The Southern African wildcat (''Felis lybica cafra'') is an

African wildcat The African wildcat (''Felis lybica'') is a small wildcat species native to Africa, West and Central Asia up to Rajasthan in India and Xinjiang in China. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2022. In Cyprus, an African wil ...

subspecies native to Southern and

Eastern Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...

. In 2007, it was tentatively recognised as a distinct subspecies on the basis of

genetic analysis Genetic analysis is the overall process of studying and researching in fields of science that involve genetics and molecular biology. There are a number of applications that are developed from this research, and these are also considered parts of ...

. Morphological evidence indicates that the split between the African wildcat subspecies in Africa occurred in the area of

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. It is also known in English as the 'bush cat'.

Characteristics

The body of the Southern African wildcat is marked with vertical stripes but these can vary from faint to quite distinct. The tail is ringed with black and has a black tip. The chin and throat are white and the chest is usually paler than the rest of the body. The feet are jet black underneath. There are two colour phases; iron-gray, with black and whitish speckling, and tawny-grey, with less black and more buffy speckling. In appearance it is very similar to a domestic cat, although the legs are proportionately longer. The most distinguishable characteristic is the rich reddish-brown colour on the backs of the ears, over the belly and on the back legs. Its body length is with a long tail; and weight range .

Distribution and habitat

The Southern African wild cat is widely distributed throughout Africa south of the equator, but does not occur along the

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n coast. It tolerates a wide range of habitats that provide some sort of cover.

Ecology and behaviour

Southern African wildcats are largely nocturnal, finding cover in which to rest during the day. Their habits are solitary, except for mating and raising their young, and they are highly territorial. They are adaptable predators, preferring to hunt small

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

s, but able to change their diet according to seasonal and longer-term prey abundances and availability; they have been observed to take other small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and other invertebrates. The largest recorded prey include hares,

springhare ''Pedetes'' is a genus of rodent, the springhares, in the family Pedetidae. Members of the genus are distributed across southern and Eastern Africa. Species A number of species both extant and extinct are classified in the genus ''Pedetes''. ...

s and birds up to the size of

guineafowl Guineafowl (; sometimes called "pet speckled hens" or "original fowl") are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched ...

Threats

The main threat to the survival of the Southern African wildcat is its tendency to

crossbreed A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to mai ...

with domestic

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s near human habitations. Other threats include persecution by hunters and farmers, as well as

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3643977 Mammals described in 1822 Wildcats African wildcat subspecies Mammals of Botswana Mammals of Namibia Mammals of South Africa