🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Captive big cats have become subjects of cognitive testing that reveals their learning abilities and informs enrichment. This overview surveys research using touchscreen and apparatus-based discrimina…

Jaguars and other Neotropical cats inhabit diverse tropical ecosystems where they encounter a wide array of pathogens and parasites, though their disease ecology remains less studied than that of Afri…

Snow leopards inhabit remote high mountains, yet they are not isolated from disease, facing exposure to pathogens shared with domestic animals and prey across their range. This overview surveys what i…

Living alongside domestic cats, dogs and people exposes Cape Town caracals to pathogens and parasites that can affect their health. This overview synthesises serological and disease-ecology research o…

Cheetahs face well-documented reproductive difficulties that intersect with their disease susceptibility and genetic uniformity. This overview surveys the links between disease, immune function and re…

For tiny, isolated felid populations, infectious disease can pose an extinction-level threat that compounds genetic and demographic vulnerabilities. This overview surveys how disease drives extinction…

The European wildcat’s recovery is complicated by disease and hybridization stemming from contact with abundant domestic cats. This overview surveys the disease threats facing wildcats, including feli…

As conservation efforts seek to rewild felids and support natural range expansion, disease becomes a critical consideration. This overview surveys the disease dimensions of rewilding and range recover…

Small wild felids such as the Pallas cat, sand cat and various others have distinctive disease ecologies that are often poorly studied yet conservation-relevant. This overview surveys disease in small…

Felids living at the edges of cities, such as bobcats and mountain lions in California, face a distinctive disease landscape shaped by human activity. This overview surveys the disease ecology of urba…

Leopards are remarkably adaptable, often living close to people and domestic animals, which exposes them to pathogens at the human-wildlife interface. This overview surveys disease in leopards, includ…

When cats are reintroduced to restore populations, ongoing disease monitoring is essential to detect outbreaks early and protect the investment in recovery. This overview surveys the post-release heal…

Moving wild cats for reintroduction or genetic management carries the danger of moving pathogens with them, making disease risk assessment a core part of conservation translocations. This overview sur…

For a population as small as the Amur leopard's, infectious disease poses a potentially catastrophic risk, as a single outbreak could affect a large fraction of all wild individuals. This overview sur…

The endangered Amur (Siberian) tiger has been the subject of disease surveillance that uncovered cases of canine distemper virus infection causing neurologic disease and abnormal behavior in wild tige…

Captive felids in zoos and sanctuaries require systematic disease surveillance both for their own health and as sentinels for emerging threats. This overview surveys health monitoring in captive cat c…

Pallass cats are notably vulnerable to certain pathogens, and this overview reviews veterinary research on the problem, especially toxoplasmosis. In captivity, kittens suffer high mortality from Toxop…

Captive cheetahs experience a striking array of diseases rarely seen at such rates in other felids, including Helicobacter gastritis, kidney disease, and severe coronavirus outbreaks. This overview su…

Tigers, reduced to small, fragmented populations, face disease as one of several extinction pressures, most notably canine distemper documented in Amur tigers. This overview surveys the spectrum of di…

Lions are unusually social among cats, and their pride structure shapes how pathogens spread through populations. This overview surveys the interplay between lion social organization and disease trans…

This overview examines zoonotic and cross-species disease risks where leopards prey on free-ranging dogs near people, including canine distemper, rabies, and parasites. It synthesises research on path…

Dispersal is central to puma ecology, with young males traveling long distances to establish ranges while females often settle nearer their natal areas. This overview synthesizes telemetry and genetic…

Juvenile cougar dispersal, the long-distance movements by which young animals find new territories and exchange genes, is sharply constrained in landscapes fragmented by roads and development around s…

How young tigers leave their natal areas and establish their own territories determines the structure and persistence of populations. This overview synthesizes studies showing that subadult females of…

Habitat corridors that allow subadult cats to move between core areas are central to maintaining gene flow and demographic exchange in fragmented landscapes. This overview surveys research on how conn…

The dispersal phase is among the most dangerous periods in a young cat's life, as subadults move through unfamiliar and often occupied or human-dominated terrain. This overview surveys evidence that d…

This overview synthesises the widely replicated finding that proximity to forest or natural cover strongly predicts big-cat depredation on livestock, with attacks declining as distance from the forest…

Long-term study of marked lions has shown that many animals carry antibodies to canine distemper virus without dying, raising questions about when infection is lethal. This overview surveys research d…

Rough play among cats can resemble fighting, and distinguishing genuine play from aggression is important for welfare and household harmony. This overview surveys research on the behavioural markers t…

The Chinese mountain cat is among the least observed of all felids, restricted to alpine meadow, shrubland, and grassland on the eastern Tibetan Plateau and adjacent margins. This overview surveys wha…