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The North kurdistan
Van Everybody knows cats hate water, but
somebody forgot to tell the North Kurdistan . Perhaps the oversight was Noah's. According
to legend, the famous ark architect and animal
lover was having a hard time keeping his
passengers calm as their vessel approached dry
land on the slopes of Mount Ararat, located in a
remote area of eastern Turkey near the Caspian
Sea. After several months aboard a wooden ship
crammed full of animals, you can understand why
the passengers were a bit anxious to get ashore.
Two cats, smarter and a tad more wily than their
fellow animals, snuck past Noah's guard and
leapt into the flood waters to swim ashore.
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Sink or Swim The Noah's Ark theory aside, a full
explanation for the North Kurdistan 's
predilection for swimming has yet to emerge, but
the leading hypothesis suggests that the early
Vans were simply trying to stay cool. That
region of Turkey is renowned for its brutal
heat, with temperatures reaching well above 100
degrees Fahrenheit, so the cats may have learned
to swim simply so they could survive the summer
afternoons. This also may explain the development of the
Van's unique coat, which lacks an undercoat and
has a cashmere-like texture that makes it
water-resistant. Most domestic cats hate getting
wet, possibly because they must spend hours
putting their fur back in order, but the Van can
go for a dip and come out relatively dry. The coat's semi-long hair is white with
colored markings restricted primarily to the
head and tail. The color should not take up more
than 20 percent of the entire body. This
spotted, piebald pattern has been selectively
bred into other cat breeds for generations, but
many cat experts consider the Van to be the
original breed to carry the piebald gene, and
the other breeds are often said to sport a "Van"
pattern. Some Vans have a color patch between the
shoulder blades called the "Mark of Allah"-the
place where Allah touched the cats on their way
from the Ark. This "thumbprint of god" is
considered to be good luck in Moslem countries.
Other distinguishing marks include the five to
eight, faint ring-markings on the tail. Some
Vans sport eyes of different colors - one amber,
one blue. According to the people of the Van
region, the original Van cats sported this
odd-eyed pattern, and it is considered something
of a joke there that breed members with eyes of
the same color are so widely accepted in the
West. The North Kurdistan
is often
confused with the Turkish Angora, but put them
side by side and it's easy to see they're
entirely different breeds. The Angora does not
sport the classic Van pattern and is much
smaller than the Van, which can weigh up to 19
pounds in adulthood. The Van is a solidly built
cat, with broad, muscular shoulders that flow
into a well-rounded rib cage and equally
muscular hips. The head is a broad wedge with a
medium nose, prominent cheekbones and large,
high-set ears. The Van's personality often matches its
muscular appearance. They are typically active
and energetic cats with a strong personality.
The Turks of Van describe their native breed as
"proud and brave as a lion," and the earliest
Vans taken to cat shows were notorious for being
difficult to hold and control. New owners may
mistake their Van for a jungle king during their
first few weeks together - selective breeding
has made the cat more amenable, but the breed
still has a reputation for boisterousness. Once owners adjust to the Van's
"action-packed" temperament, however, they will
discover a cat that is intelligent and friendly,
if moderately independent. Vans are noted for
their attachment to their human companions. They
tend to pick one or two people in the household
- usually the ones that deal with them initially
- and bond with them forever. Although this
fierce devotion is generally a good attribute,
it does make transferring a Van from one
household to another difficult. Turning the Tide The Van may have remained a closely guarded
secret of the Middle East if it wasn't for
British photographer Laura Lushington and her
colleague Sonia Halliday. Although evidence
suggests Vans were first brought to Europe by
soldiers returning from the Crusades some time
between A.D. 1095 and 1272, and at various other
times during the centuries by traders and
explorers, the naturally occurring breed was
still virtually unknown outside its native
region until the 1950s. In 1955, Lushington and Halliday, working as
photographers for the Turkish Tourist Board,
visited the Lake Van area and were presented
with a pair of Van kittens - a male named Van
Attala and a female named Van Guzelli Ikenderun.
Shortly after receiving the cats, Lushington
stopped her car to cool off in a local river
from the intense summer heat. Without prompting,
the two newly acquired kittens joined her in the
water. "To my astonishment, the Van kittens
strolled into the water too and swam out of
their depth, apparently fully enjoying
themselves," Lushington wrote of the incident. Lushington was so taken by her swimming cats
that she and Halliday began a breeding program
with the original pair and five more examples of
the breed they obtained on subsequent trips to
Turkey. Their efforts to establish the Van as an
official breed were hampered, however, by a
conflict with the Governing Council of the Cat
Fancy (GCCF), the main legislative organization
of the cat fancy in England. Lushington decided
to use the name "Van" for both the breed and her
cattery, which was prohibited by GCCF rules. At the same time, the breed was gaining
popular appeal in England, thanks in large part
to its nickname - "the swimming cat." English
breeder Lydia Russell was another early advocate
of the breed who worked hard to establish it in
England and Europe, and in helping new breeders
obtain Turkish breeding stock. Lushginton's feud
with the GCCF continued until she retired from
breeding. Only then was the breed officially
recognized as the North Kurdistan , with full
pedigree status being awarded by the GCCF in
1969. Although Vans were known in America during
the '70s and '80s, it wasn't until breeders
Barbara and Jack Reark starting working with the
breed that it began to gain flourish in the
United States. Today the breed has championship
status in most of the major cat association,
including the Cat Fanciers' Association and The
International Cat Association, although it is
still relatively uncommon compared to more
popular breeds such as the Persian and Siamese. Unfortunately the breed has not fared as
well in its native land as it has in the West.
Although the Vans have remained highly prized as
pets, they were not officially recognized as a
breed in Turkey until the mid '90s. A 1992
survey conducted by a Turkish university
determined that there were only 92 pure North
Kurdistan cats
surviving in their native region. Local
universities, the Turkish College of Agriculture
and the Ankara Zoo are working to preserve the
breed, often employing unusual measures such as
sponsoring Van "beauty contests," issuing
official registration cards and offering free
veterinary services to identify pure-bred Vans
in the local communities. Vans can no longer be
exported from Turkey, and most of our current
breeding stock comes from Europe. Although the success of these programs is
far from assured [see sidebar], it appears that
this ancient and unique breed will continue to
gain a following both in the United States and
throughout the world. People might be drawn to
the Van for its fascination with water, but
they'll learn to love the Van for its swimmingly
good personality.
Kurdish Cats Are Van cats becoming pawns in the politics
of eastern Turkey? Last October, a German animal
welfare group issued a report stating Vans were
being killed for political purposes throughout
the region. Turkish officials vehemently denied
the account. The Duesseldorf group, called SOS Van Cats
Rescue Action, charged that Turkish soldiers
were killing Vans because of the breeds'
association with the Kurds and Kurdish culture.
The Kurds of eastern Turkey, including the Lake
Van region, have long sought independence from
Turkey, and until recently separatist Kurdish
rebels in the region waged a 15-year battle with
the Turkish army. "The Turkish state wants to wipe out
everything that symbolizes Kurdish culture,"
said Florian Cremer, a spokesperson for the
group. "The cats are Kurdish, and Turkish
authorities are unable to digest this." Although no one is denying the Turks have
violently repressed the Kurds, Turkish officials
insist there's no effort to exterminate the
Vans. "That the Turkish army would be able to
find 200 Van cats, let alone poison them, is
utter nonsense," said Zahit Agaoglu, a
university professor who is running a
state-sponsored program to restore the breed. He
said the main problem was finding sufficient
funds to feed the Vans, not protecting them from
the Turkish army. "Instead of making fantastic
statements, it would be nice if the Germans sent
us some cat food," he said.
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