🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Black panthers are melanistic leopards (or jaguars), and their existence is often misunderstood as indicating a separate species or subspecies. This overview explains the genetics of leopard melanism,…

Controlling rabies in its wildlife and domestic reservoirs indirectly protects wild felids that are spillover victims of the disease. This overview surveys rabies control strategies relevant to felid…

DeVault, Rhodes and Shivik synthesized the neglected ecology of carrion use, arguing that scavenging is far more pervasive and important than traditionally recognized and that most carnivores, includi…

DeVault, T.L., Rhodes, O.E. & Shivik, J.A. · Oikos · 2003

Swaisgood and Shepherdson reviewed how rigorously zoos had studied enrichment and stereotypy, surveying the published literature for methodological quality. They found many anecdotal claims but a grow…

Swaisgood RR, Shepherdson DJ · Zoo Biology · 2005

This edited volume brought together early scientific work on environmental enrichment, consolidating it into a coherent field. Chapters covered the history, theory, design and evaluation of enrichment…

Shepherdson DJ, Mellen JD, Hutchins M (eds) · Smithsonian Institution Press · 1998

Wells reviewed how stimulating the senses, through olfactory, auditory, visual and tactile inputs, can enrich captive animals. She summarised evidence that scents such as spices and prey odours, sound…

Wells DL · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2009

This comprehensive study screened thousands of samples from many felid species plus hyenas for feline immunodeficiency virus and sequenced isolates to map viral diversity. The authors confirmed that F…

J. L. Troyer, J. Pecon-Slattery, M. E. Roelke, et al. · Journal of Virology · 2005

Morgan 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

This influential review synthesized the global status of the largest carnivores, including big cats such as lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars, documenting widespread range contraction and populatio…

Ripple, W.J., Estes, J.A., Beschta, R.L., Wilmers, C.C., Ritchie, E.G., Hebblewhite, M., et al. · Science · 2014

Mason's review synthesised decades of work on stereotypic behaviour across captive species, defining stereotypies as repetitive, invariant movements with no obvious goal. She argued they arise from fr…

Mason GJ · Animal Behaviour · 1991

The big cats of the genus Panthera proved historically difficult to resolve because of rapid speciation and conflicting gene trees. This study assembled a large multilocus supermatrix and applied both…

Brian W. Davis, Gang Li, William J. Murphy · Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution · 2010

Relationships among the big cats long resisted resolution because of short internal branches and conflicting markers. This study assembled a large multi-gene dataset and applied both concatenated supe…

Davis BW, Li G, Murphy WJ · Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution · 2010

Kruuk documented and analyzed cases where carnivores kill far more prey than they can consume, challenging the assumption that predators only take what they need. Drawing on spotted hyena and other ca…

Kruuk, H. · Journal of Zoology · 1972

Schaller'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

Lyons, Young and Deag surveyed multiple felid species across enclosures differing in size, complexity and feeding routine to identify what most affects behaviour. They found that enclosure usage and a…

Lyons J, Young RJ, Deag JM · Zoo Biology · 1997

Why can lions and tigers roar while domestic cats and cheetahs cannot? This comparative anatomical study examined the hyoid apparatus, the chain of bones supporting the larynx and tongue, across felid…

Gerald Weissengruber and colleagues · Journal of Anatomy · 2002

Periquet, 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

Sherwen and Hemsworth reviewed and reframed the visitor effect, drawing on human-animal interaction science from farm animals to argue that visitors are a salient and often underestimated feature of t…

Sherwen SL, Hemsworth PH · Animals · 2019

Treves and Bruskotter examined the psychology and policy of human tolerance for large predators, arguing that tolerance, the willingness to coexist with carnivores, is the decisive factor in their con…

Adrian Treves, Jeremy T. Bruskotter · Science · 2014

Westlund argued that positive-reinforcement training should be viewed as a form of environmental enrichment in its own right, not merely a husbandry convenience. She described how training sessions pr…

Westlund K · Journal of Veterinary Behavior · 2014

Analyzing records of leopards captured and released far from capture sites across India, this study challenged translocation as a standard response to conflict. Translocated leopards frequently attemp…

Athreya V, Odden M, Linnell JDC, Karanth KU · Conservation Biology · 2011

Athreya and colleagues analysed the outcomes of capturing leopards from conflict situations and releasing them elsewhere in Maharashtra, a common management response in India. Using records of leopard…

Vidya Athreya, Morten Odden, John D. C. Linnell, K. Ullas Karanth · Conservation Biology · 2011

Estes and a large group of coauthors synthesized evidence that the loss of apex consumers, including big cats, is among humanity's most pervasive influences on nature. The review marshaled cases acros…

Estes, J.A., Terborgh, J., Brashares, J.S. et al. · Science · 2011

Miller investigated how zoo visitors interpret stereotypic pacing, showing them footage of an animal pacing versus behaving normally and surveying their reactions. Visitors who saw pacing rated the an…

Miller LJ · Zoo Biology · 2012

Davey reviewed the evidence on how the presence, number and behaviour of visitors affect captive zoo animals. He found that visitors can act as a source of stress, enrichment or both depending on spec…

Davey G · Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science · 2007

Mason, 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

Hediger, often called the father of zoo biology, wrote this seminal book establishing that captive animals have psychological as well as physical needs. He introduced concepts such as flight distance,…

Hediger H · Butterworths Scientific Publications · 1950

Sunquist 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

This comprehensive reference compiled the biology, ecology, and conservation status of all the world's wild cat species, from the great roaring cats to the smallest felids. Drawing together field stud…

Sunquist, M. E., Sunquist, F. C. · University of Chicago Press · 2002

Maple and Perdue's book provided a comprehensive treatment of welfare science as applied to zoos and aquariums, covering its history, ethical foundations, assessment methods and practical application…

Maple TL, Perdue BM · Springer (Animal Welfare series) · 2013