Why The African Wildcat?
Why was the African wildcat domesticable while its more northern cousins were (and are) not? As well as colouration among subspecies across its range, temperament also varies. The more northerly F silvestris is generally intractable even if hand-reared. F lybica is generally more amenable to human presence. This would be a factor during the early domestication of the cat. African wildcats hunt a variety of prey animals, but rarely scavenge carrion. Unlike feral domestic cats, which sometimes form colonies, African wildcats are solitary. Domestic cats will often eat carrion and will form colonies where there is a rich food supply e.g. rubbish dumps, farmyards, but prefer to remain solitary where prey is more thinly distributed (Liberg and Sandell 1988). Studies in Saudi Arabia indicate that wildcats continue to remain solitary while feral cats formed colonies around a garbage dump. However, African wildcats do have some ability to co-operate since captive female wildcats have been seen
