Felis silvestris, Schreber, 1777
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6376899 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6772769 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/5923B274-4649-C829-E2E7-CA9CF7F8906F |
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treatment provided by |
Conny |
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scientific name |
Felis silvestris |
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Wildcat
French: Chat sauvage / German: Wildkatze / Spanish: Gato montes
Other common names: Asiatic Steppe Wildcat, Desert Cat (Asian races)
Taxonomy. Felis silvestris Schreber, 1777 View in CoL ,
no locality = Germany .
Race lybica often thought to be a separate species. I catus considered to be the domesticated form from this species. Recent studies place present species closer to F margarita and consider EF catus as a sister group to lybica. Proposed races chutuchta and wvellerosa, now merged with F bets, have been sometimes placed in present species. Has been argued that lybica was a lapsus for libyca, but there is no clear internal evidence that the name was misspelled. Nineteen subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
F. s. silvestris Schreber, 1777 — Europe E to the Carpathian Mts and the River Dnieper N of the Black Sea.
F.s. brockmani Pocock, 1944 — Somalia.
F. s. cafra Desmarest, 1822 — Zimbabwe, S Mozambique and South Africa.
F. s. caucasica Satunin, 1905 — Caucasus Mts and Turkey.
F.s. caudata Gray, 1874 — deserts E Caspian Sea to NW China (Xinjiang) and Mongolia.
F. s. foxi Pocock, 1944 — Senegal to Lake Chad.
F.s. gordoni Harrison, 1968 — Batinah coast of Oman.
F.s. grampia G. S. Miller, 1907 — N Scotland.
F. s. griselda Thomas, 1926 — Kalahari region to S Angola.
F. s. iraki Cheesman, 1920 — Arabian Desert regions.
F. s. lybica Forster, 1780 — desert regions of N Africa to Sudan and N Niger.
F.s. melland: Schwann, 1904 — SC Africa.
F.s. nesterovi Biurla, 1916 — Mesopotamian region to SW Iran.
F. s. ocreata Gmelin, 1791 — Ethiopian highlands.
F. s. ornata Gray, 1830 — India. Probably W through Iran.
F.s. pyrrhus Pocock, 1944 — N Angola and SW Zaire.
F. s. sarda Lataste, 1885 — coastal Maghreb region of Morocco and Algeria.
F.s. tristrami Pocock, 1944 — Palestine and Red Sea coast of Arabia.
F.s. ugandae Schwann, 1904 — E Africa. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Wildcats are found in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and their size, coat color, and pattern of markings vary somewhat from continent to continent. In Africa the size range is: head-body 40.6-66. 5 cm, tail 24.1-36. 8 cm; weight 2.4-6. 4 kg. Asiatic Wildcats tend to weigh less than their African counterparts: head-body 47-74 cm,tail 21:9-36 cm; weight 2-6 kg. The following measurements are recorded from Europe: head-body 54.7-65. 5 cm (males), 47.3-57. 5 cm (females), tail 27.6-32. 6 cm (males), 25.7-32 cm (females); weight 3-77.7-26 kg (males), 2-35—4-68 kg (females). Larger and more robust than domestic cats and have relatively longer legs. Adult males are slightly larger and heavier than adult females. In Africa the fur color and markings are highly variable, ranging from grayish to reddish, with or without small spots. The fur is soft, and the hairs often have a pale subterminal band and black tip, giving the pelage a slightly speckled appearance. Spots sometimes coalesce to form transverse stripes or black bars, especially prominent on the legs. The long, thin tail often ends with two or three blackish rings and a black tip. The head is narrow, sometimes with rufous or dark lines. The ears are rounded and widely separated, with short dark tufts; the backs of the ears are a bright red-brown. The chin is white, the underparts are pale orangebuff to whitish, and there is a line of darker hair down the spine from the shoulder to base oftail. Soles of feet are black. In general, Wildcats that live in dryer areas tend to be pale or tawny colored and those from humid areas tend to be darker and more heavily spotted and striped. Lightly built and long-legged. When sitting upright the long front legs raise the body to an almost vertical position. The long legs, narrow chest, and high shoulder