🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

A survey of how stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen and other elements in tissues reconstruct the diets and trophic positions of cats. Because isotopic signatures of prey are passed to predators…

An overview of how ambush felids select hunting habitat to minimize the distance over which they must close on prey undetected. Because capture success drops sharply with the length of the final rush,…

The surfaces captive cats stand, walk and rest on affect comfort, health and behaviour, yet substrate is easily overlooked. This overview surveys substrate welfare for felids: the problems of hard, ab…

Managing captive felid populations sustainably requires controlling breeding to match available space and genetic goals, which raises difficult questions about surplus animals. This overview surveys t…

Serological and molecular surveys of wild felid populations have documented widespread infection with species-specific lentiviruses related to FIV, often at high prevalence in lions and pumas, general…

Many felids, especially genetically depauperate species like the cheetah, produce ejaculates with a high proportion of structurally abnormal sperm, a condition called teratospermia. This overview surv…

Reproductive hormone levels in male cats can vary seasonally and with social status, influencing semen quality and reproductive behavior. This overview surveys research on testosterone and related and…

In 1994 a canine distemper epidemic swept the Serengeti, killing roughly a third of its lions and spreading to leopards, hyenas and other carnivores. This overview reconstructs the outbreak timeline:…

The American lion, Panthera atrox, was one of the largest cats ever to live, roaming Pleistocene North America south of the ice sheets. This overview surveys ancient-DNA evidence indicating that the A…

The Asiatic lion, once spread across southwest Asia, survives as a single wild population in and around the Gir forest of Gujarat, India, recovered from a few dozen animals a century ago to several hu…

The Lion Guardians model, developed in Maasai lands of East Africa, employs young men from local communities, often former lion hunters, to monitor lions, warn herders, reinforce enclosures, and reduc…

This overview examines the Lion Guardians program in East Africa, which employs Maasai warriors to monitor lions, recover lost livestock, reinforce bomas, and warn herders, converting potential lion-k…

This overview examines a well-documented predator compensation fund on Mbirikani Group Ranch in southern Kenya, where Maasai livestock owners receive payments for verified kills by lions and other car…

Effective enrichment is a structured process, not a collection of toys, and the SPIDER framework, Setting goals, Planning, Implementing, Documenting, Evaluating and Re-adjusting, formalises this cycle…

The Barbary lion of North Africa, famed for its dark, full mane, went extinct in the wild during the 20th century, and its status has fascinated taxonomists. This overview reviews ancient and historic…

The Pleistocene cave lion was a widespread Eurasian and Beringian predator, and ancient DNA has clarified how it relates to living lions. This overview summarizes genetic evidence that the cave lion,…

This overview reviews frameworks that array human-carnivore relationships along a continuum from acute conflict through coexistence to active stewardship, and that match interventions to a situation's…

A consistent finding across lion genetics is a deep division between northern and southern populations that crosses the Sahara and reaches into Asia. This overview explains the evidence for this split…

The lion's mane is a sexually selected ornament whose size and color vary with age, testosterone, climate, and individual condition. This overview surveys what is known about the developmental and hor…

The ability to roar distinguishes the genus Panthera and is tied to specialized anatomy of the larynx and a flexible hyoid apparatus, while smaller cats purr instead. This overview surveys the anatomi…

The Asiatic lion survives as a single population in and around the Gir Forest of western India, having recovered from perhaps a few dozen individuals around the start of the twentieth century. This ov…

The Asiatic lion of India's Gir Forest is the last surviving lion population in Asia and has long been treated as a distinct subspecies, Panthera leo persica. This overview examines its genetic status…

Crosses between lions and tigers in captivity produce ligers and tigons, hybrids notable for unusual growth patterns, with ligers often growing larger than either parent. This overview surveys the bio…

White lions, associated with the Timbavati region of South Africa, display a pale cream to near-white coat caused by a recessive color variant rather than true albinism, since they retain pigmented ey…

This overview synthesises the full toolbox of measures used to mitigate big-cat conflict, organising them into prevention (husbandry, fortified enclosures, guard animals, deterrents, fencing, zoning),…

The classic division between cats that roar and cats that purr was long tied to the hyoid apparatus, and this overview reviews this anatomy and the nuance behind it. The roaring big cats of the genus…

The Cape lion of southern Africa, extinct since the 19th century and noted for its dark mane, was once thought to be a distinct subspecies. This overview reviews genetic studies of museum specimens th…

Familiar keepers occupy a special place in a captive animal's social environment, and the quality of the keeper-animal relationship can influence stress, cooperation and welfare. This overview surveys…

Beyond killing prey, big cats shape ecosystems through the fear they inspire, altering where and how prey forage. This overview synthesizes research on the landscape of fear, in which the risk of pred…

Growing demand for lion bones, partly as a substitute for tiger parts in traditional medicine markets, has raised concern about new pressures on wild lions. This overview surveys research and policy a…