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🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
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287 summaries on cheetah
Research overview: why cheetahs occur at low density over large areas
OverviewCheetahs naturally occur at low densities and require large areas, a consequence of competition, prey, and their hunting strategy. This overview synthesizes research showing that suppression by lions…
Research overview: wildebeest migration and predator satiation
OverviewA survey of how the synchronized mass calving and movement of migratory wildebeest may swamp predators, reducing per-capita predation on any individual. By giving birth in a brief, highly synchronized…
Research overview: woody encroachment and savanna change for African cats
OverviewRising carbon dioxide, altered rainfall, and changed fire and grazing regimes are driving woody plant encroachment into many African savannas, reshaping habitat for cats and their prey. This overview…
Sensitivity to exogenous gonadotropins for ovulation induction and laparoscopic artificial insemination in the cheetah and clouded leopard
PaperThis study developed and tested protocols for hormonally inducing ovulation and performing laparoscopic artificial insemination in two nondomestic felids. The authors administered exogenous gonadotrop…
Howard JG, Roth TL, Byers AP, Swanson WF, Wildt DE · Biology of Reproduction · 1997
Sources of stress in captivity
ReviewMorgan and Tromborg comprehensively reviewed the environmental factors that stress captive animals, cataloguing sound, light, odour, temperature, substrate, restraint, human presence, predictability a…
Morgan KN, Tromborg CT · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2007
Specifying and Sustaining Pigmentation Patterns in Domestic and Wild Cats
PaperThis study identified the gene responsible for the dramatic blotched coat of the king cheetah and the related variation between mackerel and blotched tabby patterns in domestic cats. The authors mappe…
Christopher B. Kaelin, Gregory S. Barsh, et al. · Science · 2012
The Global Decline of the Cheetah and What It Means for Conservation
PaperThis range-wide assessment compiled distribution and population data to show that cheetahs have been lost from the large majority of their historical range and now number only a few thousand adults, w…
Durant SM, Mitchell N, Groom R, et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2017
The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations
ReviewSchaller's monograph is the foundational field study of lion ecology and one of the most thorough predator-prey investigations ever conducted. Over years in the Serengeti, he documented lion social st…
Schaller, G.B. · University of Chicago Press · 1972
The cheetah is depauperate in genetic variation
PaperThis landmark study used protein electrophoresis across dozens of allozyme loci to show that the cheetah carries almost no detectable genetic variation, a pattern unprecedented among mammals at the ti…
O'Brien SJ, Wildt DE, Goldman D, Merril CR, Bush M · Science · 1983
The cheetah is depauperate in genetic variation
PaperThis influential study revealed that cheetahs possess strikingly low genetic variation, demonstrated by extreme similarity at protein-coding loci and, in later related work, acceptance of reciprocal s…
O'Brien SJ, Wildt DE, Goldman D, Merril CR, Bush M · Science · 1983
The effect of different types of enrichment on the behaviour of cheetahs in captivity
PaperQuirke and O'Riordan tested several enrichment types on captive cheetahs at a breeding park, measuring effects on activity, exploration and stereotypic pacing. Different enrichments varied in effectiv…
Quirke T, O'Riordan RM · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2011
The global decline of the cheetah and conservation implications
PaperThis range-wide assessment compiled data to show that the cheetah occupies a small fraction of its historical range and is more threatened than previously recognized, with most populations existing ou…
Durant, S.M., Mitchell, N., Groom, R., Pettorelli, N., Ipavec, A., Jacobson, A.P., et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2017
The lion king and the hyaena queen: large carnivore interactions and coexistence
ReviewPeriquet, Fritz and Revilla reviewed the full breadth of interactions between lions and spotted hyenas, the two dominant large carnivores of African savannas. They synthesized evidence on kleptoparasi…
Periquet, S., Fritz, H. & Revilla, E. · Biological Reviews · 2015
To flee or not to flee: predator avoidance by cheetahs at kills
PaperHunter, Durant and Caro examined the decisions cheetahs make at carcasses when dominant competitors threaten, quantifying how the presence of lions and hyenas governs whether and when cheetahs abandon…
Hunter, J.S., Durant, S.M. & Caro, T.M. · Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology · 2007
Unique seminal quality in the South African cheetah and a comparative evaluation in the domestic cat
PaperThis study established a quantitative baseline for cheetah reproductive physiology by electroejaculating wild-caught males and comparing their semen to that of domestic cats. The cheetahs produced eja…
Wildt DE, Bush M, Howard JG, O'Brien SJ, Meltzer D, van Dyk A, Ebedes H, Brand DJ · Biology of Reproduction · 1983
Why and how should we use environmental enrichment to tackle stereotypic behaviour?
ReviewMason, Clubb, Latham and Vickery reviewed the evidence that environmental enrichment reduces stereotypies, and found the picture more nuanced than commonly assumed. Across studies, enrichment often re…
Mason G, Clubb R, Latham N, Vickery S · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2007
Wild Cats of the World
ReviewSunquist and Sunquist's comprehensive reference compiles the natural history, ecology and behavior of all wild felid species, with extensive treatment of diet, prey selection, hunting modes and predat…
Sunquist, M. & Sunquist, F. · University of Chicago Press · 2002