🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

A survey of the strong, general relationship between the abundance of prey and the density of the carnivores that depend on them, a cornerstone of predator ecology. Across species and systems, predato…

Modern zoos run structured preventive medicine programs for captive felids encompassing routine health monitoring, parasite control, vaccination, nutritional management, dental care, and increasingly…

The abundance of big cats is governed largely from the bottom up by the biomass of their prey. This overview synthesizes the strong, repeatedly demonstrated relationship between ungulate prey density…

A survey of the minimum prey abundance large cats need to maintain viable populations and why prey depletion is a leading cause of felid decline. Because predator density scales with prey biomass, the…

Many structurally intact Asian forests now hold few or no tigers because their prey has been hunted out, a phenomenon known as the empty forest syndrome. This overview synthesizes evidence that unsust…

Many forests across tiger range remain structurally intact yet hold few or no tigers because their large prey have been hunted out, a condition often called the empty forest syndrome. This overview su…

An overview of how the loss of large ungulate prey to human hunting hollows out tiger habitat even where forest cover remains, producing empty forests that cannot support tigers. Because tigers requir…

This overview synthesises evidence that depletion of wild ungulate prey, through poaching, the bushmeat trade, and habitat loss, drives tigers toward livestock and, in extreme cases, people. It review…

Sundarbans tigers rely on prey such as spotted deer (chital) and wild boar, whose abundance depends on mangrove forest condition and freshwater availability. This overview surveys how climate-driven c…

An overview of the behavioral defenses ungulates and other prey deploy against felid predators, from vigilance scanning to alarm signaling and habitat avoidance. Because cats are stealthy ambush hunte…

A methodological survey of the indices used to measure whether felids prefer or avoid prey relative to availability, including the Jacobs index, Ivlev's electivity and related measures central to the…

Progestin-based contraceptives have been used to suppress reproduction in captive cats, but concerns about side effects have shaped their use. This overview surveys the application of progestin contra…

How keepers interact with dangerous captive carnivores spans a spectrum from free contact, sharing space with the animal, to protected contact, where a barrier always separates human and cat. This ove…

Protected areas are the cornerstone of felid conservation, but their effectiveness at stopping habitat loss varies and is tested by mounting land-use and climate pressure. This overview surveys method…

Individual reserves are rarely large enough to sustain wide-ranging cats on their own, so conservation increasingly relies on networks of protected areas linked by corridors, and this overview examine…

Tigers and several other large cats produce prusten, also called chuffing, a soft fluttering sound made by blowing air through the nostrils with the mouth closed. This overview surveys observations th…

Qualitative Behaviour Assessment asks trained observers to score the expressive demeanour of an animal, capturing emotional qualities such as relaxed, tense, content or frustrated that quantitative et…

Deciding when a chronically ill or aged big cat's welfare no longer justifies continued life is among the most difficult tasks in captive felid care. This overview surveys structured quality-of-life a…

Beyond the Sundarbans, tigers across Asia face varied climate exposure layered onto severe habitat loss, prompting range-wide vulnerability thinking. This overview surveys how climate projections, sea…

This overview synthesises the role of specialised rapid-response teams in managing human-tiger conflict, from Village Tiger Response Teams in the Sundarbans to forest-department units across India and…

A central question in distemper ecology is how a virus historically associated with dogs repeatedly jumps into cats. This overview surveys research on the molecular basis of canine distemper virus hos…

In the Russian Far East, orphaned and conflict-involved Amur tiger cubs have been rehabilitated and released back into the wild, including into areas where tigers had become scarce, offering a distinc…

This overview examines how religious beliefs, sacred associations, and cultural traditions foster, or sometimes undermine, tolerance for big cats. It synthesises cases such as reverence for tigers and…

Remote drug delivery using dart guns and pole syringes enables chemical immobilization of dangerous or free-ranging felids from a safe distance, a foundational technique for field and zoo capture. Suc…

Satellite remote sensing is the backbone of measuring habitat change across the vast ranges of wild cats. This overview surveys the data and methods, optical imagery for land-cover classification, rad…

Chronic kidney disease is a common cause of illness and death in aging captive big cats, paralleling its prominence in domestic cats and reflecting the longer lifespans achieved in managed care. Capti…

As public attitudes and laws have turned against using big cats in circuses, film and other entertainment, retiring these animals to lifetime care has become a significant welfare undertaking. This ov…

Beyond outright inundation, sea-level rise and reduced freshwater flow are increasing salinity in the Sundarbans, shifting mangrove species composition and forest productivity that underpin tiger habi…

This overview examines the persistent gap between perceived and actual risk in human-big cat conflict, a theme cutting across lion, tiger, leopard, puma, and jaguar systems. It synthesises research sh…

Roads affect cats through direct mortality and through the barrier effect that fragments populations, a central theme in carnivore conservation. This overview surveys research quantifying how highways…