Typical background colours vary from a reddish to sandy yellow to a tawny brown and grey, marked with more or less intense tabby stripes and dots. All black individuals occur occasionally. In her size, the African Wildcat is indifferent to the domestic cat, and an African Wildcat is very difficult to distinguish from a domestic tabby in the field. Her habitat stretches throughout the entire continent of Africa and into the Middle East. However, the African Wildcat does not appear to inhabit the continent s tropical rain forests, and populates the dessert areas only thinly.
Population density depends foremost on prey availability.
Throughout her habitat, rodents appear to be her major prey, but a variety of birds, reptiles, and amphibians are also taken, if the opportunity arises. The largest prey an African Wildcat will hunt are young antelopes. Insects and arachnids - like scorpions, are frequently taken, presumably in relation to a seasonal decline in the rodent population. African Wildcats do not group into colonies , but lead a more solitary lifestyle. Family units of a mother and her kittens will remain together for many months, until the young will eventually make their own lives upon becoming sexually mature.