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Turkish Angora

Breed of cat

  • 4 min read
  • 4 chapters
Turkish Angora cat at the Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo in Ankara , Turkey. The zoo breeds and sells Turkish Angora cats.
Ankarakediler · CC BY 3.0

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History

Like all domestic cats, Turkish Angoras descended from the African wildcat (Felis lybica). Their ancestors were among the cats that were first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent.

Longhaired cats were imported to Britain and France from Asia Minor, Persia and Russia as early as the late 16th century. The Turkish Angora was recognised as a distinct breed in Europe by the 17th century. However, there is a strong connection between Angoras and Persians. Charles Catton, in the 1788 book Animals Drawn from Nature and Engraved in Aqua-tinta, gave "Persian cat" and "Angora cat" as alternative names for the same breed.

There is a lot of similarity between Angora and Persian cat. Angora by British and American . In 1903, Frances Simpson wrote in The Book of the Cat:

In classing all long-haired cats as Persians I may be wrong, but the distinctions, apparently with hardly any difference, between Angoras and Persians are of so fine a nature that I must be pardoned if I ignore the class of cat commonly called Angora, which seems gradually to have disappeared from our midst. Certainly, at our large shows there is no special classification given for Angoras, and in response to many inquiries from animal fanciers I have never been able to obtain any definite information as to the difference between a Persian and an Angora.

The Angora of the 20th century was used for improvement in the Persian coat, but the type has always been divergent from the Persian—particularly as the increasingly flat-faced show cat Persian has been developed in the last few decades.

In the early 20th century, Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo began a breeding program to protect and preserve pure white Angoras. The zoo particularly prized odd-eyed specimens; however, the cats were chosen only for their colour – no other criterion was applied.

The Turkish Angora, which was brought to Canada in 1963, was accepted as a championship pedigreed breed in 1973 by the Cat Fanciers' Association. However, until 1978 only white Angoras were recognised. Today, all North American registries accept the Turkish Angora in many colours and patterns. While their numbers are still relatively small, the gene pool is continually growing.

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