adam Forster was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific...
, 1780) — occurs across northern AfricaNorth AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, and extends around the periphery of the Arabian PeninsulaArabian PeninsulaThe Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
to the Caspian SeaCaspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
; - Southern African wildcat (DesmarestAnselme Gaëtan DesmarestAnselme Gaëtan Desmarest was a French zoologist and author. He was the son of Nicolas Desmarest and father of Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest...
, 1822) — occurs in Southern AfricaSouthern AfricaSouthern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
; - Asiatic wildcat (GrayJohn Edward GrayJohn Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....
, 1830) — occurs from the eastern Caspian into western IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and north to KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, and into western China and southern Mongolia; - Chinese Alpine Steppe cat (Milne-EdwardsHenri Milne-EdwardsHenri Milne-Edwards was an eminent French zoologist.Henri Milne-Edwards was the 27th child of William Edwards, an English planter and militia colonel in Jamaica and Elisabeth Vaux, a French. He was born in Bruges, Belgium, where his parents had retired. At that time, Bruges was a part of the...
, 1872) — occurs in western China, and is primarily found in Qinghai province, and possibly also northwestern Sichuan province.
Ecology and behaviour
The wildcat is extremely wary of humans, and avoids approaching human settlements. It lives in solitude and holds a territory of anything from 1.5 square kilometre, depending on the local environment. Males tend to hold larger territories than females, and their ranges overlap those of from three to six neighbouring females. Wildcats of both sexes mark their ranges by depositing faeces in prominent locations and by leaving scent marks through urine spraying, cheek rubbing, and scratching the ground.Wildcats compete with fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
, marten
Marten
The martens constitute the genus Martes within the subfamily Mustelinae, in family Mustelidae.-Description:Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in taigas, and are found in coniferous and northern deciduous forests across the northern hemisphere. They have bushy tails, and large...
, Golden jackal
Golden Jackal
The golden jackal , also known as the common jackal, Asiatic jackal, thos or gold-wolf is a Canid of the genus Canis indigenous to north and northeastern Africa, southeastern and central Europe , Asia Minor, the Middle East and southeast Asia...
, and jungle cat
Jungle Cat
The jungle cat is a medium-sized cat and considered the largest remaining species of the wild cat genus Felis. The species is also called the swamp lynx but is not closely related to the lynxes....
. Where their ranges overlap in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, jungle cats inhabit lowland sections while wildcats reside in beech forests on the mountain slopes; at exact places where one of these two species exists, the other is altogether absent or only a few individuals are found. Marten
Marten
The martens constitute the genus Martes within the subfamily Mustelinae, in family Mustelidae.-Description:Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in taigas, and are found in coniferous and northern deciduous forests across the northern hemisphere. They have bushy tails, and large...
s kill many young wildcats in Central Europe, and forest martens have occasionally killed and eaten adult wildcats.
Diet
The wildcat is an obligate carnivore; insectInsect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and plants are minor parts of its diet. Regardless of subspecies, most of its prey consists of small mammals, mainly rodents and rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s, with lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s being the third most common prey in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s the least common. Wildcats are, however, opportunistic predators, and have also been observed to eat amphibians, fish, weasels, scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
s, and even young roe deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...
or antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
s.
Life cycle
Wildcats typically breed only once a year, although a second litter may be produced if the first dies early. The European wildcat breeds between February and March, and southern African wildcats show a preference for breeding during the wet season when prey is most abundant. The northern African wildcat, however, has been observed to breed year round, with no preference for a particular season. Oestrus lasts from two to eight days, and gestationGestation
Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time ....
from 56 to 69 days, tending to be slightly shorter in the African subspecies than in the European wildcat.
The mother prepares an underground den or other sheltered location before giving birth. In the wild, litter sizes range from one to five kittens, with three or four being the most common. The kittens weigh between 75 and 150 g (2.6 and 5.3 oz) at birth, and are blind and helpless. They are initially spotted, but the spots may fuse into stripes as the cat ages. The eyes open after seven to twelve days, and they begin to hunt live prey at ten to twelve weeks of age. They are fully weaned at two months, begin to live independently after about three months, and have dispersed to establish their own territories within a year, by which time they are sexually mature.
Wildcats live up to sixteen years in captivity.
