III.

People and Wildcats

Experts have long identified the African subspecies of wildcat Felis silvestris libyca as the most likely ancestor of the domestic cat. A study published in 2007 used mitochondrial DNA to clarify the ancestry of the domestic cat. It found that five females derived from Felis silvestris libyca appeared to be the ancestors of all modern house cats.

Members of the African subspecies of wildcat were domesticated in the Middle East around the time that farming villages first developed in the Fertile Crescent region between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. Wildcats were probably attracted to human settlements by rodents and other pests that fed on stored grains and cereals. Some of the wildcats adapted to life with people and gave up their wild behaviors, becoming the ancestors of domestic cats.

The great success of the domestic cat contrasts with the modern situation of the wildcat. Populations have declined in most parts of Europe and in parts of Asia. Wildcats have been hunted for their fur or killed for preying on domestic fowl. They have also suffered loss of habitat. Interbreeding (or hybridization) with house cats and domestic cats that have gone feral (wild) means that some types of wildcats risk losing their genetic distinctness. Wildcats are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as vulnerable and have protected status in some European countries.

Scientific classification: Wildcats belong to the family Felidae. The European wildcat (also called the forest wildcat) is classified as Felis silvestris silvestris; the African wildcat (also called the Near Eastern wildcat) as Felis silvestris libyca; and the Central Asian wildcat (also called the Asiatic steppe or Indian desert cat) as Felis silvestris ornata. Different classifications recognize many other subspecies. The name wildcat is also used in North America for the bobcat, which is a type of lynx (Lynx rufus) and not closely related to true wildcats.