大象传媒

There are many characteristics that distinguish wild cats from the domestic species. Looking closely at this one female you can see a pink nose and white whiskers. Down the middle of the back there is dark black dorsal stripe that stops at the base of the spine, before the tail begins. The tail itself must be big, bushy and club-shaped with a black tip and black bold rings. The other clue are the three bold black stripes on the front legs below the knee. In domestic cats the stripes are more broken up. On the head, usually more difficult to see is another obvious sign: wild cats have parallel stripes running along the top of the head between the ears. It's difficult to say if there are any pure bred wild cats left, and even this cat has some features which may indicate a more suspect parentage in her ancestry. The stripes on her back are more mottled than you would expect from a wild cat and she has a larger patch of white on her bib and mouth than normal, but these markings can be variable on true wild cats anyway. Whatever her mix, she鈥檚 living and behaving as a wild cat, which is enough for Simon to be over the moon at the sighting.