Despite 10,000 years of evolution and domestication, our house cats are much more similar to their wild ancestors than we realise, according to a new photo campaign started by global wild cat conservation organisation Panthera.
The new #MyCatDoesThat initiative is crowdsourcing photos showing the uncanny resemblance between house and wild cat behaviours, aiming to inspire people to view wild cats with the same love and care they show to their beloved pets – thereby inspiring a new generation of conservationists, Panthera says.
“Despite the first house cats being domesticated 9,000 to 10,000 years ago in Mesopotamia to help humans control rodent populations, the similarities that remain are striking – house cats and tigers share 95% of the same DNA, cheetahs and pumas purr just like domestic cats, and wild cats are also mainly solitary creatures,” says the firm.
To start off the campaign, Panthera staff and supporters have shared photos of their own feline companions engaging in typical cat behaviour, alongside photos of wild cats engaging in the very same behaviour in the wild.
From now through to December, Panthera’s social media followers will be asked to submit a photo of their cat mimicking a wild cat behaviour using the #MyCatDoesThat. The best entry will be chosen once a month and the winner will receive a #MyCatDoesThat T-shirt customised with their cat’s name.
Founded in 2006, Panthera is “devoted to preserving wild cats and their critical role in the world’s ecosystems.” Its team of leading biologists, law enforcement experts and wild cat advocates develop “innovative strategies based on the best available science” to protect cheetahs, jaguars, leopards, lions, pumas, snow leopards, tigers and the 33 small cat species and their vast landscapes. In 39 countries around the world, Panthera works with a wide variety of stakeholders to reduce or eliminate the most pressing threats to wild cats.
• Find out more at https://panthera.org/mycatdoesthat
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