Since we were children, we’ve loved learning about the fascinating large wildcats, like lions and tigers. They were all enormous compared to our cat at home and had gigantic teeth, which naturally just made them seem even more incredible. Big cats receive all the attention, while few are familiar with the impressive small wildcats of Africa. Although their size has its limitations, it disguises their cunning abilities to catch far more prey than the big cats do. One such cat is the African wildcat.
Another small wildcat, the black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), is considered the most deadly in the world due to the number of kills it makes nightly. Weighing only 3 – 4.5 pounds, they are considerably smaller than domesticated cats and are excellent at blending in with the scenery. In one night, the black-footed cat can catch 10-14 small mammals and birds. So, as you can see, a wildcat’s size doesn’t always play much of a part in how deadly or dangerous they are. Another often-overlooked feline is the African wildcat, which isn’t significantly different from our domestic cats.
The Wildcat that Couldn’t Be Tamed
Africa is a place filled with extraordinary wildlife, amazing people, and lovely views. It’s also a place that’s unedited, uncensored, and raw, which some do not take into consideration before they do things like kayak in lakes filled with hippos or sleep under the stars in the grasslands. Africa is beautiful, but behind the scenes, wildlife and people struggle to live together.
Poaching and illegal international trade are committed by those who are unconcerned with the law, animals, or the land. They are only in it for the money. Among the wildcats of the continent, there is one that poachers ignore for other, more exotic-looking wildlife, and other predators make a meal out of due to their small size: the African wildcat. They also happen to be the only breed of wildcat that cannot be tamed. Despite the lengths people have gone to tame these domestic cat lookalikes, they remain wild. African wildcats deserve respect and to be left alone to enjoy their short but wild lives.
Meet the African Wild Cat
Scientific Name, Size, and Weight
They belong to the Felis lybica species, and their body length ranges from 18.1 to 26.2 inches, while their tail measures 15.7 inches in length. They weigh 6 to 14 pounds, roughly the size of a house cat
Appearance
The African wildcat is a long-legged cat with short, light brown and gray fur, with the underside and throat typically being white. Their ears are decorated with adorable little tufts of fur at the top. The wildcat has two black lines on both sides of its face and 4 to 6 across its throat. The cat’s front legs are double-banded, while the rear legs are striped to blend in with the grassy savanna. There’s one black line on the cat’s back that runs the length of its body. Along with those features, the wildcat might have faint stripes on the flanks that dissolve into spots.
Habitat
The African wildcat inhabits arid landscapes, including shrublands, deserts, savannahs, and grasslands found in Africa and Central and West Asia. Those aren’t the only places the wildcats roam. They have also been found to inhabit the Arabian Peninsula and most of Iran. In Central Asia, they can be found near the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, extending to the far east in Xinjiang.
The small African wildcat is found in the Sahara Desert, but its numbers are small. They much prefer the subtropical areas south of the Sahara Desert, as prey is plentiful due to the abundant foliage and water. These domestic-looking wildcats can also be found in grasslands, savannas, and brush in the same subtropical area where their survival rate is much higher.
Diet
Depending on their location, African wildcats prey on a variety of animals. In West Africa, they hunt rats, mice, rabbits, hares, lizards, small to medium-sized birds, and gerbils. Southern Africa is where the wildcat can be found stalking antelope fawns, which is incredible given their small size.
Some of the other prey it hunts are controversial. Farms and ranches are located in the area where the African wildcat hunts, and it has been reported that these small cats are capable of attacking and killing domestic stock, such as lambs and their young. Also located in Southern Africa is the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, a sprawling wildlife reserve and conservation area that supports a diverse range of small prey, including various types of rodents that call the reserve home.
Conservation Status
The African wildcat’s conservation status is listed as of least concern on the IUCN Red List; however, the species is interbreeding with domestic cats and feral cats, which may sound like the beginning of a Disney story, but that is not the case. Due to breeding between African wildcats and domesticated or feral cats, the genetic qualities of the African wildcat are becoming diluted with the DNA of the domestic cat. In turn, breeding two ‘muddied DNA’ wildcats will result in future issues in the offspring’s DNA, potentially leading to the destabilization of the African wildcat breed and, over time, its complete loss.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, as it is commonly known, helps ensure the wildcat’s future by listing it under its Appendix II. This helps ensure that any trade of the species is closely monitored and controlled to maintain the African wildcat’s presence for many more years.
In addition to the CITES, Alley Cat Rescue, based in Maryland, developed the AWC Conservation Action Plan. This plan has been in place for many years and has shown positive results. AWC Conservation aims to implement TNR in specifically targeted areas to provide spaying and neutering procedures for community and feral cats, thereby preventing the breeding of fertile domesticated cats with the African wildcat and diluting the complex DNA of the African wildcat. So far, they have TNR’d 13,000 cats located in areas where the known densest African wildcat populations exist, alongside areas where people and domesticated cats also reside.
