WiIdcat (Iriomoteyamaneko )
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This wildcat is remarkable for the fact that its existence was unknown until 1965. It was discovered by a novelist, Togawa Yukio, on the island of lriomote, Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa, and officially named lriomoteyamaneko in 1967. In January, 1967, a male and female of the species were caught alive and taken to the National Science Museum, Tokyo, for study.The cat, a little larger than the domestic cat, Iives in thick forest. Its body measures 60 tufts found in other species of wildcat. The back has distinctive dotted markings. Being an ancestral cat, the lriomoteyamaneko is wild in nature,but it seldom cries. Since 1967 it has been protected as a natural monument.
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