Research overview: discrimination learning and cognition in big cats

Captive big cats have become subjects of cognitive testing that reveals their learning abilities and informs enrichment. This overview surveys research using touchscreen and apparatus-based discrimination tasks with tigers, lions, leopards, and other large felids, examining visual and quantity discrimination, reversal learning, and individual variation in performance. It discusses how such testing provides mental stimulation in captivity, supports welfare, and allows comparison of cognitive capacities across the cat family. The topic shows that solitary apex predators, despite less elaborate sociality than primates, possess flexible learning abilities, and it highlights the value of cognitive enrichment for the welfare of large carnivores in managed care.