The Asiatic wildcat, also known as the Asian steppe wildcat and the Indian desert cat, is an African wildcat subspecies that occurs from the eastern Caspian Sea north to Kazakhstan, into western India, western China and southern Mongolia.
There is no information on current status or population numbers across the Asiatic wildcat's range as a whole, but populations are thought to be declining.
Asiatic wildcat
Illustration of an Indian desert wildcat from Thomas Hardwicke's collection
The African wildcat is a small wildcat species with sandy grey fur, pale vertical stripes on the sides and around the face. It is native to Africa, West and Central Asia, and is distributed to Rajasthan in India and Xinjiang in China. It inhabits a broad variety of landscapes ranging from deserts to savannas, shrublands and grasslands.
Image: Parc des Felins Chat de Gordoni 28082013 2
Image: African Wildcat distribution
The wild cat in Sardinia is of domestic cat origin.
African wildcat on a 1994 stamp of Azerbaijan