Research overview: memory and cognitive maps in felid movement

Animals do not move at random or solely in response to immediate cues; they remember productive sites, dangerous areas, and routes, and this overview examines how memory shapes felid movement. Evidence from revisitation patterns, efficient travel between distant resources, and consistent use of trails suggests cats maintain spatial memory or cognitive maps of their ranges. The overview surveys analytical approaches that incorporate memory into movement models, for example by making the probability of visiting a location depend on prior visits, and discusses how memory contributes to territory maintenance and efficient foraging. Distinguishing memory-driven movement from responses to current conditions is methodologically challenging. Understanding it matters because memory determines how cats respond to landscape change, restoration, and the loss of familiar corridors.