African wildcat

Drumroll, Please! The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) is Elated to Reveal the Top 15 Pedigreed Cat Breeds That Had Everyone Purring in 2023!

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 15, 2024

CLEVELAND, Feb. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) holds a strong commitment to the preservation of pedigreed cat breeds.

Key Points: 
  • CLEVELAND, Feb. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) holds a strong commitment to the preservation of pedigreed cat breeds.
  • They are highly intelligent and sociable, making them an excellent choice for families who enjoy an interactive and affectionate pet.
  • The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) extends its profound appreciation to the preservation breeders for their steadfast commitment to the protection and conservation of their respective breeds.
  • For additional information on the pedigreed breeds recognized by CFA, please visit their official website at www.cfa.org .

Cats first finagled their way into human hearts and homes thousands of years ago – here's how

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 3, 2023

One of the greatest thrills was going out at night looking for predators on the prowl: lions, leopards, hyenas.

Key Points: 
  • One of the greatest thrills was going out at night looking for predators on the prowl: lions, leopards, hyenas.
  • As we drove through the darkness, though, our spotlight occasionally lit up a smaller hunter – a slender, tawny feline, faintly spotted or striped.
  • The glare would catch the small cat for a moment before it darted back into the shadows.
  • Clearly, the few evolutionary changes the domestic cat has made have been the right ones to wangle their way into people’s hearts and homes.

Why the African wildcat?

    • In theory, any of these species could have been the progenitor of the domestic cat, but recent DNA studies demonstrate unequivocally that today’s housecats arose from the African wildcat – specifically, the North African subspecies, Felis silvestris lybica.
    • Given the profusion of little pusses, why was the North African wildcat the one to give rise to our household companions?
    • But of these, the African wildcat is the one that to this day enters villages and can be found around humans.
    • African wildcats are among the friendliest of feline species; raised gently, they can make affectionate companions.
    • Some African wildcats – those with the least fear of humans – took advantage of this bounty and started hanging around.

What cat traits did domestication emphasize?

    • Some cat breeds have distinctive physical features, like munchkins’ short legs, Siameses’ elongated faces or Persians’ lack of muzzle.
    • In fact, only 13 genes have been changed by natural selection during the domestication process.
    • The most significant evolutionary changes during cat domestication involve their behavior.
    • To signal friendly intentions, an approaching cat raises its tail straight up, a trait shared with lions and no other feline species.

Evolution of a master manipulator

    • Unlike the tail-up display, however, this is not an example of their treating us as part of their clan.
    • The sound of these meows has evolved during domestication to more effectively communicate with us.
    • Listeners rate the wildcat’s call as more urgent and demanding (“Mee‑O‑O‑O‑O‑O‑W!”) compared with the domestic cat’s more pleasing (“MEE‑ow”).
    • Although cats are very trainable – they’re very food motivated – cats usually train us more than we train them.

Alley Cat Rescue announces new African Wildcat Project to map African wildcat sightings throughout Africa and surrounding regions

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, September 21, 2021

MOUNT RAINIER, Md., Sept. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --Alley Cat Rescue, Inc. (ACR) is commencing a project to map African wildcat (Felis lybica) sightings throughout Africa and surrounding countries.

Key Points: 
  • MOUNT RAINIER, Md., Sept. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --Alley Cat Rescue, Inc. (ACR) is commencing a project to map African wildcat (Felis lybica) sightings throughout Africa and surrounding countries.
  • The African Wildcat Project will collect data from individuals visiting and living in these areas via ACR's Facebook group (facebook.com/ACRAWCProject) and online report form.
  • Alley Cat Rescue has been involved with preserving the AWC South African subspecies, Felis l. cafra, for many years.
  • The African Wildcat Project expands ACR's focus efforts geographically from South Africa to any territory Felis lybica inhabits.

Alley Cat Rescue Sterilizes Hundreds of Cats in South Africa to Help Save the African Wildcat

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, July 2, 2019

The effort, spearheaded by Alley Cat Rescue (ACR), is bringing South Africa-based rescue and cat advocacy groups together around a common goal.

Key Points: 
  • The effort, spearheaded by Alley Cat Rescue (ACR), is bringing South Africa-based rescue and cat advocacy groups together around a common goal.
  • The park's borders in South Africa are where AWCs and domestic cats from nearby urban and settled areas can most often come into contact.
  • "The African wildcat is the ancestor of our domestic cats, the one who started our modern love affair with cats," said Louise Holton, President of Alley Cat Rescue and a native of South Africa.
  • For the multi-year project, Alley Cat Rescue is spearheading the efforts in South Africa, as well as providing humane traps.

New Spay/Neuter Project will Protect African Wildcats in South Africa

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, May 7, 2019

MOUNT RAINIER, Wash., May 07, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --Alley Cat Rescue (ACR) announced a new campaign in South Africa to protect the African Wildcat, the ancestor of the domestic cat, through a targeted education and trap-neuter-return (TNR) program in South Africa.

Key Points: 
  • MOUNT RAINIER, Wash., May 07, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --Alley Cat Rescue (ACR) announced a new campaign in South Africa to protect the African Wildcat, the ancestor of the domestic cat, through a targeted education and trap-neuter-return (TNR) program in South Africa.
  • Genetically pure African Wildcats could someday disappear, the group says, if hybridization with domestic cats is allowed to continue unchecked.
  • The African Wildcat lives throughout the continent of Africa and parts of Asia and the Middle East.
  • One of the largest threats to pure populations of African Wildcats is inter-breeding with feral and stray cats.