wildcat

wildcat, (species Felis silvestris), a small wild member of the cat family (Felidae) native to Eurasia and Africa. There are some three to five subspecies. The name wildcat is also used as a general term for feral domestic cats and for any of the smaller wild species of the cat family.

The nominate subspecies, the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris), inhabits forested regions from Scotland through continental Europe to western Asia. It is similar to the domestic cat but has longer legs, a larger, flatter head, and a full, relatively short tail ending in a rounded (not pointed) tip. The coat is yellowish gray with dark stripes and bands in the striped tabby pattern; the tail is black-ringed. The adult wildcat is 50 to 80 cm (20 to 32 inches) long, excluding a 25- to 35-cm (10- to 14-inch) tail; it stands 35–40 cm (14–16 inches) high at the shoulder and weighs from 3 to 10 kg (6.6 to 22 pounds).

The European wildcat is a solitary, nocturnal animal that preys on birds and small mammals. It breeds once yearly (in spring) in continental Europe and twice (sometimes three times) yearly in Scotland. A litter consists of three to six kittens; the gestation period is 68 days. The wildcat interbreeds with the domestic cat. Certain authorities believe that the purity of the Scottish wildcat (one of the several races) is being threatened by interbreeding.

The subspecies known as the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), native to northern Africa, is the putative ancestor of the domestic cat. The Asian wildcat (Felis silvestris ornata) ranges east of the Caspian Sea into China.

In North America, the lynx and bobcat are sometimes called wildcats.