Native Wild Cats Uk

Britain has only one species of native cat the European wildcat.

Native wild cats uk. The PixieBob is reputed to be a Bobcat hybrid. Butterflies bats and wild cats among UK wildlife species facing extinction Four out of 10 British species are dying breeds as The State of Nature Report 2019 makes for worrying reading for lovers. Wildcats colonised Britain after the Ice Age over 9000 years ago when there was still a land bridge to the Continent.

According to media reports mysterious big cats have been seen all over Britain including in Staffordshire Lincolnshire Devon Fife and Hertfordshire. Remains of these wildcats have been found at. Today there are only three European wild cats that are native to the area the European wildcat Eurasian lynx and Iberian lynx.

In 1981 the national population of cats was estimated to be 6 million UFAW 1981. A number of exotic breeds are being hybridised with domestic cats to create wild-looking pets with docile temperaments eg. European wildcat in Britain.

Their territory can range from between 19 to about 55 miles. In 1993 the Cats Protection League estimated that approximately 25 of. Wild cats are solitary territorial animals.

The Wild Cat Felis silvestris is Britains only wild member of the cat family and bears a close resemblance to the domestic tabby cat. Of the 40 wild cat species only the lion typically lives and hunts in groups. The lynx an original native of the British Isles is a wild cat that has been forced out of much of Western Europe by habitat destruction and human persecution over the last 2000 years.

The original Celtic Tiger the Eurasian lynx is a large cat that once roamed Ireland. Domestic cats Felis catus are the most abundant carnivores in Great Britain and their numbers appear to be growing. Many wild cats species are either endangered or threatened.