African Wildcat

Felis lybicaForster, 1780

Animal

LCLR Monde (IUCN)

1 photo · Licences CC (Wikimedia Commons / iNaturalist)Click pour agrandir

Filtrer le graphe par contexte spatialPays · région · aire protégée · écorégion · biome

Chargement du graphe…

Indicateurs du réseau écologique

Comment lire ce graphe

Ce graphe représente les interactions écologiques documentées entre Felis lybica et d'autres espèces, à partir de la base GloBI (Global Biotic Interactions, agrégation mondiale de la littérature scientifique) — source principale, complétée par d'autres jeux de données d'interactions agrégés par Ontologia. Il faut le comprendre comme une carte du savoir documenté, pas une carte de la réalité écologique exhaustive.

Limites principales

Incomplet. La majorité des interactions écologiques en milieu naturel n'ont jamais été publiées. Une espèce sans liens visibles n'est pas isolée — elle est probablement mal étudiée.
Biais publication pharmaco-agronomique. La littérature des interactions est polarisée par les enjeux économiques et sanitaires : parasitism / pathogen sur-pondéré sur les mammifères (recherche zoonoses, vecteurs), herbivory sur-pondéré sur les insectes phytophages (entomologie agronomique). À l'inverse, mutualisms, commensalisms et interactions sol/microbiote sont sous-cités. Conseil de lecture : sur les hubs mammifères ou les insectes ravageurs de culture, lire les arêtes parasitism / herbivory dominantes relativement au contexte de littérature, pas comme une mesure d'intensité écologique brute. Détails §10.1.
Biaisé vers les espèces étudiées. Quelques espèces (oiseaux communs, abeille mellifère, espèces modèles) concentrent disproportionnellement plus d'interactions documentées. Notre score composite ajoute un malus aux hubs de littérature pour atténuer cette dominance visuelle.
Interactions documentées globalement. Toutes les espèces affichées sont observées en France métropolitaine (les observations sont filtrées sur le territoire métropolitain), mais les interactions entre elles proviennent de la littérature scientifique mondiale. Une interaction documentée à l'étranger peut ne pas se réaliser à l'identique sur votre territoire. Le filtre « restreindre à ma commune » tient compte de la co-occurrence spatiale locale mais ne garantit pas l'interaction effective.
Sans dimension temporelle. Les variations saisonnières (migration, floraison, cycle de vie) ne sont pas modélisées.
Force d'interaction approximative. L'épaisseur des liens reflète le nombre de fois où l'interaction a été rapportée dans la littérature, pas son importance écologique réelle.

Comment nous sélectionnons les espèces affichées

Le graphe affiche au plus 31 nœuds par fiche (1 centre + 15 bulles depth=1 + 15 partenaires depth=2). Le serveur sélectionne intelligemment :

Bulles famille créées si une cascade taxonomique existe ou si ≥3 espèces directement documentées partagent une même famille — les espèces sont absorbées dans la bulle (pas de doublon visuel)
Espèces individuelles uniquement quand <3 dans une famille (sans cascade) — relations directes documentées
Pas d'espèces inférées affichées en doublon — les cascades sont représentées via les bulles famille uniquement
Partenaires depth=2 sélectionnés via algo priorité : candidat partagé par ≥2 docs de la famille (food web central) → reliant entre bulles → top sum_obs en dernier recours
Sous-types GloBI traduits en français au survol de la flèche (chasse, parasite, parasitoïde, mycorhize…)

Le toggle Profondeur 1 ↔ 2 client-side cache ou affiche les partenaires depth=2 sans refetch. Filtres règne, type d'interaction, ordres/familles, patrimoniales et commune recalculent côté serveur (slow path live ~1-2 s).

Indicateurs avancés (mode expert) : Modularité Q (Newman 2006, PNAS), communautés (Louvain, Blondel et al. 2008, J. Stat. Mech.), nestedness NODF (Almeida-Neto et al. 2008, Oikos).

Source : GloBI · TAXREF v18 (INPN/MNHN) · BDC-Statuts · Wikidata

4 partenaires écologiques documentés directement dans GloBI.

Partenaires

Espèces avec interactions documentées

Types d'interactions

Prédation, pollinisation, parasitisme…

Connectance

0.139

Densité des liens dans le sous-graphe affiché

Rang animalia

59 %

Percentile vs ensemble des animalia

Liste rouge IUCN

LC · Préoccupation mineure?Inconnue

Évaluation complète

Évaluation: 2022 · v3.1
Altitude: 0 – 3000 m
Profondeur: – m

État de la populationTexte officiel évaluation IUCNExpert

There is no population assessment for Felis lybica at global, national or subpopulation levels. However, the population is considered to be stable in much of its range but possibly declining due to ongoing land-use change and the risk of hybridization with domestic cat in some regions, such as reported declines in South Africa, Lesotho (Herbst et al. 2016) and the Arabian Peninsula (Mallon and Budd 2011, A. Sliwa pers. comm. 2019). The population of Afro-Asiatic wildcat has been estimated at 0.1–1 individuals/km² in the Serengeti National Park (Waser 1980).

