IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Hunter, M. | |
| The Great and Lesser Wild Cats of Egypt | |
| 2004 Manuscript | |
Chances are, anyone visiting Egypt for simply a vacation will never see much wildlife beyond birds, maybe bats and a few lizards and other small reptiles, unless visiting the Cairo Zoo or perhaps one of the hotels that sometimes maintain small collections of animals, such as the Movenpick Jolie Ville (certainly not a petting zoo) in Luxor. Wildlife exists, nonetheless, and the more adventurous can take nature treks that may reveal more of Egypt's animal inhabitants. Of all the animals in Egypt, cats (felids) have a special history. Certainly other animals were important to the ancient Egyptians, such as the Ram, bulls and cattle, canine, hippopotamus, various birds and crocodiles. One can certainly argue that some of these animals were more important to the Egyptians of a distant past than cats. However, cats are enduring and seem to remain both a love and a curse of modern Egypt. Feral domestic cats roam the streets of Cairo today, making a habitat of our manmade jungle. But there are also true wildcats in Egypt. Of the 35 species of wildcats, Egypt is home to as many as six, and a seventh, the Lion Panthera leo, probably became extinct in the late pharaonic period. Some of the six are extremely rare, and may no longer exist in Egypt, but certainly some of those that do still stalk the Egyptian landscape are some of the most interesting, including the small Felis Silvestris, or Wild Cat, which looks very similar to and sometimes interbreeds with domestic cats, and may be the forerunner of the domestic cat. Others small cats include the Felis Chaus (Swamp Cat) and the Felis margarita (Sand Cat). Larger cats include the Acinonyx jubatus (Cheetah), Panthera pardus (Leopard) and the Felis caracal (Caracal). |
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