blades impart a cheetah-like appearance to its motion. The Wildcats of India, Pakistan, and neighboring Russian are pale sandy, gray, or isabelline in color. The spot pattern is variable: the spots can be large, small, distinct, blurred, black, brown, or grayish. In some cats the spots along the back form a dark line. The tail is long, thin, and spotted near the base but ringed toward the black-tipped end. In Wildcats from Mongolia the spots are fused to form unbroken lines. One or two dark bands circle the upper foreand hindlegs. The underparts are whitish and unspotted. The backs of the ears are yellowish-buff or khaki, and there is a characteristic tuft of dark hair on the tip of each ear. The relatively long limbs, long tail, and long body distinguish the Wildcat from its domestic relatives. In Europe, the background coat color varies from yellowish-brown to buff gray and even silvery. The coat is marked with a variable pattern of “tabby” stripes. There are usually four broad nape stripes, a single dorsalstripe, which ends at the root ofthe tail, and 3-5 rings on the bushytail, which has a blunt, black tip. Body stripes are variable; they are most distinct in the west and there is a cline to the east where almost no striping is apparent. Melanism,flavism, and white spotting have been recorded very rarely, and may result from introgressive hybridization with domestic cats. The skull is similar to that of domestic cat, but it has a significantly greater cranial volume, differently-shaped nasals and interparietal suture, and a well-developed angular process on the mandible.
Habitat. In Africa, Wildcats are found in a variety of habitat types from sea level to about 3000 m, but appear to be absent from tropical rain forest and from areas that receive less than 100 mm of annual rainfall. Some cover for hunting and rest sites may be important, but cats in Ngorongoro Crater were seen to use the open grasslands, where they rely on holes dug by other animals to escape from larger carnivores. In Botswana Wildcats were seen at night in open woodlands and grasslands. In Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, the cats were more commonly seen in drier woodland and scrub habitats than in areas close to water. A radio-tagged Wildcat in Kenya was frequently located in woodlands and grasslands; riverine forest and agricultural lands were infrequently used. Wildcats in Israel prefer open Mediterranean forest in hilly areas. The Wildcat also occurs on the outskirts of villages and towns, thus bringing it into contact with domestic cats. Wildcats in Asia inhabit thickets of Acacia, Maytenus, Cappanris, Tamarix , and Prosopis in the desert in western Rajasthan, India; in Pakistan the cats are sparsely distributed in the desert regions of south-west Baluchistan and scattered throughout the dryer hilly regions on the western bank of the Indus. In Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan these cats live in tamarisk, saxaul, and saltwort thickets and shrub vegetation. In Kazakhstan, Wildcats are found in the bush and reeds fringing lakes and rivers; in the foothills of the Tian Shan Mountains they use bushy areas up to 2000 m. Wildcats use natural caves for shelter or excavates their own burrows. In Europe Wildcats are typically found in broad-leafed and mixed woodlands, particularly in mainland Europe. Coniferous forest use is probably marginal. They are also found in Mediterranean maquis scrubland,riparian woodland, and along the edges of marshes and coasts (but not in marsh edges and coasts in Scotland). They avoid very high mountains, exposed coasts, and intensive agricultural, urban, and industrial habitats, and are not found where snow covers more than 50% of the terrain, is more than 20 cm deep, or remains for 100 days or more each year. Where large-scale deforestation has occurred (e.g., in Scotland), Wildcats have adapted to living in the foothills of mountains and on moorland where rough grazing occurs, and are often associated with forest and cropland. They require some kind of coverto lie up in when inactive. Forestry plantations may provide important habitat in the early stages. They are frequently seen hunting in grasslands adjacent to woodland in Europe.