Menaces identifiées(14 menaces classées CMP-IUCN)

8_1_2
Named species
Rapid DeclinesMajority (50-90%)Ongoing
2_1_2
Small-holder farming
Causing/Could cause fluctuationsOngoing
2_1_3
Agro-industry farming
Causing/Could cause fluctuationsOngoing
2_3_1
Nomadic grazing
Causing/Could cause fluctuationsOngoing
2_3_2
Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming
Causing/Could cause fluctuationsOngoing
2_3_3
Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming
Causing/Could cause fluctuationsOngoing
1_1
Housing & urban areas
Slow, Significant DeclinesOngoing
1_2
Commercial & industrial areas
Slow, Significant DeclinesOngoing
3_1
Oil & gas drilling
Slow, Significant DeclinesOngoing
3_2
Mining & quarrying
Slow, Significant DeclinesOngoing

+ 4 menaces supplémentaires

Description complète des menacesTexte détaillé évaluation IUCNExpert

Afro-Asiatic wildcats are considered to be threatened by domestic cats and hybridization is widespread across their range (Yamaguchi et al. 2015, Yu et al. 2021). However, a recent study (Le Roux et al. 2015), showed that wildcat populations in South Africa appear to be genetically pure, with low levels of hybridization, and protected areas play an important role in maintaining genetic purity by reducing the likelihood of contact with domestic cats. There is insufficient information on the level of hybridization with domestic cats in other parts of the range, and therefore, this threat should not be underestimated. Feral domestic cats also compete with wildcats for prey and space, and there is a high potential for disease transmission between domestic cats and wildcats (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Yamaguchi et al. 1996, Daniels et al. 1999, Macdonald et al. 2004).

Other threats include significant human-caused mortality, especially road kills and retaliatory killing as a consequence of depredation on livestock and poultry (Ghoddousi et al. 2016, F. Cuzin pers. comm. 2019). Moreover, wildcats are caught as bycatch in traps set for other species (Hashim and Mahgoub 2008, Stuart et al. 2013, Ghoddousi et al. 2016, A. Samna pers. comm. 2019, F. Belbachir pers. obs. 2019). Afro-Asiatic wildcats are also killed as pests in southern Africa, although this does not seem to have resulted in population declines (Stuart et al. 2013). Habitat loss is also known as one of the threats to Afro-Asiatic wildcats. For example, the expansion of cotton plantations and gas fields in China or development of so called ‘wasteland habitats’ in India (Sharma 1998) have reduced their suitable habitat. However, wildcats persist in cultivated landscapes with increased rodent population densities (Sunquist and Sunquist 2002), although these are the areas where hybridization with domestic cats occurs and spreads. Moreover, free-ranging dogs kill wildcats and may increase their mortality rate, especially along protected area boundaries where they occur in significant numbers (TAWIRI 2009). Finally, the impacts of uncontrolled breeding of pure wildcats and selling of individuals as pets are unknown (Herbst et al. 2016).

Habitats préférentiels (classification IUCN)

1_4Forest - Temperate★
1_5Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry★
2_1Savanna - Dry★
2_2Savanna - Moist★
3_4Shrubland - Temperate★
3_5Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry★
3_6Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical Moist★
3_7Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude★
3_8Shrubland - Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation★
4_4Grassland - Temperate★
4_5Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry★
4_6Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded★

+ 9 habitats supplémentaires

Mesures de conservation recommandéesStratégies de conservation IUCNExpert

The species is included on CITES Appendix II since 1977. The Afro-Asiatic wildcat is fully protected across some of its African and Asian range countries (Nowell and Jackson 1996), although effective implementation of protection on the ground may be a different issue. Included on the Regional Red List Status of Carnivores in the Arabian Peninsula (Mallon and Budd 2011) as well as in Morocco (Cuzin 2003), where the species is listed as Near Threatened. The Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland classified it as Least Concern (Herbst et al. 2016). In India, it is scheduled I in the Wildlife Protection Act (1972), the highest level of protection for any given species. The Afro-Asiatic wildcat is legally protected in Afghanistan since 2009, which bans all hunting and trading of this species. It is a protected species according to the Red Books of China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia and Russia. The wildcat is part of Tanzania’s Carnivore Action Plan (TAWIRI 2009).

There is an international studbook of Afro-Asiatic wildcat from the Arabian Peninsula, initiated in 1997 (Olbricht 1997) and continued since then (Sliwa 2006, 2013) to maintain a pure (unhybridized) population in captivity. There are about 60 registered individuals living in 12 institutions worldwide.

