In ancient times, the territory of Armenia was inhabited by several species of big cats. In Armenia, lions and cheetahs (the so-called Asian subspecies) have been exterminated a very long time ago.
Tigers (the so-called Caspian subspecies) have lived there from at least the beginning of the 20th century. Now, they can be seen only in zoos (for example, Asian lions are kept in the Gir Forest National Park in Gujarat, India).
As for leopards in Armenia, there are only 5-7 individuals. They all belong to the largest subspecies of leopards. In addition to leopards, there are 5 species of small cats – Caucasian lynx, jungle cat, wildcat, Pallas’s cat, and African wildcat (Near Eastern wildcat).
According to the National Cancer Institute’s research, all modern domestic cats originated from a group of domesticated forest cats about 10,000 years ago somewhere in the Middle East.
2 thoughts on “Cats of Armenia”
God bless these beautiful cats and protect them .
Praise our Christ, His Spirit, and The Eternal Father…..
His will be done!