The forgotten cats of Southern Africa
Have you ever wondered which other wild cats occur in Southern Africa besides the well known large ones? There are 4 smaller species of wild cats. The larger of the small species are the caracal and serval. The caracal unfortunately has a bad reputation, largely undeserved, and is seldom seen due to constant persecution. The serval is a well known, striking looking cat, often seen on game drives. The two smaller cats are the african wild cat and small spotted cat. The african wild cat is ‘drab’ looking and often confused with the domestic cat. The smallest cat in Africa and the most secretive is the small spotted cat. Each one of these cats is spectacular in its own right and plays an important role in ecosystems. The caracal (Felis caracal) or lynx, has a large distribution covering Africa and Asia. Its most distinguishing features are the black ears with the long tufts. It is this feature that was used to name the cat (“karakulak” is Turkish for black ears). The cats weigh between 13 – 18kg with a shoulder height around 45cm. The strong hindquarters are used to propel them into the air to catch birds in flight. They have been recorded knocking up to 12 birds out of the air at one time. The jumping and climbing ability is also used to catch dassies among rocks. Dassies, which can cause a lot of damage to farmers crops, are preyed upon significantly by caracal. Caracals are regarded as vermin by livestock farmers who trap and kill them. This is unfortunate as it is usually only certain individuals that will take livestock but they are, mostly, all targeted for destruction. There are over 4000 caracals killed (recorded deaths) in SA each year. The serval (Leptailurus serval), the most elegant of the cats, is only found in Africa and nowhere else in the world. They have unusually large ears which are used as antennae to pick up sounds of the small prey in the grass or under ground. Their shoulder height is 55cm and weigh around 13kg. They prefer long grass and marsh areas and must drink on a daily basis. Each serval has its own unique fingerprint of strips and spots. The light skull is adapted for eating birds and rodents and it would be difficult for them to kill anything larger than a hare. Serval have been recorded taking domestic poultry which brings it into conflict with farmers. When hunting rodents it leaps high into the air and pounces down on its prey and stuns it. The african wild cat (Felis silvestris lybica) is the ancestor of the domestic cat. It is thought that these cats were first domesticated about 10 000 years ago in the Middle East. It is believed that it was this cat that was found mummified in Egypt dating back to around 4000BC. Subspecies are found throughout Africa, Europe and Asia. These cats regularly interbreed with feral/domestic cats. It is impossible to fully control the feral cat problem leading some to feel that the species is on an evolutionary dead end. Hybrid cats are larger than the pure ones and therefore muscle out any pure cats that there may be in the territory. The pure african wildcat is distinguished by the reddish orange colour on the back of the ears and its long legs. This cat is found in a variety of habitats from sea level to 3000m and weighs 4-5kg.
The small spotted cat (Felis nigripes) is the second smallest cat in the world. It is nocturnal and extremely shy and weighs between 1,1kg to 2,4 kg and a shoulder height of 10-15cm. Put in perspective this cat, when fully grown, is the size of a newborn lion cub or half the size of a house cat. It may be the smallest cat in size but it is the cat with the biggest ‘attitude’ being extremely ferocious for its size. It looks like a mini leopard of sorts with its spots and stripes. Unfortunately this CITIES appendix I animal, previously called the black footed cat, is the victim of habitat destruction, blanket vermin control against the black backed jackal and caracal as well as indiscriminate poisoning and poisoning of locusts, which are part of their diet. Their diet consists of rodents, birds, insects and sometimes small mammals (up to the size of a Cape hare). The success rate for kills is one of the highest of any cat at around 60% - it kills on average one prey animal every 50 minutes! The average consumption of a single cat is around 3000 rodents per year. This solitary cat lives in areas that some would call inhospitable – semi desert areas such as the Karoo. They have to contend with extremes in temperature ranging from 40C in the summer to -10C in winter. Their small bodies have a high metabolism and therefore have to consume around 20% of body weight per night. In this harsh environment where water is scarce they obtain all the water they need from their prey. Research is currently underway which will establish a more accurate distribution. Most people would consider the roar of a lion to be spectacular. To me, however, nothing is more memorable than listening to the deep throated call of this cat. It is a rather loud call for such a small animal and is a sound not easily forgotten. 99% of cat conservation focuses only on large cats. There doesn’t seem to be much interest in the conservation of smaller cats. Is this because they are not often seen and therefore forgotten or is it that they are not “eye catching” or “have no tourist potential”? There is no single approach that will be successful in the conservation of the smaller cats but education and public awareness are playing important role. Any conservation must include the ‘man on the ground’ as most land in this country is in the farmers hands. Cat Conservation Trust, a non profit, public benefit organisation, aims is to raise the awareness of these cat species. There is so much research to be done but unfortunately most research focuses on the larger species. If you would like any further information on any of the above cat species, please do not hesitate to contact us at the Cat Conservation Trust. We also welcome any reports of sighting of this species. A small cat desk calendar for 2008 is for sale of which R10 from each calendar will go the Cat Conservation Trust. Postcards with these cats species are also for available for a donation.