Cats are not native to New Zealand. In fact, DNA analysis has confirmed that cat’s first ancestors are the Fertile Crescent which can be found in Egypt, Israel, Mesopotamia, and today in Iraq, Syria and Cyprus. These wildcats lived between 70,000 to 100,000 years ago and produced the genetic lineage that eventually included all domestic cats.
Cats in a way domesticated themselves some 10,000 to 12,000 years ago when settlers were interested in attracting the felines as they aided in killing off the growing rodent population that were infesting farms and eating all of the grains and crops. Cats eventually adapted to humans and were turned into household companions, eventually migrating worldwide with humans.
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