Introduction

For the Tourist
Allthough the wild cats of Southern Africa are beautiful in every aspect, they also have a dangerous side to them. Even the smaller species are very aggressive and will attack a human being if they are cornered. The bigger cats are very unpredictable and do not need to be cornered for them to attack. When you go on a Safari into wild regions where there are cats, make sure that the rangers/guides are fully qualified, armed with weapons, and have the neccessary first aid equipment in case an attack or accident happens. There are very few attacks and most of the time the attacks happened when people act wrecklessly and do not treat the animals with respect.

Cats Family Felidae - Page 1

African Wild Cat	Felis lybica
Total length	85-102 cm
tail	25-38 cm
shoulder height	36 cm
mass	2,4 - 6,1 kg
Identification markers:	Similar in appearance to domestic cats but distinguishable from it by the reddish-brown colour of back of ears, over belly and on back of hindlegs. Vertical body stripes are present but range from very distinct to very faint.

Description:
Similar in appearance to domestic cat but larger with proportionately longer legs. Colour ranges from pale sandy brown in drier areas to light or dark grey in wetter parts of subregion. Body marked with more or less distinct dark vertical stripes. Relatively long tail dark-ringed with black tip. Chin and throat white and chest usually paler than rest of body. Belly usually reddish. Back of each ear coloured rich reddish-brown. lnterbreeds readily with domestic cats and hybrids can cause confusion.

Distribution:
Throughout subregion but absent from Namib Desert coastal belt.

Habitat:
Wide habitat tolerance but requires cover.

Behaviour:
Solitary except when mating or when female is tending kittens. Droppings usually buried in the same way as domestic cat but they also establish small latrines where droppings accumulate.

Food:
Mainly small rodents but they also eat other small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and other invertebrates. The largest recorded prey items are hares, springhares and birds up to the size of guinea-fowl.

Reproduction:
1 - 5 kittens are barn in summer amongst dense vegetation cover, rocks or in burrows dug by other species: gestation period 65 days.

Next - Small Spotted Cat