• Question: When did humans first bond with cats?

    Asked by to James, Hannah on 9 Jan 2019. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Hannah Cornish

      Hannah Cornish answered on 9 Jan 2019:

      Hi Katie,

      Scientists think that cats first started living with humans around 9,000 – 10,000 years ago, around the time that humans first started farming.

      Cats were probably attraced to human communities because people had started storing grain, and the grain attracted mice and rats! The first evidence for domestic cats comes from the middle east. A different species of cat was also domesticated in China, but all modern domestic cats are descended from the middle eastern species.

      Cats haven’t been changed as much as dogs have by living with people, they are still very similar to their wild relatives.

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