Wildcat

The European wildcat (Felis silvestris) and the African wildcat (Felis niger) are two tiny wildcat species that make up the wildcat species complex (F. lybica). The European wildcat lives in forests throughout Europe and the Caucasus, while the African wildcat lives in semi-arid environments and steppes throughout Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia, and western India and China. The European wildcat has long fur and a bushy tail with a rounded tip; the African wildcat is smaller, has short sandy-grey fur and a tapering tail; and the Asiatic wildcat (F. lybica ornata) is spotted.

Around 10–15 million years ago, the wildcat and other members of the cat family shared a common ancestor. The European wildcat emerged around 866,000 to 478,000 years ago during the Cromerian Stage, and its direct ancestor was Felis lunensis. Around 173,000 years ago, the silvestris and lybica lineages diverged.

The IUCN Red List has classified the wildcat as Least Concern since 2002, owing to its widespread distribution and stable worldwide population of more than 20,000 mature individuals. In some range areas, however, both wildcat species are threatened by introgressive hybridization with the domestic cat (Felis catus) and disease transmission.

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Let us study wild cats. The wildcat belongs to the Felidae family, which shared a common ancestor approximately 10–15 million years ago. Around 6–7 million years ago, the Felis species separated from the Felidae. About 1.09 to 1.4 million years ago, the European wildcat split from Felis.

Felis lunensis, which flourished in Europe throughout the late Pliocene and Villafranchian periods, was the direct parent of the European wildcat. The shift from lunensis to silvestris was completed by the Holstein interglacial about 340,000 to 325,000 years ago, according to fossil evidence.

Craniological differences between European and African wildcats suggest that the wildcat migrated from Europe to the Middle East during the Late Pleistocene, giving rise to the steppe wildcat phenotypic. According to phylogenetic analysis, the lybica lineage split from the silvestris lineage around 173,000 years ago.

Wild Cat Scientific Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia

• Phylum: Chordata

• Class: Mammalia

• Order: Carnivora

• Suborder: Feliformia

• Family: Felidae

• Subfamily: Felinae

• Genus: Felis

Johann von Schreber gave the European wildcat the scientific name Felis (catus) silvestris in 1777, based on descriptions and names proposed by older naturalists such as Mathurin Jacques Brisson, Ulisse Aldrovandi, and Conrad Gessner. Georg Forster offered the name Felis lybica in 1780 when describing an African wildcat from Gafsa on the Barbary Coast.

Several naturalists and adventurers described 40 wildcat specimens gathered throughout European, African, and Asian range areas over the next few decades. In the 1940s, taxonomist Reginald Innes Pocock evaluated the collection of wildcat skins and skulls at the Natural History Museum in London and named seven subspecies of F. silvestris from Europe to Asia Minor, and 25 subspecies of F. lybica from Africa and West to Central Asia. 

Pocock Distinguished Between:

• Forest wildcat subspecies (Silvestri group)

• Steppe wildcat subspecies (ornata-caudata group): is distinguished from the forest wildcat by being smaller, with comparatively lighter fur colour, and longer and more sharply-pointed tails. The domestic cat is thought to have derived from this group.

• Bush wildcat subspecies (ornata-lybica group): is distinguished from the steppe wildcat by paler fur, well-developed spot patterns and bands.

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About Wildcat Characteristics

The wildcat's ears are pointed, medium in length, and broad at the base. It has white whiskers that range in length from 7 to 16 on each side and reaches 5–8 cm (2.0–3.1 in) on the muzzle. The inside surface of the paw also has whiskers that measure 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in). It has huge eyes with yellowish-green irises and vertical pupils. Eyelashes range in length from 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in) and can have six to eight on each side.

Schoenberg’s index indicates that the European wildcat has a larger skull volume than the domestic cat. The jungle cat's (F. chaus) and leopard cat's skulls are also more spherical in shape (Prionailurus bengalensis). Its dentition is smaller and weaker than that of the jungle cat.

