AJA                       

BRIGHT EYES

Jungle cat
Scientific Name: Felis Chaus

The Jungle Cat is a species that was mummified in tombs in ancient Egypt. In ancient temples they are often depicted hunting small birds and mammals in wall paintings. In ancient times, the cat was a personification of Ra, the sun god, as he battled the water serpent Apep.  Therefore this cat has its own distinct place in the history of the world. The species is often referred to as the "swamp cat" or "reed cat" based on the characteristics of its habitat.

The Jungle Cat is one of the smaller cat species and actually looks a lot like a domestic cat breed. It's head and body length can be anywhere between 70 to 120 cm with a height of between 35 to 38 cm. They can weigh anywhere between 4 to 16 kilograms. Its fur is sandy gray to tawny brown or reddish in color. The tail usually is marked by several dark rings and a black tip at the end, its ears have black tufts. They have very long legs. Melanistic cats of this species have been found in Pakistan and India.

In the Wild...

Jungle cats feed according to their habitat and adapt to almost any kind of environment. For example, in the reed beds of the Nile delta they hunt water voles, frogs, fish and waterfowl. In less moist areas their prey consists of anything from hares, gerbils and house mice to birds, snakes, lizards, and domestic poultry.

Biology

The Jungle Cat achieves sexual maturity at 1.5 to 2 years of age, and the gestation period is about 63-68 days. A litter of cubs usually is between 3 to 5 young ones.

Habitat and Distribution

Unlike what their name suggests, Jungle Cats are not found in  ‘jungles’, but rather in moist areas with reeds or high grass, woodlands and open scrub, grassland and agricultural croplands such as cornfields, sugar cane and cotton. They are found often in the vicinity of water, from the Volga River delta and Egypt to Indochina, as well as Thailand, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

These cats use abandoned dens of other carnivores such as foxes and badgers as their own. They are active by day and by night, and not afraid of humans, they have been found in old buildings in urbanized areas. They adapt very well to farm lands and can be found in many different types of agricultural and forest plantations throughout their range.

Threats

This species of cats is not endangered and can be found as common over most of its range. Due to the fact that they adapt quickly to urban and agricultural areas, they are often killed by farmers because they attack domestic poultry. As with all animals, habitat destruction is the biggest threat to these cats. They are only protected in some parts of their range, they are placed on Appendix II of CITES.

MEET OUR JUNGLE CATS

BRIGHT EYES

Bright Eyes is a female Jungle Cat hybrid that came to us when she was adopted as a stray cat. She turned out to be a little more than a plain domestic cat!  As it turned out, she had a significant “wild” streak and proceeded to destroy the home of the person who was kind enough to adopt her. 

After a little research, it was determined that she was part Jungle Cat., so she was brought to our sanctuary to be with others of her own kind.

She has grown into a beautiful adult cat, with the most gorgeous eyes – thus we have nicknamed her “Bright Eyes.”  We estimate that she is about half Jungle cat and half domestic cat, otherwise referred to as a Chausie.

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AJA

Aja is a female Jungle cat who came to us when her previous owners could no longer keep her as a house pet.  Jungle cats are a wild species of cat - just because they are not much larger than a house cat doesn’t mean they have many similarities in personality.

Aja was destroying their house and refusing to use a litter box (preferring to use the dining room table and counter tops as a litter box instead).  She chased the dog and destroyed the furniture.  When she was put outside in a cage, she constantly escaped and chased the neighbors’ dogs (aside from the fact that an escape like that is illegal in Florida).

Finally, her owners gave up and brought her to our sanctuary, where she lives in an outdoor habitat, surrounded by oak trees, with another purebred jungle cat and two jungle cat hybrids to play with.  She is a sweetheart to care for, and enjoys our company – as long as we don’t try to pick her up…

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