Domestic Cats In South Africa

Also known as the small spotted cat this species is endemic to southern africa where it is found predominantly in the dry open areas of south africa and namibia. It also has a secondary purpose to portray sacc to the international cat community and the general cat lover public at large and those who want to know more about the organized cat fancy in south africa and pedigreed cats in general. All domestic cats the authors declared descended from a middle eastern wildcat felis sylvestris which literally means cat of the woods cats were first domesticated in the near east and.
domestic cats in south africa

A cat can either be a house cat a farm cat or a feral cat.

Domestic cats in south africa. They may not be the largest domestic cat breed on the list but the selkirk rex is still on the bigger side as far as cats go. The domestic cats direct ancestor was a race of the wildcat from africa or asia. Because of their wild heritage they are very exotic looking cats that were only brought to popularity by western visitors to africa. Felis silvestris cafra south africa felis silvestris lybica middle east this study showed that fs.

The domestic cat adapts easily to different conditions and lives comfortably near humans. Alphabetical list of african cats by common name. Administering the registration of pedigrees of cats and. Small spotted cats are endemic to southern africa but found mainly in south africa namibia and some in zimbabwe.

The cat felis catus is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. Download pdf lists of african cats. A breed standard was established by cat fanciers in the 1990s and the cats are still relatively rare today. Nobody knows exactly when the close relationship between cats and humans began but it was probably at least 5000 years ago.

The black footed cat is the smallest of all african cat species with an average shoulder height of just 25 centimeters 10 inches. Lybica included domesticated cats and that wild cats from this group are almost indistinguishable from domesticated cats. African golden cat caracal aurataafrican wildcat felis lybicablack footed cat felis nigripescaracal caracal caracalcheetah acinonyx jubatusjungle cat felis chausleopard panthera parduslion panthera leosand cat felis margaritaserval leptailurus serval. Along with dna analysis phylogenetic studies were also conducted to narrow down the evolutionary history.

A naturally curly coat that comes in both long and short hair makes this big domestic cat particularly unique and his friendly demeanor makes him great as a family pet. Because of chromosomal differences they cannot interbreed with other cats. The latter ranges freely and avoids human contact. Domestic cats are valued by humans for companionship.

The southern africa cat councils objectives include. See black footed cats at. The sokoke also called the khadzonzo is a naturally occurring domestic cat from kenya. It is the only domesticated species in the family felidae and is often referred to as the domestic cat to distinguish it from the wild members of the family.