Status
The main threats to the survival of this species are hybridization with domestic cats, disease transmission, and competition with feral domestic cats. Other significant threats are ongoing habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation in some areas (although in some other parts of Europe forest cover is increasing, as a result of abandonment of extensive agricultural land). Road kills and, in some areas, persecution are also problems.The main central European population is in the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
mountains of Germany. There have been reintroduction efforts in Southern Germany. The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
-External links:*...
(EAZA) is trying to establish a European studbook for the species, which would contain data on the captive population in its member institutions. The wildcat was part of the EAZA European Carnivore Campaign http://www.carnivorecampaign.eu/, running from 2008–2010, with the goal of furthering the acceptance for living together with carnivores and ultimately supporting various field projects in Europe on each of the sixteen chosen species.
Taxonomic history
In 1777, Schreber described a wild cat referring to the scientific names Felis (catus) silvestris previously used by BrissonMathurin Jacques Brisson
Mathurin Jacques Brisson was a French zoologist and natural philosopher.Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history, his published works in this department including Le Règne animal and Ornithologie...
, and Felis silvestris used by Aldrovandi
Ulisse Aldrovandi
Ulisse Aldrovandi was an Italian naturalist, the moving force behind Bologna's botanical garden, one of the first in Europe. Carolus Linnaeus and the comte de Buffon reckoned him the father of natural history studies...
. In his description, he compared features of domestic and wild cats, of which he thought that they are native only to Europe and adjacent Asia, not far beyond the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
.
Between 1777 and 1943, different authors described 40 more wildcats from different parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. The following wildcats were described from European countries:
- Felis lybica var. sarda (Lataste, 1885) from SardiniaSardiniaSardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
; - Felis morea (TrouessartÉdouard Louis TrouessartÉdouard Louis Trouessart was a French zoologist. He discovered the dust mite....
, 1904) from southern GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
; - Felis catus caucasicusFelis silvestris caucasicaFelis silvestris caucasica, commonly known as the Caucasian Wildcat, is a subspecies of the wildcat that lives in the Caucasus Mountains and Turkey...
(Satunin, 1905) from the CaucasusCaucasusThe Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
; - Felis grampia (MillerGerrit Smith MillerGerrit Smith Miller, Jr. was an American zoologist.He was born in Peterboro, New York in 1869. He graduated from Harvard University in 1894 and worked under Clinton Hart Merriam at the United States Department of Agriculture...
, 1907) from ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
; - Felis tartessia (Miller, 1907) from southern SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
; - Felis molisanana (Altobello, 1921) from ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
; - Felis reyiCorsican WildcatThe Corsican Wildcat is a subspecies of the Wildcat found on the island of Corsica. The Corsican subspecies differs from the others in its dark pelage, short tail, and lack of russet coloring behind the ears....
(Lavauden, 1929) from CorsicaCorsicaCorsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
; - Felis jordansi (Schwarz, 1930) from the Balearic IslandsBalearic IslandsThe Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
of Majorca; - Felis euxina (PocockReginald Innes PocockReginald Innes Pocock F.R.S. was a British zoologist.Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edward's School, Oxford. He received tutoring in zoology from Sir Edward Poulton, and was allowed...
, 1943) from Rumania.
The Cretan Wildcat
Cretan wildcat
The Cretan Wildcat is a European wildcat subspecies that inhabits the Greek island of Crete and was first described in 1953....
was described in 1953 by Theodor Haltenorth
Theodor Haltenorth
Dr. Theodor Haltenorth was a German mammalogist. He worked mainly in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, and was a key figure in the Quagga Project. He also taxonomised the Cretan wildcat in 1953....
.
The wildcats described from Asian countries include:
- Chaus caudatus (Gray, 1874) from TurkestanTurkestanTurkestan, spelled also as Turkistan, literally means "Land of the Turks".The term Turkestan is of Persian origin and has never been in use to denote a single nation. It was first used by Persian geographers to describe the place of Turkish peoples...
and the western part of Syr-Darya districtSyr-Darya OblastSyr-Darya Oblast was one of the oblasts of the Russian Empire....
; - Felis ornata (Gray, 1830) from IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
; - Felis bieti (Milne-EdwardsHenri Milne-EdwardsHenri Milne-Edwards was an eminent French zoologist.Henri Milne-Edwards was the 27th child of William Edwards, an English planter and militia colonel in Jamaica and Elisabeth Vaux, a French. He was born in Bruges, Belgium, where his parents had retired. At that time, Bruges was a part of the...
