African Wildcat: The Cat That Domesticated Us

This is the ancestor of all domestic cats.
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SOCIAL MEDIA
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CREDITS
Animalogic Created by Dylan Dubeau and Andrew Strapp
Executive Producer, Director, and Director of Photography: Dylan Dubeau
Host: Danielle Dufault
Editor: Cat Senior
Writer, Researcher, Producer, Camera Operator: Andres Salazar
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Examining the nature of the beast.

[@Comenta-san]

always good to learn more about our overlords

[@Glaaki13]

true and how we can please them!

[@drewwilson7802]

Yes my cats are my bosses. I do whatever they want whenever they want.

[@mecahhannah]

Lol agreed

[@bobbiechinn9578]

Overlords is not incorrect

[@saint5643]

Who is our?

[@pamelamays4186]

The first time I saw an African Wildcat at my local zoo, my first thought was, why is there a housecat at the zoo?

[@hilman94]

i think it is housecat, but the zoo's rebranding it as "african wildcat" 😅

[@Kite-te9km]

​@@hilman94 True.😂😂

[@buffFrank195]

True it make sense both are descendents so they look similar 😂

[@liambrandley2716]

I would love to see a video where you film your cat roaming around the house while narrating it like a nature documentary.

[@christinafidance340]

There’s even an AI program where you can make it like David Attenborough is narrating it too! I saw a guy who did that once on KZbin and it was hysterical!

[@Vanyali]

wouldn't that just be a sleeping cat for 10 minutes video time ? :D

[@poisonedfrog]

YES PLEASE 🎉

[@mrmr446]

Earliest recorded evidence of domestication was found on Cyprus, the place is still fond of them. The episode ending was wonderful.

[@ronaldwiley8357]

EGYPT is the earliest evidence of domestication, in fact , the were regarded as gods.

[@desertracer619]

I thought the evidence says we domesticated cats twice

[@nckojita]

@@desertracer619 yes, there was another species that was domesticated as well but no longer exists bc this vers took over. ig they were just more friendly

[@justsomeofmyfavs]

​@@ronaldwiley8357No, it is not. The original poster is correct - the oldest datable evidence is from Cyprus, around 9-10 thousand years ago (a burial of a man alongside his cat).

[@unbeatable_all]

​@@nckojita The Leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) was probably domesticated in Neolithic China but they were replaced by the domestic cat before the Tang dynasty. Leopard cats still exist though.

[@orbweaver9750]

I had a Bengal that passed this September and he was nearly 21. Seeing Danielle's Bengal reminded me of him.

[@Bluefalcon6154]

Sorry for your loss that’s a incredible kitty life tho

[@ninnywaggon3470]

hot damn that’s a long life

[@FreddieShreddieTV]

i would love my little one to live that long. bless

[@philtkaswahl2124]

As a cat owner I can confirm that the cats were the ones who domesticated us.

[@24tommyst]

slave...not owner...

[@tonydeluna8095]

Oh man the African wildcats! They are beautiful animals. Their fur is so exquisite. The artwork is also beautiful in this channel

[@fugithegreat]

I really do think that the cat domesticated humans, and not the other way around. They are the overlords, and they know it. 😂

[@verilyheld]

I'm convinced that most, probably all, cat people are closet submissives. Each has a need to be dominated met by small, imposing felines. I'm stating, not complaining!

[@TK-yz3wt]

When the cat meows, it means "Get me some treats, servant."

[@theworstcatholic7247]

@@brunocaruso6007 No we'd actually be worse, humans are the only true self conscious animals when it comes to overeating a population. Any other animal would happily eat another into extinction. The only reason we do so much damage is just because we're so much better at it. If cats domesticated us we'd basically of made every bird go extinct to feed them, like they are trying to do themselves with bird populations. Never fool yourself, humans are the most merciful animals on the planet.

[@simongee8928]

​@@TK-yz3wtOr, 'attention now -!' 😅

[@user-ch6do4ql6f]

I agree and once they bring you a kitten, it's all over. Who can resist a cute little kitten?

[@lizzieluz]

😂 the cattitude at the end! 😊

[@marginbuu212]

It's really hard to imagine something the size of a house cat taking down a newborn antelope but then again there are stories of bobcats taking down deer and mountain lions regularly hunt things like caribou.