The domestic cat is smaller than both wildcat kinds. In comparison to the domestic cat, the European wildcat has longer legs and a more robust body. The tail is lengthy, usually about one-half the length of the animal's body. According to Bergmann's rule, the largest specimens are found in chilly, northern European and Asian regions such as Mongolia, Manchuria, and Siberia. Males have a head-to-body length of 43–91 cm (17–36 in), a tail length of 23–40 cm (9.1–15.7 in), and a weight of 5–8 kg (11–18 lb). Females are slightly smaller, with a body length of 40–77 cm (16–30 in) and a tail length of 18–35 cm (7.1–13.8 in), and a weight of 3–5 kg (6.6–11.0 lb).

There are two thoracic and two abdominal teats in both sexes. Pre-anal glands are small sweat and sebaceous glands that surround the anal entrance in both sexes. On the dorsal side of the tail, large sebaceous and smell glands run the length of the tail. Male wildcats have pre-anal pockets on their tails, which become active once they achieve sexual maturity and are important for breeding and territorial marking.

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Wildcat Habitat

In Europe, Turkey, and the Caucasus, the European wildcat lives in the temperate broadleaf and mixed woods. It can be found from sea level to 2,250 m (7,380 ft) in the Pyrenees on the Iberian Peninsula. Its European range became divided between the late 17th and mid-20th centuries as a result of large-scale killing and regional extinction. Though vagrants from Italy are spreading into Austria, it is possibly extinct in the Czech Republic and considered regionally extinct in Austria. Fennoscandia and Estonia have never been home to it.  Sicily is the Mediterranean Sea's only island with a native wildcat population.

Except for rainforests, the African wildcat can be found in a variety of habitats throughout Africa's savannas, from Mauritania on the Atlantic coast eastwards to the Horn of Africa, up to heights of 3,000 meters (9,800 ft). The Sahara and Nubian Deserts, as well as the Karoo, Kalahari, and Namib Deserts, have small populations. It extends from the Arabian Peninsula to the Caspian Sea's perimeter, embracing Mesopotamia, Israel, and Palestine. It extends into Xinjiang and southern Mongolia in Central Asia, and into the Thar Desert and dry portions of India in South Asia.

About Wildcat Behaviour and Ecology

Except during the breeding season and when females have offspring, both wildcat species are mostly nocturnal and solitary. The extent of females' and males' home ranges vary depending on geography, food availability, habitat quality, and the population's age structure. Male and female home ranges overlap, but other cats avoid core areas inside the territory. Females are more sedentary than males because they need a private hunting area to raise kittens. Wildcats spend the majority of their days in hollow trees, rock crevices, or impenetrable thickets. It has also been found in abandoned burrows of other animals, including red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and European badger (Meles meles) in Europe, and fennec (Vulpes zerda) in Africa. 

Rather than climbing trees, it retreats into a burrow when attacked. When choosing a tree hollow to live in, it chooses one that is low to the ground. Dry grasses and bird feathers line dens in rocks or burrows. Dens in tree hollows usually have enough sawdust to eliminate the need for lining. The wildcat will move to another lair if the current one becomes contaminated with fleas. When snow prohibits the European wildcat from travelling vast distances in the winter, it stays in its den until the weather improves.

Spraying urine on trees, foliage, and rocks, depositing faeces in conspicuous areas, and leaving scent imprints through glands in its paws are all examples of territorial marking. Scratching trees also leave visible marks.

Hunting

When hunting, the wildcat's primary senses are sight and hearing. It waits for prey to approach, then catches it with a series of three-meter leaps. It waits on trees that overhang the water when searching near watercourses. It catches small prey with its claws and pierces the neck or occiput with its fangs to kill it. When attacking huge prey, it rushes onto the back of the animal and tries to bite the neck or carotid artery. If the prey manages to flee, it does not continue to assault.

