African Wildcats

Home About Wildcats Donate Members

The African wild cat, or desert cat (Felis silvestris libyca) lives in deserts and savannahs of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It has short fur, and looks very much like a domestic short hair. The African wild cat is believed to be the ancestor of the domestic cat, since it is active at night, and tamer than its European relatives.

Although some claim that the domestication of cats took place as early as 8000 BC, the oldest unchallenged evidence is in Egyptian depictions from about 4000 BC.
They are endangered, second worst out of Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened, Least Concern, and Data Deficient. This is mainly because of habitat destruction. They also breed with feral housecats, and because of their similar genetics, they are more prone to diseases that domesticated cats get than other wild cats.

Image:LocationSouthernAfrica.png

 They are native to Southern Africa, in countries such as Botswana, but can be found to the east and the west as well. They are the same size as your basic housecat.