Food and Feeding. Murids rodents are the dominant prey in most areas in Africa, although larger prey such as spring hares, rabbits, and possibly young antelope are sometimes taken. May also be serious predators of poultry. In Zimbabwe and Botswana about three-quarters of all stomachs examined contained murid rodents. Birds, principally doves, quail, and weavers, ranked second. Incidental prey included lizards, skinks, and snakes. In a semi-desert area of Botswana a common prey identified in stomachs was hunting spiders (Solifugidae). In the Namib Desert the remains of small mammals were found in more than 90% of scats; insects occurred in 70% of scats. Similar percentages of small rodents and insects were found in Wildcat feces from Karoo National Park, South Africa. In the Sahara Wildcats were seen 15 km from the nearest waterhole, suggesting they can do without drinking water. In Asia the cats feed principally on rodents, but will take other prey opportunistically, including insects, lizards, snakes, birds, and are known to raid domestic poultry pens. The prey along the Ili River, Kazakhstan, consisted largely (81%) of hares, muskrats, gerbils, House Mice, and jerboas. In western Rajasthan, the Wildcat’s diet was largely jirds ( Muridae ) and hares, but it was also seen hunting a variety of ground-foraging birds (doves, partridge, sandgrouse, peafowl, pigeons). Snakes, including cobras, saw-scaled vipers, and sand boas were also killed, as were geckos, scorpions, and large beetles. In mainland Europe Wildcats feed predominantly on mice and voles, but in Scotland, rabbits and other lagomorphs are by far the most important prey (up to 70% by frequency in the east). Studies in Scotland have shown that predation on birds, especially game birds,is insignificant. Primarily terrestrial hunter, but can climb well if pursued. They may hunt in trees for rats in flooded forest in Caucasus. Hunt either by waiting in ambush for prey, e.g., outside rabbit burrows, or hunt opportunistically when patrolling home ranges. Moving slowly and quietly along trails and paths, looking and listening for prey. Once prey is detected, creeps forward, patiently, using every piece of cover to get as close as possible before making its attack. Prey seized with the claws and pinned to the ground, or held with the paws until the killing bite delivered. Prey may be cached either by hiding it under vegetation, in holes and trees, or by covering it with debris.
Activity patterns. Secretive, and most reports suggest they are strictly nocturnal, although in areas where undisturbed sometimes seen in early morning and late afternoon. In Pakistan reportedly shelter underground or in dense cover during the heat of the day and emerge at night to hunt. In Turkmenistan described as crepuscular, but in Uzbekistan found active at any time of the day in all seasons. In the northern part of their European range, often also active during daylight in winter, butstrictly nocturnal in summer. May remain inactive for up to 28 hours during heavy snowfall or rain and strong winds.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Little known of social habits in Africa, most sightings are of solitary animals. Anecdotal information suggests animals are highly territorial. The home range of a radio-collared adult male in Kenya was 1-6 km? over the short time followed. In contrast, the home ranges of a radio-tagged male and female Wildcat in the United Arab Emirates measured 28-7 km2 and 52-7 km2, respectively. While the male’s range was smaller than that of the female, he was only tracked for 1-5 months compared to 14 months for the female. The male did, however, travel farther per night than the female, 8-64 km/night and 4-86 km/night, respectively. Over the 14 months she was tracked, the female was located to 42 dens, all of which were burrows made by Red Foxes. In Asia, also, outside of mating associations, are solitary. In south-west Tajikistan the area used for hunting was thought to cover about 3—4 km?. In a steppe habitat of Uzbekistan, two animals occupied an area of 10 km?. In eastern Scotland, where rabbits were abundant, mean annual home range size was 1-75 km? for both sexes; in western Scotland, where rabbits were scarce, home ranges were much larger (9-10 km? for males and 8-10 km* for females). Home ranges of males in Scotland may overlap with one or more of those of females, but there is usually little intrasexual overlap. Social groupings comprise mostly mothers with kittens, but also dispersing siblings and males with females in estrus. Communication mainly by scent marking, including spraying urine and depositing feces in prominent places near trails on trees, vegetation, and boulders. Feces may be combined with anal sacgland secretions. Trees and saplings may be scratched using forepaws, leaving a visual marker and an olfactory sign from interdigital gland secretion.