Despite the existence of a range of threats, there is very limited conservation attention on Afro-Asiatic wildcats. In South Africa and Tanzania feral or hybrid cats are removed/banned from protected areas. In Tajikistan, conservation efforts on snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and markhor (Capra falconeri), and in India on Great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) may indirectly benefit Afro-Asiatic wildcats as well. The main conservation needs include 1) assessment of hybridization threat in different parts of the range; 2) preventing hybridization by neutering and removing feral domestic cats, as well as, control of ownership and population levels of domestic cats; 3) human-wildcat conflict mitigation measures; 4) identification of roadkill hotspots and implementation of safe corridors; 4) control of illegal trade of wildcat fur and body parts; 5) control of habitat loss and degradation.

Actions de conservation (13)Conservation Actions Classification Scheme — IUCNExpert

1_1Site/area protection
1_2Resource & habitat protection
2_2Invasive/problematic species control
2_3Habitat & natural process restoration
3_1_1Harvest management
3_1_2Trade management
3_4_2Genome resource bank
4_3Awareness & communications
5_1_2National level
5_4_1International level
5_4_2National level
5_4_3Sub-national level
6_2Substitution

Stress écologiques (15)Stresses Classification — IUCNExpert

1_1Ecosystem conversion
1_1Ecosystem conversion
1_1Ecosystem conversion
1_1Ecosystem conversion
1_2Ecosystem degradation
1_2Ecosystem degradation
1_2Ecosystem degradation
1_2Ecosystem degradation
1_2Ecosystem degradation
2_1Species mortality
2_1Species mortality
2_1Species mortality
2_1Species mortality
2_3_1Hybridisation
2_3_2Competition

Usage & commerce (5)Use & Trade — IUCNExpert

1Food - human
nationalsubsistance
10Wearing apparel, accessories
nationalsubsistance
11Other household goods
nationalsubsistance
12Handicrafts, jewellery, etc.
nationalsubsistance
15Sport hunting/specimen collecting
nationalsubsistance

Priorités de recherche (8)Research Needed Classification — IUCNExpert

1_1Taxonomy
1_2Population size, distribution & trends
1_3Life history & ecology
1_4Harvest, use & livelihoods
1_5Threats
2_2Area-based Management Plan
3_1Population trends
3_4Habitat trends

Niche IUCN globaleRealms · Systems · LMEs · Growth forms · FAOs — biogéographie IUCNExpert

Royaumes biogéographiques

AfrotropicalIndomalayanPalearctic

Systèmes (terrestre/eau douce/marin)

Terrestrial

Références bibliographiques (30)Sources scientifiques de l'évaluation IUCNExpert

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Wuest, D., Kitchener, A., Ghoddousi, A., Gerngross, P., Barashkova, A., Lanz, T., Sliwa, A., Krivopalova, A., Shakula, G., Breitenmoser-Würsten, Ch. and Breitenmoser, U. 2021. Expediency of photographs to study the distribution of wildcats in South-west Asia. Cat News 72: 40-44.
Davygora A. V. 2020. Stappe Cat Felis lybica Forster 1780. Red Data Book of Orenburg Province: Rare and Endangered Species of Plants, Animals and Fungi. pp. 219-220 (in Russia).
Rather, T. A., Kumar, S., Kamat, A. and Gore, K. 2019. New record of Asiatic wildcat from Central Indian landscape. Cat News 70: 21-22.
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Évaluateurs & contributeurs (3)Personnes ayant contribué à l'évaluation IUCNExpert

assessor

Ghoddousi, A., Belbachir, F., Durant, S.M., Herbst, M. & Rosen, T.

contributor

Abdukadir, A., El Alqamy, H., Angelici, F.M., Avenant, N.L., Barashkova, A., Brito, J.C., Canney, S., Child, M.F., Cuzin, F., Davletbakov, A., De Smet, K., Do Linh San, E., Foley, C., Foley, L., Ghimirey, Y., Gil Sánchez, J., Gritsina, M., Hauptfleisch, M., Henschel, P., Hudaikulyev, N., Jebali, A., Kabir, M., Karimov, K., Karimov, U., Khan, B., Khandal, D., Khojamuradov, K., Krivopalova, A., Kulenbekov, R., Linnell, J., Lobora, A., Luo, S.-J., Mengüllüoglu, D., Mondajem, A., Msuha, M., Mousavi, M., Nasanbat, B., Ndoassal, B., Ostrowski, S., Pestov, M., Plumptre, A.J., Pratzer, M., Rabeil, T., Raza, H., Rustamov, A, Samna, A., Shakula, G., Singh, P., Sliwa, A., Soultan, A., Wacher, T., Zafar-ul Islam, M., Zazanashvili, N. & Zhaskairat, N.

evaluator

Kitchener, A., Ikanda, D. & Yamaguchi, N.

Ghoddousi, A., Belbachir, F., Durant, S.M., Herbst, M. & Rosen, T. 2022. Felis lybica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T131299383A154907281. Accessed on 05 May 2026.