African wildcat

Wild cat (Felis silvestris lybica )

The wild cat or African wild cat ( Felis silvestris lybica ) is a subspecies of the wild cat that is found in North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula to the Caspian Sea. Since it is one of the most widespread cat, she is guided in the IUCN Red List since 2002 as not threatened (Least Concern ).

Features

The wild cat similar in appearance and form the strong ( short-haired ) cats. It is sand color (beige or gray ) and slim. The length from head to tail is about 50 cm, the tail length of 25 cm. It usually weighs around 5-6 kg, in exceptional cases up to 8 kg. In contrast to the European wildcat, the fringe pattern is less clear and the tail at the end is much more sharp than dull tapering.

Dissemination

Wild cats are be found in all of Africa except the deserts and tropical rain forests, also you can find them on the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia. They live in a variety of habitats, from semi- desert to savannah.

Originally several subspecies of wildcat have been described, corresponding to the Falbkatzentyp. Today, they are combined to the subspecies Felis silvestris lybica.

Nutrition

Wild cats feed primarily on small rodents, but will also eat small birds, amphibians, reptiles, and occasionally spiders and even scorpions.

Meaning, history, culture

From the wild cat our cat comes from. It was probably domesticated in Cyprus already 7,500 BC.

The wild cat is listed in CITES Convention in Appendix B. The trade in wild cats is so severely restricted. However, the greatest danger threatening the wild cat as opposed to other kinds of cats neither by the people nor by the decline of the habitat, but through the frequent mingling with feral cats.

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