Breeding. Mating is noisy, marked by much screeching and yowling. In the northern Sahara, breed in winter. In southern and East Africa, small young found in all months of the year, but tend to be born during the wet season, which coincides with peaks in rodent abundance. In Central Asia, mating takes place in January-February, and in Rajasthan, in November-December and March-April. In southern Sind, Pakistan, breeding may occur at any season of the year. The female is in heat for about four days; ovulation occurs a day after copulation. Wildcats are induced ovulators. Females come into estrus every six weeks unless conception occurs. Gestation lasts from 56 to 65 days. Typically two or three kittens (maximum five) born, furred and blind, in a wellconcealed location. Kittens have been found in hollow trees, underground burrows, rocky crevices, and dense grass. The young first emerge from the natal den at one month and are weaned and introduced to hunting between 3—4 months. In captivity, a female introduced her young to live prey when they were 60 days old, and two days later, the male kittens were killing mice on their own. By the fourth day the female kitten did likewise. In the wild a female was seen bringing injured gerbils to the den for her young to try to kill. Kittens are independent by 5-6 months. Females reach sexual maturity at ten months and males at about twelve months. In captivity, signs of sexual activity were observed in a female who was just over nine months of age and gave birth to a single kitten (80 g) when was eleven months old. In the wild a female born in April was pregnant when caught in late January. In captivity two year-old males attempted to mate with a female who was showing signs of coming into estrus, but in the wild the testes of males were not developed until the cats were 21-22 months of age. In Europe most mating occurs January-March, although the breeding season may extend December—July. Estrus lasts for 2-9 days; if no conception occurs, recycle in about 14 days. Most births occur in April and May after a gestation period of 60-68 days, but births may extend March—-August. Usually only one litter per year, but may have a second if a litteris lost early. Litter sizes in capitivity range from 1-8 (average of 3-4) and in the wild, from 1-7. At birth, kittens weigh 65-163 g (and usually do not survive at less than 90 g). Lactation lasts for 6-7 weeks but may continue sporadically for up to four months. The eyes open at 7-13 days, the kittens begin walking at 16-20 days, playing at 4-5 weeks, and follow their mother at twelve weeks of age. Milk teeth are fully erupted by 42-49 days and permanent dentition is complete by 175-195 days. In captivity females may breed when they are a year old. Males show sign of sexual activity at 9-10 months, but may not mate successfully until established in home range. The young disperse when they are from 4-5 months to ten months old. Wildcats are full-grown by 18-19 months of age.
Status and Conservation. In Asia, CITES Appendix II. In Europe, CITES Appendix II. Listed as species of Least Concern on The IUCN Red List, with subspecies grampia Vulnerable. In Africa, show tolerance to wide range of environmental conditions and may have benefited from agricultural activities that increased rodent densities. Have historically been trapped in Asia in large numbers for the fur trade, but currently there appears to be little international trade in their pelts. Their population status in most of Asia is not known, but in some areas is reported to be rare. An estimated 90% of its habitat in India has reportedly been lost. Are killed for raiding poultry sheds, and some are killed by domestic dogs. Threats in Europe include fragmentation of habitats and exposure to toxic agricultural chemicals and domestic cat diseases. Persecution and hunting for fur are still important causes of mortality in some areas,e.g., in eastern Europe and Scotland. Road accidents are also a significant cause of mortality. In a study in eastern Scotland, 42% of mortality was due to human causes, mostly persecution and road accidents. On all three continents, the biggest threat to the species is hybridization with domestic cats. This has produced a significant hybrid swarm in some areas (e.g., Scotland). It is unclear whether hybridization will ultimately result in the loss of the genetic integrity of the species, but it has affected legal protection in Scotland.
Bibliography. Amori et al. (1999), Beaumont et al. (2001), Chavan (1987), Corbett (1979), Daniels, Balharry et al. (1998), Daniels, Golder et al. (1999), Dragesco-Joffé (1993), Easterbee et al. (1991), Estes (1991), Fuller et al. (1988), Gasperetti et al. (1985), Guggisberg (1975), Hemmer (1999), Heptner & Sludskii (1992a), Jenkins et al. (1964), Kingdon (1971-1982), Kitchener (1998), Kitchener & Daniels (2008), McOrist & Kitchener, (1994), Mellen (1993), Mendelssohn (1989), Meyer-Holzapfel (1968), Nowell & Jackson (1996), Palmer & Fairall (1988), Piechocki (1990), Pocock (1944, 1951), Roberts (1977), Sapozhenkov (1961), Scott et al. (1993), Sharma (1979), Smithers (1968, 1983), Stahl & Artois (1991), Stahl & Leger (1992), Stuart (1977, 1981), Sunquist & Sunquist (2002), Tonkin & Kohler (1981), Volf (1968), Wilson (1975).
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