The most common pets we encounter are dogs and cats. Cats tend to be less prevalent, but this does not mean they are less prevalent than dogs. The number of people who enjoy watching cat videos on YouTube, social media, or short-form platforms is likely similar to or even greater than that of dog lovers. And the cats they watch in these videos are not just domesticated pets. Let’s look at various wild cats gaining popularity through multiple videos.
Pallas’s Cat
The Pallas’s Cat is a wild cat distributed in Central Asia’s steppes and mountainous arid regions, such as Siberia, Mongolia, and Tibet. This cat species has a round face and lots of fur, and males are generally larger than females. They live solitary lives and are most active around sunset. They live in small caves, and their primary diet consists of small mammals, including rodents, birds, and lizards. Their hunting behavior with short legs and expressive faces makes them popular on social media.
African Wildcat
The African Wildcat is said to have become domesticated about 5,000 years ago, becoming the ancestor of the house cat. Its body weighs around 6.6 to 8.8 pounds, and its fur has faint spots. It has long legs, and there are black ring patterns on its legs and tail. It is a solitary, nocturnal animal that primarily eats small mammals and birds and inhabits deserts and wastelands. In ancient Egypt, mummies that displayed signs of domestication were also discovered.
Sand Cat
The Sand Cat is a wild cat that inhabits desert terrains in North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia. It lives in semi-desert areas, dunes, rocky deserts, or plains made of rocks and uses small burrows as resting places. It can run fast even in the desert, and its hearing is very advanced, capable of detecting even the faintest sounds. It is one of the smallest species among wild cats, and due to a decrease in population, it was classified as a near-threatened species by the IUCN in 2002.
Bobcat
The Bobcat is a wild cat native to North America. It is distributed from southern Canada to southern Mexico and has long legs and large feet. Its fur is short and ranges from tan to reddish-brown. Its body has black spots and stripes, and its belly is white. Its tail is short and stubby, with fur on its face resembling sideburns. A fully grown adult’s body length can reach about 3.3 feet. It leads a solitary life and is primarily active at night. The Bobcat is also an endangered species.
Margay
The Margay is a small, slender wild cat with long tails and round ears. Its fur is tan or grayish-brown, with spots and rose-shaped markings. The fur on its belly is white, and overall, it is thick and soft. It primarily lives in trees, has wide and flexible toes, and has large claws. Its eyes are large, and it primarily hunts at night. It eats mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and sometimes fruit.
Caracal
The Caracal, the African Lynx, is a relatively large wild cat. Adults can grow up to 90 cm in length. Its fur is close to orange, and the fur on its belly is lighter than its back. As a cub, it has black spots, which disappear as it grows. Its ears are short and triangular, with long black hairs behind them. Its tail is short, and its hind toes are longer than its front ones. It primarily hunts small to medium-sized mammals. In India, they are sometimes captured as cubs and trained to hunt game.
Ocelot
The Ocelot is also a well-known wild cat in Korea. It is characterized by its unique black spots and two black stripes on each cheek. It is a good swimmer, and although it is often seen in groups, it generally leads a solitary life. It is nocturnal and primarily hunts around sunset. It is distributed from the southernmost tip of the United States to South America. They are generally aggressive, but there are those who domesticate them through breeding and keep them as pets.
Andean Mountain Cat
The Andean Mountain Cat is one of the world’s most critically endangered wild cats. It is distributed in South America and is very rarely seen. Its fur is ash-colored with a brownish stripe. Its nose is black, and its body is thick and cylindrical. There are dark spots and stripes on its legs, and males and females have the same fur color. They are animals with extremely sharp hearing, living beyond the timberline of the Andes Mountains, where vegetation is sparse and there are many rocks.
Black-footed Cat
The Black-footed Cat is one of the smallest wild cats. It is called the Black-footed Cat because its paws are black, and it is generally considered cute because its face is large compared to its body. Its skull is wide, and its ears are round and upright. The black-footed cat lives in dry grasslands and sparsely vegetated semi-deserts. It has thick black fur on its paws, which helps protect its body from the hot heat of the desert. It is a unique species in southern Africa.
Pampas Cat
The Pampas Cat is a wild cat that primarily inhabits the high plains of tropical South America. They are known to hunt rodents or birds at night mainly. Its fur color can be divided into three main types. There are those with a grayish hue and dark brown stripes on their legs, those with reddish-brown spots on the sides of their bodies, and those with a lighter base color and less noticeable eyes. They are also seen as a subspecies of Colocolo, and depending on the color and pattern of the fur, they are also seen as an independent species.
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