, 1892) from Szechuan, China; - Felis ornata nesterovi (Birula, 1916) from Lower IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
; - Felis chutuchta (Birula, 1917) from southern Mongolia
- Felis ocreata iraki (Cheesman, 1921) from Kuweit ranging into Iraq;
- Felis bieti vellerosa (Pocock, 1943) from the borders of OrdosOrdos-Places:*Ordos Loop of the Yellow River, a region of China*Ordos Desert, in Inner Mongolia*Ordos City, city and district in Inner Mongolia*Ordos International Circuit, a race track in Ordos City.-People:...
and north-eastern Shensi, China; - Felis lybica tristrami (Pocock, 1944) from PalestinePalestinePalestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
; - Felis silvestris gordoni (Harrison, 1968) from the Arabian PeninsulaArabian PeninsulaThe Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
.
The wildcats described from African countries include:
- Felis lybica (ForsterGeorg ForsterJohann Georg Adam Forster was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific...
, 1780) from the area of TunisTunisTunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
; - Felis cafra (DesmarestAnselme Gaëtan DesmarestAnselme Gaëtan Desmarest was a French zoologist and author. He was the son of Nicolas Desmarest and father of Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest...
, 1822) from Southern AfricaSouthern AfricaSouthern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
; - Felis bubastis (HemprichWilhelm HemprichWilhelm Friedrich Hemprich was a German naturalist and explorer.Hemprich was born in Glatz , Prussian Silesia, and studied medicine at Breslau and Berlin...
and EhrenbergChristian Gottfried EhrenbergChristian Gottfried Ehrenberg , German naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopist, was one of the most famous and productive scientists of his time.- Early collections :...
, 1833) from EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
; - Felis cristata (Lataste, 1885) from Tunis;
- Felis ocreata mellandi (Schwann, 1904) from north-eastern RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
; - Felis ocreata ugandae (Schwann, 1904) from UgandaUgandaUganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
; - Felis ocreata rubida (Schwann, 1904) from Belgian CongoBelgian CongoThe Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
; - Felis ocreata mauritana (Cabreara, 1906) from MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
; - Felis lybica cyrenarum (Ghigi, 1920) from LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
; - Felis haussa (Thomas, 1925) from the deserts of DarfurDarfurDarfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
; - Felis lybica griselda (Thomas, 1926) from Benguella;
- Felis lybica foxi (Pocock, 1944) from northern NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
;
External links
- IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group: European Wildcat
- IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group: Chinese Mountain Cat
- IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group: Asiatic Wildcat
- IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group: African Wildcat
- UNEP Global Resource Information Database: Felis silvestris Schreber, 1777
- ARKive: Wildcat (Felis silvestris)
- Envis Centre of Faunal diversity: Felis silvestris (Schreber)
- Digimorph.org: Felis silvestris lybica, African Wildcat 3D computed tomographic (CT) animations of male and female African wild cat skulls
- Scottish Wildcat (Scottish Tiger)
- Scottish Wildcat Association charitable organisation with the aim of conserving the unique Scottish wildcat in the West Highlands through the Wildcat Haven Project
- Highland Tiger: The Scottish Wildcat Wild Media Foundation for The Royal Zoological Society of ScotlandRoyal Zoological Society of ScotlandThe Royal Zoological Society of Scotland is a learned society and registered charity of Scotland. It was founded by an Edinburgh lawyer, Thomas Hailing Gillespie, in 1909. In 1913, a large plot of land was purchased for the Society by the Edinburgh Town Council on Corstorphine Hill, Edinburgh a...
and Cairngorms National ParkCairngorms National ParkThe Cairngorms National Park is a national park in north east Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, set up in 2002. The park covers the Cairngorms range of mountains, and... - Cairngorms Wildcat Project Edinburgh ZooEdinburgh ZooEdinburgh Zoo, formally the Scottish National Zoological Park, is a non-profit zoological park located in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland...
operated by The Royal Zoological Society of ScotlandRoyal Zoological Society of ScotlandThe Royal Zoological Society of Scotland is a learned society and registered charity of Scotland. It was founded by an Edinburgh lawyer, Thomas Hailing Gillespie, in 1909. In 1913, a large plot of land was purchased for the Society by the Edinburgh Town Council on Corstorphine Hill, Edinburgh a...