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Wildcat stalking on edge of a pine forest

Wildcat

One of the ancestors of our pet cats, wildcats are thought to be the most abundant cat species across their range, which stretches from Western Europe to India. They are very rare in the UK however, with fewer than 400 remaining in the Scottish Highlands. Human encroachment on their habitat and interbreeding with domestic cats has reduced numbers and replaced the pure genetic line. Thousands of wildcats were killed as pests by farmers and gamekeepers in the 1800s and 1900s. Wildcats feed mainly on rodents, but also hunt other larger mammals, birds, lizards, frogs and fish. They sometimes scavenge and cache prey, returning to it later.

Scientific name: Felis silvestris

Rank: Species

Common names:

  • European wild cat,
  • Wild-cat

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Wildcat taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Wildcat can be found in a number of locations including: Africa, Asia, China, Europe, Indian subcontinent, Mediterranean, Russia, United Kingdom. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Wildcat distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Least Concern

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Population trend: Decreasing

Year assessed: 2008

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

The wildcat (Felis silvestris) is a small cat found throughout most of Africa, Europe, and southwest and central Asia into India, China, and Mongolia. Because of its wide range, it is classed by the IUCN as Least Concern. However, crossbreeding with housecats is extensive and has occurred throughout almost the entirety of the species' range.

The wildcat shows a high degree of geographic variation. Asiatic subspecies have spotted, isabelline coats, African subspecies have sandy-grey fur with banded legs and red-backed ears, and European wildcats resemble heavily built striped tabbies with bushy tails, white chins and throats. All subspecies are generally larger than house cats, with longer legs and more robust bodies. The actual number of subspecies is still debated, with some organisations recognising 22, while others recognise only four, including the Chinese mountain cat, which was previously considered a species in its own right.

Genetic, morphological and archaeological evidence suggests that the housecat was domesticated from the African wildcat, probably 9,000-10,000 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.

Read more at Wikipedia

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BBC News about Wildcat

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