United Kingdom Cat Breeds

Blue British SH
Photo by information overload

What are the United Kingdom cat breeds? This is actually a slightly tricky question because it could be argued that cat breeds are really universal and no longer associated with one particular country. This is because cats that were originally of one country were then developed in another country. The United Kingdom comprises: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

It is well known that the British Shorthair is a United Kingdom cat breed. This cat started out as a standard moggie dating back originally to Roman times. It was developed into a cat breed during the latter part of the 19th century in the UK (specifically England) and then exported to other countries where it was developed through selective breeding in slightly different directions. The longhaired version of this cat, the British Longhair,  is also a UK cat breed.

The other United Kingdom cat breeds are: Devon Rex, Cornish Rex, Scottish Fold, Seychellois. The Manx cat comes from the Isle of Man, which is not part of the United Kingdom. The Devon Rex originates from the county of Devon (Southwest England). The Cornish Rex originates from the county of Cornwall (Southwest England). The Scottish Fold comes from Coupar Angus, Scotland.

As far as I am aware (and remember!), there are no other cat breeds that have originated in the UK (Great Britain). Although some cat breeds were first developed in the UK if we are to believe the historical accounts. The Abyssinian was first imported from India via Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) in the 19th century. The Turkish Angora was first imported into the UK from Turkey - or was it?. These are two examples.

Most breeds were started in the North America. These include the Munchkin, the Ragdoll, RagaMuffin, LaPerm, Don Sphynx, Sphynx, American Bobtail, Pixie-bob, Maine Coon, California Spangled, Selkirk Rex, Savannah, Bengal, American Wirehair and Shorthair and American Ringtail.....and more.....

Is the International Union for Conservation of Nature Independent?

Tropical forest - Photo by AditChandra

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a well known organisation.  It is the self declared "largest professional global conservation network". Their purpose is to assist in the conservation of nature. They have a branch organisation called the Red List™. They are asleep or losing the battle. I think it is all too cosy and comfortable. It is almost an arm of big business designed to placate people who really are concerned. That is provocative. I agree.

The Red List™is an interesting organization. The full title is the IUCN Red List™ of Threatened Species™. They evaluate the conservation status of animal and plant species. In short they decide how near extinction the species of the world are.

This post asks whether they are truly independent of big business. Big business likes to use natural resources to make money. A good example is the virgin forests (what is left of them) of the world. Big business in Asia and South America like to cut down the forest to use the wood for paper or furniture - whatever, saleable products. In Africa equatorial forests are logged to make way for palm oil plantations.

If the IUCN Red List™ lists a species of animal that lives in forest, and only in forest, as endangered due to logging (destruction of its habitat) pressure might be applied by environmentalists to stop the logging. This might have a detrimental effect on business. Business might therefore lobby the IUCN Red List™ to re-assess their listings. Big business might do this at a low level in direct communication with individual scientists on the ground who do the assessments or research. If this is happening it would taint the research and alter the classification awarded by the Red List™.

The scientists might evaluate a species as "Least Concern" rather then "Near Threatened". That would take the pressure of the loggers and poachers.

In the USA the cougar is evaluated as Least Concern. People like to hunt the cougar for pleasure. Is pressure being applied to scientists to say that the cougar is "Least Concern", the weakest evaluation under the Red List™ scheme? In 2002 the assessment was worse "Near Threatened". Is the IUCN Red List being lobbied and influenced?

Associated Page: IUCN Red List for Cats.

Beautiful Persian Cat

This is a beautiful Persian cat. This photograph was not created by a professional photographer. It is nicely muted and delicate in its lighting which suits this cat so well. The photographer is Magnus Bråth. Magnus calls her a grey Persian cat. Here name is Chilero. She seems to be a tabby and white cat but in a very subtle way. You will see Persian cats in wide range of coat colors and types as the breed standard allows for that.

Beautiful Persian cat.

Chilero lives in Costa Rica and once lived in Malta. She is well traveled. She is a traditional doll face Persian. When she traveled from Malta to Costa Rica she sat in the cabin with the passengers. Of course.

Persian Tear Stains

A clear picture of Persian tear stains. This is a traditional Persian cat. The cat lives in India. In India (at 2011) there is a very small number of purebred cats and they are normally Persian cats as this is a very long standing cat breed and one of the best known cat breeds. The staining on this cat is not that bad. Worse can happen.

Traditional Persian cat with tear staining.

This nice picture is by Anas Ahmad. The interesting thing is that this is not a flat faced Persian which is known to suffer from tear staining but a doll face Persian cat. The cause is a deformed tear duct which prevents the tears and fluid on the outer part of the eye draining away.  It overflows onto the fur below the eye. In this picture it seems that it has flowed down the inside of the nose and then to the outside at the base of the nose. The deformity is due to breeding a overly flat face to conform with the breed standard. This distorts internal anatomy.

As tear duct overflow happens in the traditional Persian as well as the flat faced "ultra" Persian we can conclude that the tear duct is also somewhat defective in the more moderate and normal traditional Persian. This cat still has a rather flat face.

Is the cougar endangered?

Puma in forest. Camera trap photo.

The formal answer is provided by the IUCN Red List™. They should know as they are a bunch of experts who have taken it upon themselves to report to the world their assessment as to the the survivability of all the world's species, flora and fauna.

As at 2011, they say that the cougar (Puma or mountain lion) is of "Least Concern". This means that the cougar is not endangered according to them.

These are the categories:

IUCN Red List for Cats -- The symbols mean the following:

Symbol	Meaning
EX	Extinct
EW	Extinct in the Wild
CR	Critically Endangered
EN	Endangered
VU	Vulnerable
NT	Near Threatened
LC	Least Concern

You can see that "LC" is the best assessment meaning not endangered. Is this correct? They say that there are about 15,000 cougars in North America. I don't think it is correct. If you take a long term view you will come up with a different answer. It depends on how far into the future you are basing your assessment. In 300 years time there will be no cougars in the wild, probably. On that basis and on current trends the risk is high.

It seems to me that assessments follow the event. That is OK but they should also make long term predictions as a proactive measure. Reporting after the event does nothing for conservation and the purpose of the Red List™ is to aid in conservation, isn't it?

Associated page: IUCN Red List for Cats