Native Wild Cats Uk

The PixieBob is reputed to be a Bobcat hybrid.

Native wild cats uk. In 1981 the national population of cats was estimated to be 6 million UFAW 1981. According to media reports mysterious big cats have been seen all over Britain including in Staffordshire Lincolnshire Devon Fife and Hertfordshire. It is estimated to comprise between 1000 and 4000 individuals of which about 400 cats are thought to meet the morphological and genetic criteria of a wildcat.

Britain has only one species of native cat the European wildcat. Most wild cat species are proficient climbers often entering the trees either to rest hunt or to seek refuge from predators. CLAIMS of big cats roaming wild in the British countryside are on the rise with the Beast of Exmoor just the latest in a long line of sightings.

They arrived by themselves back when Britain was still connected to the continent by a land bridge up until around 8000 years ago. In 1903 the body of a Canadian lynx was donated to Bristol Museum. There are just a few dozen left.

These predators are not domestic cats which have become feral. Dont be misled by the term wildcat. For a detailed look at alien small cats ASCs in Britain and their potential for interbreeding with the Scottish Wildcat or domestic cats see Domestic X Wildcat Hybrids in Britain.

Their territory can range from between 19 to about 55 miles. Wildcats colonised Britain after the Ice Age over 9000 years ago when there was still a land bridge to the Continent. A nationwide phenomenon.

European wildcats were once widespread in Britain. 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. In 1993 the Cats Protection League estimated that approximately 25 of.