[@ajchapeliere]

I basically had a Bengal as a roommate because my housemates couldn't let her into their bedroom and she refused to sleep alone. That was when I learned that those housemates slept like the dead and that Bengals are loud and stubborn. 😂 Oy was a heck of a cat

[@ErikKart]

Cats are a blessing 😍🥰❤

[@dinarocksyou]

My parents live on a sailboat and spent a couple of years in the Mediterranean. They rescued their kitty Habibti from the streets of Monastir, Tunisia. She is definitely a wildcat hybrid! A beautiful kitty friend 😁

[@blobbertmcblob4888]

Fun fact: Cats and pigs are two of the only animals that will within a few generations, revert back to cryptic coloring, which means they largely loose their "domestic" coloration and go back to being their original "wild" color. Also, there's a massive argument of whether or not cats are "domesticated" the definition of "domesticated" being lacking or having "dumbed down" survival instincts, the inability to survive without human help. cats very much do not NEED human help to survive. ALSO Lions absolutely will kill a wild cat. They seem to do it...."just because".

[@dotterdam6047]

There is a raeson we don't milk pigs.

[@EllaBee90]

It really depends on what type of cat we're talking about. The munchkins wouldn't do well alone in nature, poor things. All the flat faces would disappear too, which wouldn't be a bad thing in the end.

[@danaroth598]

It depends on how you define 'needing humans'. Unlike their true wild cousins, feral cats don't generally thrive away from human civilization. They at the very least need humans to create the environments they prefer to live in and drive off competing predators, even if feral cats don't want direct interaction.

[@thephoenix4093]

@@danaroth598 they're fine living on their own. they do not need humans in order for them to survive, prefered enviroments doesn't mean its neccesary enviroments.

[@Mikhail-Tkachenko]

A lot of currently living cats need human help due to overpopulation. The wild wouldn't produce enough prey to feed them all, but it wouldn't take long for the population to decline back down to reach equilibrium between predator and prey.

[@xavieryukon76]

Thanks Danielle for giving us a glimpse of your happy time with Nebula 😊

[@casbot71]

They didn't domesticate themselves - they domesticated _us._

[@Vihargalamb]

😼

[@charlesmartin1121]

How did they domesticate us? The video really did not make that clear. The example given of cats hunting pests of human farm produce is an example of biological mutualism, not of cats domesticating humans.

[@spinnetti]

I've had cats all my life, and NONE of our current 4 rescues are at all cuddly. Maybe I should leave my agrarian ways and go back to hunting and gathering. Now I'm stuck with real African wildcats for the next 20 years lol. I need me one of the neighborhood Bobcats!

[@charlesmartin1121]

A Coyote will also happily do the job for free.

[@jenkem4464]

Beautiful sketch. So much depth and character in all it's soft fuzzy glory.

[@weirdredpanda]

I enjoyed learning about the wild ancestors of domestic cats. Maybe you could do a series about the wild ancestors of other domestic animals. I was thinking about the jungle fowl, ancestor of chickens.

[@Ravenpaw1313]

What a perfect creature. Bless their clever choices to domesticate us so I could have my lovely fur baby daughter, Truffles 💞

[@louiemercado5595]

Excellent work on the African Wild Cat, my friend! Keep on the work and making videos for other animals we love! Can you make a video on the Asian Water Buffalo, please? It's the national animal in the Philippines where my mom and dad are born.

[@JasonKjellberg]

My cats wanted to find your cat when you played the clip of Nebula talking!

[@BresciGaetano]

My dog too...

[@MrJeepCanada]

I never knew wild cats existed I just figured we only had feral cats. I'm truly amazed Thank you for the education 😍

[@verilyheld]

The Cat That Domesticated Us= finally, the truth is recognised! Stated! Also, I contend that millenia ago, in some village somewhere, a lost kitten was mournfully crying, a toddler girl picked it up, held the soft warm furry creature close, it purred, and that was it, we were lost, smitten by a cute fluffy adorable kitten!

