Studie über wilde Füchse und Hundeartige (f 1976) * Étude sur le renard sauvage et les canidés (f 1976)
I have to admit that after 30 odd years (research notes first published in ) of being called all sorts of names because of my research findings on (just) wild cats it is nice to see that the "professionals" are catching up and providing even more solid evidence for my 40+ years of wild cat research.
Yet these people will not even accept the offer of free copies of my research work to solidify what they are finding.
On with life.
We are currently at a 26 pages long fox death register for 2025 and 351 foxes. These are only the reported ones and based on previous years the actual death number is likely twice that.
Interestingly there is more wild cat news, this time re Ireland in a post By Shane Ó Curraighín North West Correspondent RTE Wildcat bones found in Co Clare dated to 5,500 years ago https://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2025/1128/1546238-wildcat-bones/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOX4qFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeU8Qdaykxy_dOafZ4niriwGP0ENSMVLQcudPTovkNA1j4_GqnU8SLrasf4Gs_aem_pjkQB5WFo6agPcsMNjFgSA
The first directly dated wildcat bones found in Ireland have been identified, confirming that the species inhabited the island more than 5,500 years ago.
Archaeologist Dr Marion Dowd of Atlantic Technological University made the discovery in Glencurran Cave in the Burren, Co Clare
Until recently, none of Ireland's prehistoric cat remains had been radiocarbon dated, leaving uncertainty over whether earlier finds were wildcats or domestic arrivals.
Radiocarbon dating conducted at Queen's University Belfast confirmed the remains of the species, extinct in Ireland, are more than 5,500 years old, dating to the Middle Neolithic period.
Dr Dowd discovered 39 bones belonging to an adult wildcat that were subsequently identified by zooarchaeologist Margaret McCarthy.
Ancient DNA analysis at the University of Rome Tor Vergata confirmed the animal was a male European wildcat, distinct from modern domestic cats and Near Eastern wildcats.
Dr Dowd said the breakthrough "transforms what we thought we knew about Ireland’s ancient wildlife".
"It’s important for us to build-up a database of the animals that once existed in the Irish landscape that have now become extinct.
"It joins bears, wolves and other animals that would’ve been a core part of the Irish ecosystem and landscape 5,000 years ago," Dr Dowd said.
Archaeologist James Kyle said Dr Dowd’s work is hugely significant as it pushes back the date range for this animal in Ireland at least 4,000 years.
"It’s the kind of thing that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. It answers a lot of questions, but it also poses a lot of questions in terms of the biodiversity of Ireland in the past.
"This is the first time we can say with certainty that European wildcats lived in prehistoric Ireland," Dr Dowd said.
Small numbers of cat bones were previously found on prehistoric sites, including the Mesolithic site of Lough Boora, Co Offaly and the Neolithic passage tomb of Newgrange, Co Meath.
Dr Dowd said that without radiocarbon dating, it was impossible to confirm the age or species of the previous archaeological discoveries.
Wildcats were once widespread across Europe but declined sharply from the 1700s due to habitat loss, hunting, and competition with domestic cats.
Archaeologist Adam Collins said the finding opens up the diversity of animals that were in Ireland during the early Neolithic period.
"I think it’s only going to get better between the scientific techniques and the opportunities that are available.
"We’re going to see a lot more of this type of work being done and hopefully painting a much clearer picture of our past," Mr Collins said.
Wildcat populations remain in Scotland and in Iberia, however, numbers of the legally protected continue to decline primarily through roadkill, poaching and habitat loss.
As the domestic cat population grew, wildcat numbers plummeted. Although similar in size and appearance to domestic cats, they are a different species.
Dr Dowd has said further radiocarbon dating and genetic analysis of discoveries from prehistoric and medieval sites would help in understanding our past.
"We’re interested in establishing when did wildcat become extinct. We don’t know the answer to that, only further analysis will determine the answer.
"It’s important because we want to understand the past landscapes in prehistoric Ireland; the animals that lived in those landscapes and the types of ecosystems," he said.
Dr Dowd’s findings have been published in a co-authored paper recently published in the Journal of Irish Archaeology.
