The swimming cats of Lake Van: a landrace caught between myth and science

Countries & Cities · Published 12 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Known for their striking white coats and mismatched eyes, the Van cat is a natural landrace from Turkey. While some call them the 'swimming cats' for their affinity for water, their history is a complex tapestry of cultural symbolism, folklore, and shifting identities across the Anatolian landscape.

The Van cat is a distinctive landrace—a naturally occurring, random-bred variety—found around Lake Van in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey. Unlike standardized breeds, these cats often feature a solid white coat, sometimes with ruddy coloration on the head and hindquarters. They are also famous for their almond-shaped eyes, which frequently exhibit heterochromia, where one eye is blue and the other is amber or green.

The relationship between the natural Van cat and the formal 'Turkish Van' breed is a subject of nuance. Although the landrace likely provided the foundation, a founder's notes suggest the four founding cats originated from different Turkish regions. Furthermore, the term 'Turkish Vankedisi' is sometimes used by organizations to describe solid white specimens of the standardized breed, which can cause confusion.

Culturally, the cat is a potent symbol. In Turkish folklore, it is said a Van cat survived the Great Flood on Noah's Ark, receiving a ruddy patch of fur as a blessing from Allah. Armenians, Kurds, and Turks also regard the feline as a cultural symbol. For Armenians, the cat is tied to the Lake Van region's history prior to the 1915 genocide, while in Kurdish nationalist circles, they are sometimes referred to as 'Kurdish cats.'

Conservation efforts face significant hurdles. A 1992 survey identified only 92 pure Van cats in their native area. While the Van Cat Research Centre was established at Yüzüncü Yıl University in 1995 to protect the variety, its effectiveness in reversing declining numbers is contested. As of 2018, the centre housed approximately 350 young adults and kittens, though reports have questioned the quality of the cats' living conditions.

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