[@Vanyali]

people often forget that cats are still predatorial animals, even 1 of the best hunters in the animal kingdom, even with the domesticated ones you should still watch how you handle it. science concluded that every part of a cat was specifically tailored and made for hunting, every muscle, claws, nails, even the tail, even their fur... I always think that without humans it's either dolphins or cats that would rule the world :D

[@Kayenne54]

@@Vanyali If my cats could figure out how to open a door, like Dr Who's Daleks figuring out how to climb stairs, they would indeed, rule the planet. Instead, they invaded during pandemic Zoom sessions, to convert the rest of humanity. ;-)

[@davidmescher2526]

@@Kayenne54 My orange cat (who is smarter than your average male orange tabby) figured out how to open our back door (on his second day in residence) if we didn't lock it. And just after we finally trained the dog not to let himself out.

[@Kayenne54]

@@davidmescher2526 ha ha haha. My imagination: Smug look from David to wife; "See, told you I could train him". Wife, wide eyed staring past David "uh huh, don't get comfortable, the cat's figured it out".

[@davidmescher2526]

@@Kayenne54 It was more finding the door open, the cat outside, and the dog in his crate. Fortunately, Sullivan* is a pretty easy going cat, and it was not difficult to pick him up and bring him back inside. * - Sullivan is fully styled as His Most Supreme Royal Majesty, Sullivan I, Protector of High Places, Chastiser of Dogs, and Explorer of the Outdoors. That's a little too long to type (or say) regularly, but he does answer to "Your Majesty" and "His Majesty."

[@natureenthusiast660]

When I was small I only saw cats which look like african wild cats in my village. It's only recently I see different color cats. I'm from Bangladesh.

[@quisnessness]

We have a Bengal too, and had two others before him. They're such a mischievous intelligent breed. Our last Bengal figured out how to open the front door by jumping up and hanging onto the lever-style handle. Then the door always swung shut again on its own. Took us a while to figure out how he kept getting out, then we replaced the handle with a round knob. He was an F4, so his wild ancestry wasn't far removed.

[@needsbeer]

When I was a kid we had a Siamese cat that would open doors. We had to wedge the basement door shut with a butter knife.

[@scottmccrea1873]

We had a cat who would jump up on the screen door and hang their till we let her in.

[@rfmerrill]

Bengals are hybrids of the Asian leopard cat. They're not any closer to an African wildcat than domestics are.

[@quisnessness]

@@rfmerrillI know, I meant wildcat as a general term describing a "wild" cat, which the leopard cat is, but I've edited my original post for clarity. I just brought up our Bengals because Danielle showed off hers.

[@RD9_Designs]

I would LOVE to see an Animal/plant/paleo-logic coloring book!

[@Mtz2604]

To the top!!

[@medicinemouse7647]

Yes!!!

[@Kittycatz1415]

Thank you so much for bringing attention to this mostly unknown animal. They are so important to human history but nobody I know even knows about them

[@misamokuzelpizu]

oh bastet, the ending is very cute

[@blessedbeauty2293]

- 3:30 omg please show us more of your cat ❤❤❤❤

[@als_pals]

8:59 ☺

[@Like_Ike]

Danielle, you are an absolute artist... Scratch that, an ARTEEST! Your sketch skills are 🤌🏾.

[@Mariel_Moon]

Our cat looks like A African wildcat. And her behavior is like a wildcat too. 😅 She is born in a barn here in Sweden. She is really intelligent and talks all the time. ❤

[@jessemusisi3963]

Another greeat video! You should talk about the African wild dog next.

[@illegalsmirf]

'As human populations expand...' And that, right there, is the source of all the world's populations.

[@corvid...]

Danielle is such a delight, and talented in so many ways. Love this channel and all the great content

[@TroyTheCatFish]

Can you please do a video on Ringtail Cats?

[@Mtz2604]

Delighted by the video, the illustration and Nebula with Danielle... Lovely chapter.

[@-PVL93-]

I must've rewatched that post credits segment a dozen times now lol The moment of silence before cat utters a "mah" and the change in Danielle's expression. Just perfect

[@AllSingingAllDancing]

I love the narration. It is so fun and happy to listen to. Just learned about the salt cat thanks to you!!!!

[@markedis5902]

There is a guy who is breeding Scottish wild cats for re-introduction

[@Lu-KN]

The best epilogue so far 😻

[@MegaSuki1234]

The ending is so cute!!!

[@daem0nfaust]

if you're happy and you know it... *meOw*

[@NeoCyrus777]

Next we should talk about cats and then after that we should talk about cats some more.

[@Kayenne54]

"Enough about me" said the Cat. "Now let's talk about me".

