African Wildcat
Felis lybica
- Class
- Mammal
- Rarity
- Rare
- Observations
- 800
- Most observed in
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The African wildcat (Felis lybica) is a small wildcat species with sandy grey fur, pale vertical stripes on the sides and around the face. It is native to Africa, West and Central Asia, and is distributed to Rajasthan in India and Xinjiang in China. It inhabits a broad variety of landscapes ranging from deserts to savannas, shrublands and grasslands. The African wildcat is the ancestor of the domestic cat (F. catus). Some African wildcats were domesticated about 10,000 years ago in the Near East. Interspecific hybrids between both species are common where their ranges overlap.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “African wildcat”.