Cyprus cat

Cyprus cat demonstrating athleticism

A paper by J.-D. Vigne, et al., concluded in 2004 that the discovery of Near Eastern wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) remains in a 9,500-year-old grave in Cyprus is the oldest example to date of a cat in close association with humans. Archaeologists led by Jean Guillain working at the Neolithic site of Shillourokambos uncovered carefully interred remains of a cat alongside human remains and decorative artifacts, on an island separated from the mainland since before human habitation, thus indicating human introduction of cats to the area. "Examination showed that a small pit or grave had been deliberately dug out, and the body of the cat was placed in it, then rapidly covered." The cat skeleton pre-dates Egyptian depictions of cats by 4,000 years or more.[1][2] There is no evidence that modern cats of any variety are descended from ancient Cypriot wildcats; nevertheless both WCF[3] and TICA[4] have uncritically repeated breeder claims of such descent.

Cyprus cats of today are more likely linked with the monastery named Saint Nicholas of the Cats (Greek Ágios Nikólaos ton Gatón, Άγιος Νικόλαος των Γατών), which was founded in the 4th century A.D.. It is located near Akrotiri. According to Byzantine legend, Helena of Constantinople (Saint Helen) shipped hundreds of cats from Egypt or Palestine to Cyprus in 328 A.D. to control venomous snakes that had infested the area around the monastery, following a drought lasting 37 years. The monastery had two bells, one to call the cats to meals and the other to send them into the fields to hunt snakes. The population of cats at the site (today a nunnery) once dwindled, but has now revived thanks to care by the resident nuns.[5] The Nobel laureate Giorgos Seferis wrote of these cats in his poem "The Cats of St. Nicholas".[6] The story being a legend, it is impossible to know for certain today if shiploads of cats were really sent to Cyprus in the 4th century and cats have, of course, been arriving on the island (often as ship's cats) for many centuries.

The World Cat Congress is of the opinion that Cyprus cats developed over time in mountainous inner Cyprus from various populations of cats around the island and became large and bushy-haired to cope with hunting comparatively large prey like rats, big lizards and snakes in cool, wet, mountain weather, though summers there are fairly hot and dry[7] (Both WCF and TICA note that the thickness of the coat in purebred Aphrodite cats descended from this populations still varies seasonally). The other two organizations' breed summaries are generally consistent with this view,[8][9] though it is uncertain who first produced this account of their origin, or on what basis. It is unclear whether Cyprus cats are closely related to the broader Aegean cat landrace of mainland and island Greece. Genetic testing to date has shown only that the Cyprus cats are distinct enough that a breed could be developed from them.

Cypriot Cat wandering around Cape Greco.

Cyprus cats are somewhat thick-haired (from short-haired up to "semi-longhaired" in cat fanciers' jargon), and are an athletic and energetic variety. Feral populations are found throughout the island of Cyprus, from mountainous and cooler regions to the lower, hotter areas near the coasts, including in the cities. As such, this cat has locally adapted to different climates / seasonal change; however, it may be more associated with the mountainous areas.[9]

Bronco
A semi-long-haired adult male
Other names	Aphrodite Giant, Aphrodite's Giant Longhair, Aphrodite's Giant Shorthair
Origin	Cyprus
Breed standards
TICA	standard
WCF	standard
Notes
TICA recognition is only preliminary.
Domestic cat (Felis catus)

Local breeders began in 2006 to attempt to establish a standardized breed from local feral cats.[9] In 2008, a World Cat Federation (WCF) all-breeds judge visited Cyprus to work at a cat show and was introduced to a breeder of purebred cats developed in this trial breeding program[9] from the Cyprus cats. Considering the cats distinct, he wrote a standard of points and named them Aphrodite Giant. The president and board members of WCF advised that these Aphrodite cats should be shown outside Cyprus to become better known within the cat fancy, but did not immediately accept the nascent breed. Subsequently, a group of interested people in Cyprus decided to form a club, which was named the Cyprus Cats National Breed Association (CyCNBA), which applied for government approval and started functioning in late 2009. CyCNBA applied to affiliate to the World Cat Federation in April 2012.

In addition, it was agreed that a letter be sent to a leading specialist in cat genetics, Leslie Lyons of University of California, Davis, asking whether she would agree to DNA-test a selection of Cyprus cats to see whether it was possible to genetically define them as a breed. The professor, who intended shortly to begin a further study of Turkish Van and Turkish Angora cats (whose ancestry has long been disputed), agreed to study samples submitted from Cyprus. A total of 248 cats were studied, including a number of random-bred Cyprus cats from the Malcolm Cat Sanctuary, for comparison. "All cats were considered in one large analysis. The analysis partitioned the cats based solely on genetic variation, not by any other identification." (L. Lyons – 2 January 2012) The January 2012 report concluded that "Cyprus cats are a distinct population within the Mediterranean" and that a "breed from Cyprus could be developed".

On 1 July 2012, the cat became a fully recognised breed of the World Cat Federation, originally as just the Aphrodite's Giant Longhair (though it is actually in the organization's semi-longhaired division,[10]) after the CyCNBA attended the WCF General Assembly in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and applied for recognition of the cats in April 2012. Today, WCF also recognizes a short-haired variant.[8]

In September 2017, The International Cat Association (TICA) recognized the cats, under the name Aphrodite, as a "preliminary new breed", in its own breed group and with both shorthaired and semi-longhaired varieties.[9] Some TICA members have started breeding programs for the Aphrodite in Europe, Asia, and the United States.[9]

In breeder terminology, this constitutes a natural or traditional breed[9] – one developed from local stock to preserve its key characteristics, rather than created by breeders to have new features.