[@michaelmcgourty9535]

It would be AWESOME if you did an episode about the "bass" ( Paralabrax clathratus, Paralabrax maculatofasciatus and Paralabrax nebulifer) off the California coast. In fact if I get a vote, it would be awesome if you covered more marine animals period.

[@onegabriel5823]

Thanks to all the content you guys make.

[@animalogic]

Thank you so much, and thank you for watching! Happy Holidays!

[@snowstacks]

great vid as usual! awesome job team 😊 ps danielle bestie i’m lovin the bangs

[@swoper2]

Wonderful video as always. But the very best part is the song at the end.

[@rainydaylady6596]

I watched your video on the Scotland wild cat. I'm sorry to hear that they have been bred into extinction. I hope we can do a better job with the other smaller wild cats. 🥺💕

[@lizswank7239]

I'm dying over that song 🎵 😂

[@cdwarden45]

Thank you for creating this video!

[@animalogic]

Thanks for your support!!

[@RooZvonBooZ]

Cat seemed very happy in the end 😅

[@bobbiechinn9578]

The end is so cute 🥰🥰🥰

[@christabelle__]

Danielle's new look is so good! I love the hair color (and those glasses frames are so cute!). My heart broke, hearing about the Scottish cat...but of course, the welfare and preservation of animals never crosses people's minds at large until they're all gone, and *then* people ask what could have been done. Fingers crossed for this little African fella to keep its gene pool discrete! Thanks for this video - and I have to say, this might be my favorite Animalogic art piece of yours, yet! P.s. Your Bengal baby is precious!

[@albummutation2278]

i just wish people would leave their domesticated cats indoors. or at least make an outdoor area that they cannot escape from, it's not hard to do that either if you have the property. domestic cats have caused the extinction of so many animals and those species didn't deserve that in my opinion when it could've very easily been prevented. if you have to fend off pests in a new land, don't bring new animals either, learn how to use the local ecosystem to your advantage.

[@kaitlyn__L]

A huge part of the Scottish Wildcat story is they were sadly shot by the hundreds (sometimes thousands) by farmers because they were viewed as a pest akin to rabbits… never mind that they eat rabbits and hares 🙄 we have many records of farmers’ log books recording how many they shot each day… some sold the fur, others didn’t bother with even that. This is sadly entirely of our own making, although domestic cats were hybridising with the wildcats even back then. But if farmers hadn’t shot so many, we might have genetic samples of the original animal today… now we only know about the parts of the DNA which were passed into the offspring.

[@MarkoRSolidus]

I wish Danielle was a teacher of mine. You are perfect for teaching and explaining to people and your knowledge and speech are admirable.

[@budgetcoinhunter]

Love how closely mackerel tabbies look to their wild ancestors.

[@chuckvt5196]

I love these videos, but I really come to watch Danielle do those awesome drawings!

[@thewizardmountain]

awww i loved the ending! :D

[@gypsydildopunks7083]

Hey Thanks, Dan!! Always enjoy your videos. Lil' kitty ones too

[@TroyTheCatFish]

Fantastic Video as always!! :) 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 ❤️💖❤️💖

[@mecahhannah]

Awesome as always thanks 😊

[@LinkaBellGAME]

Danielle your artwork is so inspirational and beautiful, one of these days I'm gonna have to get something! Just gotta decide what I want!

[@RoseDragoness]

Beautiful artwork! And beautiful cat indeed!

[@marvinochieng6295]

Insightful video. I live in nairobi and didnt know there are wild domestic cats if that even makes sense. i saw one and assumed it got lost from a home

[@brendanhoffmann8402]

The domestic cat is definitely my spirit animal. I even talk to my cats in cat language (meows). I think they think I'm weird!

[@charlesmartin1121]

They are not the only ones.

[@petebyrdie4799]

I hope Danielle one day gets to see a Chinese mountain cat, but I hope she doesn't literally die. I knew a Scottish guy who called Scottish wildcats 'Scottish mountain lions'. I've never heard anyone else call them that. Is it a thing?

[@Kayenne54]

Every image, they look so glowering and cranky. Adorable.

[@vineheart01]

just like any animal we shelter, their population blooms because we protect them and they usually survive on numbers. Unlike most animals though, cats are insanely efficient hunters. It always amuses me to think about that....an animal we coddle and protect is also one of the top predators in most areas lol.

