The African Wildcat is a subspecies of the Wildcat (Felis silvestris) and is similar in size to domestic cats. In fact the African Wildcat is the ancestor of domestic cats.
The African Wildcat is also known as the Desert Cat, African Desert Cat or simply Wildcat. In Afrikaans (South Africa) vaalboskat means grey bush cat.
The African Wildcat looks similar to a short-haired domestic tabby cat, but has reddish colouring on the back of the ears, over its abdomen and on the back of its hind legs. More...
Although African Wildcats are listed as common and widespread in Africa, their genetic integrity is threatened by interbreeding with domestic (feral) cats. It is becoming quite rare to come across a pure bred African Wildcat. Watch a video...
The African Wildcat is widespread in Africa, found also in the Middle East, but excluding the Sahara and rainforests.
African Wildcats diverged from the other Wildcat subspecies about 131,000 years ago. Some individuals were first domesticated about 10,000 years ago in the Middle East, which are the ancestors of the domestic cat. Remains of domesticated wildcats have been included in human burials as far back as 9,500 years ago in Cyprus.