European wildcat
Felis silvestris
Patrick Michaely · Larochette
Key facts in one look
- Size
- 50–67 cm body
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Status in Georgia
- Resident, widespread
- Habitat
- Broad-leaved and mixed forest
- Family
- Felidae
- Conservation
- LC / LC
The European wildcat (Felis silvestris) looks very much like a house cat, but it is bigger and stockier, with longer fur and a thick, bushy tail with black rings and a blunt black tip. In Georgia it is widespread. It lives in broad-leaved and mixed forests, and its Caucasian subspecies was described from a skin collected near Borjomi. In Georgia and globally it is Least Concern (LC). The main threat is interbreeding with house cats, which makes hybrids hard to tell apart by looks. The jungle cat has a plain coat and black ear tufts. If you see a striped cat with a bushy tail in the forest, it is probably a wild animal: do not feed it and do not approach it.
Identification
European wildcat: how to identify it
The European wildcat is a large, stocky, striped cat. Its coat is grey, sometimes ochre, with a dark stripe along the back. The tail is thick and bushy, does not taper, and has black rings and a blunt black tip. It cannot always be told by looks from striped house cats and hybrids.
The body of the Caucasian wildcat is 50–67 cm long. Males weigh 3.1–6.8 kg and females 3–6 kg. Caucasian wildcats are somewhat larger in body, tail and weight than European ones. Compared with a house cat, it is bigger and stockier.
The coat is mostly grey, sometimes ochre. Four black stripes on the forehead and crown merge into two along the back, and a dark spinal stripe runs to the base of the tail. The flanks may have dark stripes, and the paler belly has small dark spots. The legs carry black rings too. The tail is thick and bushy, as if cut off, with 3–8 black rings and a blunt black tip. The eyes are mostly yellowish olive, sometimes green. The winter coat is thicker, denser and longer.
The jungle cat is plain, without spots or stripes, longer-legged, with small black ear tufts and a short tail ringed only on its last third. It lives by water, in floodplain reedbeds. The Eurasian lynx is much larger, with a body of 90–120 cm and a weight of 17–25 kg. Its tail is short and its tip entirely black, without rings.
A house cat has a thin tail that tapers to a point and comes in any colour, while the wildcat has a thick, blunt, ringed tail. The wildcat's coat is grey or brown with dark stripes, while house cats vary widely in colour. Hybrids, however, are often striped and hard to tell from a wildcat by looks. So do not assume a striped cat near a village is a wildcat: look at the tail, size and place together.
Often confused with
The European wildcat lives above all in broad-leaved and mixed forests and avoids intensively farmed land and settlements. In the Caucasus it favours remote broad-leaved forest, but it also occurs in conifer forest, beech and fir woods, open woodland and on rocky slopes. It enters floodplain reedbeds too. It is most numerous in the foothills. In the Caucasus it usually climbs to 1,500–2,000 m, and in exceptional cases to the subalpine belt. It shelters in rock crevices, tree hollows and abandoned burrows, including badger setts. In Georgia it is widespread: its extent of occurrence in the country is over 20,000 km².
The European wildcat map combines public iNaturalist observations. Regions are taken from the records-by-region table, and the status column separates regions with enough records from regions with too few records. Record counts reflect observation effort rather than population density. One region has enough records: Mtskheta-Mtianeti.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Region with records
The European wildcat feeds mainly on small rodents, especially voles. In Transcaucasia it eats gerbils, voles and birds in summer, and rodents and hares in winter. In the northern Caucasus its diet includes mouse-like rodents, edible dormice and birds, and rarely young chamois and roe deer. When its main prey is scarce, it hunts pheasants, hares and young hoofed animals. It also eats lizards, fish, insects and fresh carrion.
The European wildcat is a secretive, solitary animal that meets others mainly in the mating season. It is territorial and moves elsewhere only when food runs short or people disturb it. It hunts mostly at night, but in summer also by day. It usually hunts from ambush, though it may chase a hare. It climbs trees well and can swim, but enters water only when it must. The breeding season begins in late February. Gestation lasts 68–70 days, and a female usually has three kittens. Kittens begin learning to hunt at about two months and suckle until four months.
Globally the European wildcat is Least Concern (LC, 2022). It is listed in Appendix II of CITES. In Georgia, the 2021 national assessment also rates it Least Concern (LC): it is widespread here and its numbers are stable. The main threat is interbreeding with house cats, which is changing the genetic make-up of wildcat populations across Europe. Wildcats in Europe, Asia Minor and the Caucasus carry a substantial share of hybrid genes, up to 21%. In the 1990s, the destruction of broad-leaved forests threatened the eastern populations, including those of the Caucasus. Logging and, in the past, hunting have also harmed it.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Above all by the tail. The wildcat has a thick, bushy tail that does not taper, with black rings and a blunt black tip. A house cat's tail is thin and tapers to a point. The wildcat is also bigger and stockier, and its coat is grey or brown with dark stripes. Striped hybrids are hard to tell apart by looks, so do not decide on one feature.
By its coat, tail and habitat. The wildcat is striped and has a bushy, ringed tail. The jungle cat is plain, longer-legged, with black ear tufts and a short tail. The jungle cat lives by water in floodplain reedbeds, while the wildcat lives mainly in forest.
It is widespread in Georgia, mainly in broad-leaved and mixed forests. It is most numerous in the foothills, and in the Caucasus it usually climbs to 1,500–2,000 m. It enters floodplain reedbeds as well. The Caucasian subspecies was described from a skin collected near Borjomi.
Mainly small rodents. In Transcaucasia it eats gerbils, voles and birds in summer, and rodents and hares in winter. It also eats lizards, fish, insects and carrion. In the northern Caucasus it rarely takes young chamois and roe deer.
No. The wildcat is not venomous and avoids people. It is a wild animal, so do not catch it, feed it or take it home. Watch it from a distance.
No. In Georgia and globally it is Least Concern (LC), and in Georgia its numbers are stable. The main threat is interbreeding with house cats, which erodes the wildcat's genetic distinctness. Caucasian wildcats carry up to 21% hybrid genes.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