[@simsley5501]

I love how Danielle’s glasses look like they have cat ears. Very fitting 😸

[@ronmcgee1868]

I love Danielle! What a personality!

[@diruhater]

I love these videos! And the art!

[@concernedmartian6430]

I have a bengal and a bengal abyssinian cross and I didn't realise how loud and talkative bengals are until I got another cat to compare the noise

[@luiz90s]

aw, the ending! 🥹

[@JFHeroux]

Excellent encore une fois! Merci pour ce contenu bien recherché et superbement illustré!🙂

[@hypotheticaltapeworm]

Oh, I love the hair! I almost didn't recognize you bc I'm faceblind so I mostly recognize people by their hair, and I haven't watched this channel in a minute so it caught me by surprised when you introduced yourself as Danielle lol

[@tuttosansbazuko]

It's always sad to see the negative effects of poor management of pets 😢😢

[@charlesmartin1121]

Do you mean cats managing humans as the title implies?

[@jonathanhall1825]

You are an amazing artist

[@NWforager]

Can you guys do Fishing Cat one day ? that would be great . Thank you

[@animalogic]

Already done! Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/maTSaWqfo8tlb7Msi=5BH6aVZoht1BVP3e

[@Ptaaruonn]

OMG!! Nebula is adorable!!!

[@samalight7249]

3:30 maybe only thing louder is a deaf cat's meow

[@sash4all]

Once I fed my neughbours friendly cat, after that he domesticated me and lives now with me since more than a year 😅 my neighbour is ok with that 😇 Until that I was allergic to cats, but not to him 🤷‍♂️ He's adorabel and makes me laugh every day 😂

[@Bunnysinger]

Was too distracted by the amazing jazz rendition of Bach that I had to rewind the outro 3 times to pay attention to the words.

[@patricknesbit2334]

So who are the amazing artists who do the gorgeous art? Cool kitties! Nice to know! Hope y'all are having an awesome Christmas and that y'all have an amazing New Year!🎉😊

[@Lerrae1908]

cat's really are incredible but that's why they're so dangerous too. I wish everyone would be responsible with their pets. :( Life isn't the same without happy fluffy babies scampering around... safely, healthy, indoors rofl. Poor wildcats got a tough time.

[@peterpiets3631]

Purrrrfect short documentary 😊

[@isaiahmcguire1822]

Can we please get a video on the Perentie or wedge-tailed eagle one day?

[@russelsellick316]

I met one African wild cat, though strictly speaking he roamed our garden and tolerated my presence!

[@pamelamays4186]

Your cat is smart. And talented.

[@sparkyswearsalot]

Nebula has gorgeous eyes! 🤩

[@lucalone]

that animal outsmarted us all

[@yvonnepeltier9815]

Lol I sing the same song to my cats. Usually they oblige me by meowing

[@Fox-One1937]

The cat deserves his own prehistoric movie like Alpha was about first dog

[@OpEditorial]

Much like the axolotl it's an animal that may one day be only available in pet stores.

[@hbaisley2147]

My domestic cat loved this episode!

[@sinistrality7883]

it's weird how the pre-domesticated version of our cats still exist and is no concern for extinction, while the pre-domesticated version of the dog, the Dire Wolf is no longer around, guess that's just goes to show that cats domesticated us instead.

[@unbeatable_all]

I have no idea where you got that from. The Dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus) is not ancestral to dogs and is distantly related to them. An extinct lineage of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) that existed during the Late Pleistocene is the progenitor of all dogs.

[@gaius_enceladus]

"So, what should we talk about next?" *Moose!* I think you've covered them twice but you can never have too many moose! I *love* moose!

[@jaymcgann6637]

No house cat has ever considered itself domesticated. Cats regard us as slow witted so they are quite happy to the degree they've been able to train us. If we didn't have an opposing thumb they wouldn't need us at all.

[@petrfedor1851]

It's fascinating from my two cats one is as quiet as their wild ancestors while the other just can't shut up.

[@feralaeroapparel]

Fascinating ❤

[@roarmaus]

Just found out about the viscacha. I humbly request to see Animalogic/Danielle work their magic.

[@grrlpurpleable]

Still hoping for a coffee table art book of those drawings Danielle :)