Wild Cat Species of Africa

Africa is the second largest continent and covers up to 22% of the worlds land mass. It is a vast plateau continent with approximately 90% of the land being no more than 500 feet above sea level, while to the north the Sahara Desert makes up almost 25% of the total area of the continent. The majority of the continent has very low rainfall, with only eastern central lands, made up extensively of equatorial rain forest, receiving high average precipitation. The huge areas of Savanna to the east and south of the African continent are home to large herds of roaming herbivores and as such provide a substantial prey source for the native carnivores, including several of the cat family.

The African Golden Cat is a medium sized cat and can grow to 90cm in body length and weigh up to 18kg. Although its name implies a golden coloured coat the golden cat is polymorphic, its base coat coloration varies extensively depending on its location. Ranging from a golden/reddish brown to slate/silver grey. A report of a golden cat in captivity even suggest that the base colour of the fur can change from one colour phase to the other over a period of time depending on the age of the cat and various environmental stimuli. The under sides of the chin, chest and abdomen are usually lighter and in some cases almost pure white - in some individuals the head and body is spotted. Its long tail, which measures up to 40cm, is marked with dark line along the top and ends in a brown or black tip. The head caries distinctive light markings around the eyes and above the mouth - the small ears are dark coloured on the rear face.

The Black-footed Cat is one of the smallest species of cat. With a shoulder height of approximately 22cm and a body length of 50cm, the average male weighs in at about 2.2kg - however the female often weighs as little as 1.5kg and as such can be classified as the smallest of all wild cats. In appearance the cat has a large broad head in proportion to its small body, its coat colour varies from light sandy brown to reddish brown and is covered with dark spotted patches which sometime coalesce into broken stripes. The legs of the black-footed are bared with dark horizontal stripes and the tail is broken with dark rings and terminates in a black tip. The pads of its feet are black and are surrounded by long black hairs which give the small felid its name as well as protecting its feet from the heat of the semi-desert habitat.

The African wildcat is divided into many regional subspecies and their number and classification varies depending on which school of thought is followed. The range of the species as a whole extends across most of the old world. From parts of North West Europe, through the Middle East, parts of Asia and generally, excluding the true dessert areas, throughout The African continent. Species can be split into three main groups - F. silvestris.silvestris the European wildcat (Silvestris Group) found mainly in forested areas of Europe - F. silvestris.lybica the African wildcat (Lybica Group), distributed in various coloured forms in most of Africa apart from the Sahara and equatorial rainforest areas and F.silvestris.ornata the Indian Desert or Steppe wildcat (Ornata Group) found in various regions of western Asia through to parts of India and Southern Asia.

The Caracal in appearance resembles the Lynx in having characteristic dark tufts on its large, pointed ears and is indeed often referred to as the African Lynx or Desert Lynx, however the caracal is not closely related to the true lynx species. Extending the visual comparison, the body of the caracal is slimmer and less stocky, its legs are thinner and its tail longer than the Lynx. It can grow up to 3 feet in body length and sport a tail about a third of its body size. Its coloration is generally yellowish brown to a darker red/brown, with the undersides of the cat, areas around the eyes and under the chin being white. The backs of its ears are black – the name Caracal is derived from the Turkish word 'karakulak', meaning 'black ear'. Melanistic or all black caracal have also been reported

The Cheetah in many ways is peculiar amongst the many cat species. In both looks and physical mobility it resembles a large muscular greyhound - its long streamlined body is carried on long, thin but powerful legs, which endow it with great speed in the chase. A fully-grown cheetah can reach speeds in excess of 60 mph and can easily outrun any animal over short distances. Its paws too, are almost dog-like, narrow and hard padded they sport only slightly retractable claws, the only of its type amongst the species of cat, and offer the cat extra grip in its high-speed pursuits. The cheetah unlike other 'Big Cats' does not roar, however it does purr and other vocal sounds range from high pitched yelps and barks to longer chirruping sounds.

The leopard is most easily recognised by its rosette patterned coat and extremely long, darker tail. This large cat is sometimes confused in appearance with the South American Jaguar - the leopard though is less stocky and unlike the jaguar, its rosette markings are generally smaller and have no internal spots. The overall size of the leopard depends very much on the subspecies and location, with the largest animals growing to a length of nearly 5 feet with an additional tail length of some 3 feet - generally the male is between 20-40% larger than the female. The base coloration of the coat also varies greatly depending upon location, ranging from golden/yellow in open grasslands, through yellow/cream in desert areas to deep gold in mountain and forest regions.

The lion stands out from the other 'big cats', not only in its distinctive appearance but also in being the only felid that lives in organised social groups. In appearance the lion is a powerfully built, muscular cat. The fur is short and generally uniform in colour, ranging from grey/buff to reddish brown in coloration with the exception of the undersides which are often white, especially in females. The back of the ears and tip of the tail are dark brown or black. However the most distinctive feature of the male lion is its mane, a ruff of thick, long fur. The colour of the mane varies from a light brown to almost black and covers the sides of the face, neck and in some animals extends to the abdomen. The adolescent male begins to grow its mane at about 18 months and it continues to grow until the cat reaches about five years of age - throughout this period it is common for the mane to darken. A fully developed male lion can grow up to 10 feet in body length and is surpassed in size only by the larger species of tiger .

As its name implies the sand cat is commonly found in sandy desert areas in the arid countries of Northern Africa, Arabia and parts of Central Asia and Pakistan - sand cats indigenous to each of these areas are catorgorised as sub species, respectively, Felis margarita margarita (North Africa), Felis margarita harrisoni (Arabian Peninsula), Felis margarita thinobia (west of the Caspian Sea) and Felis margarita scheffeli (Pakistan). Due to its fragmented distribution across the Saharan part of its range some experts sub-catogarise the North African species of the sand cat into further distinct sub-species - Felis margarita airensis (Niger) and Felis margarita meinertzhageni (Sahara) - however due to the difficulty in obtaining accurate population figures and accurate scientific data of cats in open desert areas, exact classification is uncertain.



The serval is generally found in most parts of Africa excluding the arid desert regions to the north around the Sahara, parts of the western tip of Southern Africa and certain areas of the tropical rainforest belt of Central Africa. A northern sub-species, is rarely sighted and is listed as endangered.
Approximately similar in size to the Caracal, the serval has extraordinarily long legs for its body size which can be up to 3 feet in length, whilst standing up to 20 inches in shoulder height. The base fur colour is sandy to reddish brown and is covered in dark spots which have a tendency to merge into stripes along the top of the back. noticeable regional variation in markings are shown – in West Africa the spotted markings are smaller and much less distinct and it was once believed that these cats formed a separate species, the Servaline Cat (F. servalina).

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