Comments on: Hayling Island Jungle Cat Encounter

By: kittenz

kittenz — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:49:07 +0000

I should have said,

“jungle cats have a wide range that within historic times has included parts of Eurasia and northern Africa.”

By: kittenz

kittenz — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:44:11 +0000

I strongly believe that Felis chaus and not F. sylvestris is the primary ancestor of Siamese and other oriental-type cats. Both species have been kept as semi-tame ratters for millennia, and, physically, Siamese have much in common with F. chaus.

What ARE jungle cats doing in the UK? Apparently, living wild .

They may be remnants of populations that have lived wild there all along; jungle cats have a wide range that within historic times has included Eurasia and northern Africa. Or they may have come from private collections initially, but living and breeding in the wild now. It does seem that if they had been there all along, someone would have recorded them as endemic wildlife at some point. But cats of all stripes are elusive, so maybe they have gone unnoticed until now, especially if they are rare.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:13:52 +0000

Very interesting, indeed.
That is a good question though:
What ARE Jungle cats doing in the UK?
Probably from private collections.
Could also be previously undetected species. Who knows…

By: Viergacht

Viergacht — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:49:36 +0000

That’s pretty neat, shame he couldn’t get a snap with the plastic off, though.