Small mammals such as rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and rodents are the main prey of the European wildcat. Dormice, hares, nutria (Myocastor coypus), and birds, particularly ducks and other waterfowl, Galliformes, pigeons, and passerines, are among its prey. It has the ability to devour massive bone fragments. Although it kills insectivores like moles and shrews, it only eats them on rare occasions. It preys on poultry when it lives near human populations. It may eat up to 600 g (21 oz) of food each day in the wild.

The African wildcat preys mostly on murids, but also on birds, small reptiles, and invertebrates to a lesser extent.

Wildcat Reproduction and Development

Estrus occurs twice a year, once in December–February and again in May–July. Estrus lasts 5–9 days, with a 60–68-day gestation period. Copulation causes ovulation to occur. Spermatogenesis takes place all year. Males fight aggressively during mating season and may swarm around a single female. Male and female wildcats have been known to form temporary monogamous relationships. Kittens are typically born in the months of April, May, and August. The litter size varies from one to seven babies.

Kittens are born with their eyes closed and a fluffy coat. At birth, they weigh 65–163 g (2.3–5.7 oz), and kittens weighing less than 90 g (3.2 oz) are unlikely to survive. They have pink paw pads at birth, which turn black after three months, and blue eyes that turn amber after five months. At 9–12 days, their eyes open, and their incisors erupt after 14–30 days. At the age of 160–240 days, the kittens' milk teeth are replaced by their permanent dentition. At 60 days, the kittens begin hunting with their mother, and after 140–150 days, they begin moving independently. Lactation lasts 3–4 months, however, kittens can start eating meat as early as 1.5 months. At the age of 300 days, sexual maturity is reached. African wildcat kittens develop physically significantly faster than European wildcat kittens during the first two weeks of their existence, similar to domestic cats. By 10 months, the kittens are about fully developed, however, skeletal growth continues for another 18–19 months. After about five months, the family disintegrates, and the kittens disperse to establish their own territories. They have a maximum life span of 21 years, but they normally only survive for 13–14 years.

The wildcat's generation lasts roughly eight years.

Wildcat Predators and Competitors

Wildcats have few natural predators because they prefer to live in locations with rocks and big trees for protection, deep thickets, and abandoned burrows. Many kittens are killed and devoured by European pine martens (Martes martes) in Central Europe, and at least one adult wildcat has been killed and eaten. The golden jackal (C. aureus), red fox, marten, and other predators are among the competitors. Village dogs, as well as the much bigger Eurasian lynx, one of the rare habitual predators of healthy adult wildcats, are severe adversaries of wildcats throughout Europe and Asia's steppe regions.

The grey wolf (Canis lupus) is the most significant rival in Tajikistan, having been seen destroying cat tunnels. Birds of prey have been observed killing wildcat kittens, notably the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) and the saker falcon (Falco cherrug). Seton Gordon documented a fight between a wildcat and a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), with both contestants dying. Wildcats are sometimes killed and eaten by African rock pythons in Africa (Python sebae).

Threats

Hybridization with domestic cats is the most serious threat to wildcat populations. Traffic accidents are a major cause of death, especially in Europe. Due to habitat loss and landowner persecution, the wildcat population in Scotland has plummeted since the turn of the century.

Wildcats were mistakenly caught in traps placed for European pine martens in the old Soviet Union. They are caught in unbaited traps on pathways or at the abandoned red fox, European badger, European hare, or pheasant tracks in recent times. A modified muskrat trap with a spring put in a buried pit is one method of catching wildcats. The cat follows a trail of pheasant viscera to the pit. Wildcat skins had limited commercial value and were frequently transformed into imitation sealskin, fetching between 50 and 60 kopecks. Wildcat hides were almost exclusively utilized to make low-cost scarves, muffs, and jackets for women.

Wildcat Conservation

In most of their range nations, wildcats are protected and included in CITES Appendix II. The European wildcat is also classified in Appendix II of the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, as well as the Habitats and Species Directive of the European Union. In Germany and Scotland, conservation action plans have been devised.

African Wild Cat vs Domestic Cat