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It’s difficult for non-experts to tell the difference between a grey striped house cat and a wildcat. However, you are not likely to come across a wildcat in their native habitat, as these felines are extremely shy. But they do live in some of our forests and are part of our native fauna. The animal experts from specialty chain Fressnapf profile the wildcat.

The wildcats that live in our temperate European climes actually originate from here. Domestic cats, on the other hand, are descended from the African Wildcat or Desert Cat and are most likely to have been imported by the Romans. This is why wildcats and domestic cats are very different in both their appearance and behaviour. Wildcats are classic loners that separate from their partner immediately after mating. Their offspring are independent after only a few months. They live in thick deciduous or mixed forests and hunt by night for small mammals such as mice. If they can’t find rodents under a think blanket of snow in winter, rabbits, squirrels and birds become their prey.

And how do wildcats look different to our domestic furry friends? Their fur is yellow-grey to ochre with dark stripes, most similar to a grey-brown domestic tabby cat, with a more indistinct pattern. Their fur is also longer all over the body and can grow up to a metre in length. Wildcats typically have a bushy tail that ends in a blunt black tip, a white chin and a white spot in the throat area. Their head and legs are also more solid than a regular house cat.

The natural habitat of the wildcat has continually declined over time and is now limited to "islands" across Europe and south-west Asia. This is a result of forest areas being increasingly replaced or disrupted by roads, housing developments or agriculture. Wildcats used to cover long distances to mate and this has made it almost impossible for them to travel. They were considered as extinct in many areas of Germany for a long time and could only still be found in some low mountain ranges such as Eifel, Hunsrück or Harz. The German league for the environment and nature conservation (BUND) initiated the “rescue network for the wildcat” in 2004 with the aim of linking together forests across different states with wide green corridors to increase and stabilise the wildcat population. This helped both the wildcat and many other forest animals and plants that share the same habitat. Find out more about the rescue network at www.wildkatze.info.



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Velvet-pawed hunters It’s difficult for non-experts to tell the difference between a grey striped house cat and a wildcat. However, you are not likely to come across a wildcat in their wild as they are very shy and their natural habitat has unfortunately become more and more limited over time. Photo: Maxi Zoo/Ulrike Schanz (Photo printout only in association with the editorial text.) Download (351 KB)