(c)2025 T. Hooper
Science has a very interesting item but, sadly, in the
You can check the summary out here:https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adt2642?fbclid=IwY2xjawOX1TVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe7fIQ2KaTst1mbR52NHR1jcQsURa9GykgMoRxVwqmiDhmQmOdNfKdnJvxFfo_aem_2lYuqmXFreAdp8o6CkmxiQ
The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to
Editor’s summary
Tracing the origins of domestic cats (Felis catus) has been limited by a lack of ancient DNA for these animals, as well by their morphological similarity to the African wildcat (F. lybica lybica) and European wildcat (F. sylvestris). De Martino et al. generated low- to medium-coverage genomes for 87 ancient, museum, and modern cats (see the Perspective by Losos). They found that domestic cats are most genetically similar to African wildcats, although there has been widespread gene flow between wild and domestic populations. European samples that cluster with domestic cats only appear in the 1st century CE, suggesting a later dispersal of domestic cats than previously thought. Although broader sampling is needed, this study shows the complexity of population dynamics that is often revealed when looking beyond mitochondrial DNA. —Corinne Simonti
Structured Abstract
INTRODUCTION
The domestic cat (Felis catus) originated from the African wildcat (Felis lybica lybica), which is presently distributed across North Africa and the
RATIONALE
The timing and circumstances of cat domestication and dispersal remain uncertain owing to the limited number of ancient and modern genomes analyzed thus far. Questions remain about the natural distribution ranges of African and European (Felis silvestris) wildcats in the past and their potential admixture. A recent study showed that ancient gene flow might confound the reconstruction of cat dispersal, particularly when based on mtDNA. The origin of African wildcat populations in the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and
RESULTS
We generated a genomic time transect spanning the past 11,000 years and found that cats previously identified as carrying a F. l. lybica mtDNA clade from Neolithic and Chalcolithic southeast Europe and Anatolia, dated between 9500 and 6300 years ago, were F. silvestris wildcats whose ancestors hybridized with F. l. lybica. Ancient genomes revealed an increasing trend of African wildcat ancestry ranging from 9 to 34% eastward, from
The earliest cat belonging to the genetic cluster of as F. l. lybica and F. catus in Europe originates from the site of Genoni, in Sardinia (
CONCLUSION
Our findings challenge the commonly held view of a Neolithic introduction of domestic cats to
The introduction of domestic cats to
The genomes of ancient cats from archaeological sites across Europe and Anatolia (dark circles in the map) revealed that domestic cats were introduced to Europe from North Africa starting at ~2 thousand years ago (kya), several millennia after the onset of the Neolithic in
Abstract
The domestic cat (Felis catus) descends from the African wildcat Felis lybica lybica. Its global distribution alongside humans testifies to its successful adaptation to anthropogenic environments. Uncertainty remains regarding whether domestic cats originated in the Levant,
fin summary
(c)2025 respective copyright owner
There was established trading through sea merchants and it is how a barbary macaque (baboon) got to Iron Age Ireland as a "gift" or some such -dug up on the Time Team TV series. There are (if you do not read or study or follow evidence) supposedly no wild cats in Ireland -in more modern times European wild cat types have been out in the wild and if not escapes from private collections likely released for shooting 'sport' as in England. However, the historically reported (but not believed by the established zoological hierarchy who discredited their own colleagues) was North African wild cat and there is at least one pelt of a descendent to prove it.
Romans are always given the credit!
Wild cats in the UK were shot, poisoned, clubbed and torn to bits by hounds for fun and succumbed to extinction by the 1860s -for over 100 years before that naturalists wrote that if it were not for feral domestic cats interbreeding with wild cats then the wild cats would have become extinct "hundreds of years ago". Gamekeepers, "country squires" and 'sportsmen' still kill the current generation of New wild cats (themselves hybridised) along with any other cat they see to "prevent inter-breeding with wild cats" -that inter-breeding is what has kept the New wild cats in existence.
(c)2025 respective copyright holder
Humans kill for fun and then pretend it was conservation and as a reminder of that 'fun': in the 1960s in
Protected species status means nothing in the
And squirrels?
1981: The original protection was granted under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making intentional acts against red squirrels and their shelters illegal.
2004: Protection was extended in
2006: Red squirrels became a Section 41 species of Principal Importance for Conservation under the Natural Environment & Rural Communities (NERC) Act.
So why are forestry companies still killing them with impunity -money? Why are private estate gamekeepers still killing them as "vermin"? Where are all of the prosecutions because it seems that everyone involved in wildlife knows this is going on but...oh. "Private property" (and money) and Royal Estates.
If you want to learn the truth about British wild cats then read the results of 40 plus years research: The Red Paper 2022 -Felidae.
Seasonal Canine Illness (SCI) is a serious condition affecting dogs that occurs after walking in woodlands, primarily between August and November.
Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and abdominal pain, which appear 24 to 72 hours after a woodland walk. The cause is unknown, but it is suspected to be linked to harvest mites, though it is not the only cause for these symptoms.
While it can be fatal, prompt veterinary treatment, often involving fluid therapy, antibiotics, and anti-sickness drugs, typically leads to recovery within 7-10 days.
Animal Watch Update on the Preston Wolfdogs Found Wandering the Streets
Thank you for standing with them — and with these three beautiful pups — on their road to recovery.
We have proved via necropsies that the often cited "Adenovirus is rampant ion British foxes" spouted by rescues (who do not submit dead foxes for post mortem examination) and some vets is an incredibly false statement based on only a couple of old cases. There were over 80 foxes that underwent necropsies and not a single case of adenovirus.
The biggest killer of youngish foxes was leptospirosis -as discussed in the post giving the PME results. I now find that people at rescues are calling any fox that they get and which dies and has even mild signs of jaundice as "leptospirosis".
Jaundice can be caused by a number of things -as I have outlined more than once- and you can only say lepto was a cause of death if it has undergone post mortem examination (PME) and been tested.
Again, rescues I have been in contact with make up all sorts of reasons to not submit foxes for post mortems. The worst excuse that I have heard more than once is "It feels wrong to put it through that". It is dead. It cannot feel. It can, however, provide information on any i9llness etc in local foxes which then means vets can treat others.
Please stop stating leptospirosis and PLEASE submit your fox that dies for PME.
