Who is the African Wildcat?
The African Wildcat is a light sandy grey in color, though some animals are pale yellow or even of a reddish hue. Their ears are red to grey with long yellow hairs and the stripes around the face are colored from dark ochre right to black; there are two running horizontally over the cheek and four to six across the throat. They also have a dark stripe running along their back with lighter colored flanks and a whitish belly. There are often pale vertical stripes on their sides that dissolve into spots, much in the way some tabby cats do. They normally have two dark rings on their forelegs and stripes on the rear legs with feet that are dark brown or black.
The African wildcat is said to be different from the European wildcat by only a few physical characteristics and the two species are closely related. These include faint stripes around the nape and shoulders, a less sharply defined spinal stripe and a tail which is slender and less bushy than their European cousins. They also tend to have small tufts on the end of their ears and their fur is shorter. The European wildcat is larger than the African subspecies.
Generally, the male wildcats are 18-22 inches in length with females being around 20 inches in length. Both genders weigh a similar amount, from 7.1 to 9.9 lbs.
Where do they live?
As their name declares, the African wildcat is found across Africa. They are also found on the edges of the Arabian Peninsula and around the Caspian Sea. They live across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and into Egypt then in the savannas of West African down to the Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan then down to South Africa. They live in a wide range of habitats including hilly and mountainous areas such as the Hoggar and even in the desert areas, though in much smaller numbers.
The life of an African wildcat
These cats are predators who live primarily on mice, rats and other small mammals but will also eat fish, birds, amphibians, insects and reptiles when they can catch them. they sneak up on prey and pounce when within a meter and are most active from twilight through the night. When confronted, they raise their hair to make themselves seem more impressive, just as many people will have seen with their domestic cats.
Male cats have a territory as do the females but each male will overlap a number of female territories. The male will defend the whole territory, particularly when the female is pregnant. These cats give birth in burrows or hollows in the ground after a pregnancy of 56-69 days. Kittens are born blind and usually in the wet season, when food is the most plentiful. They remain with their mother for 5-6 months and can breed themselves when they reach six months.
Conclusion
By looking at the African Wildcat, it is easy to see how it is related to many of our modern breeds of cat - it looks a lot like a normal brown tabby. However these are true wild animals and are not at all domesticated so should you ever come across one, resist the urge to stroke its head!
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