Categories: Nature

Cats of Armenia

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.

• Wildcat.
• A sketch of two Caspian tigers.
• Caucasian lynx.
• Jungle cat.
• Pallas’s cat.
• Pallas’s cat.
• Armenian commemorative coin with an image of Caucasian forest cat, 2006 series of Red Book.
• Lynx in the vastness of the Armenian hills.
• Asian male lion.
• Asian female lion.
• African wildcat.
• Caspian tiger.
• Khosrovian lynx
Vigen Avetisyan

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