🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Comparative and population genomics allow researchers to find genes shaped by natural selection in cats, revealing the molecular basis of their predatory adaptations. This overview surveys the methods…

A survey of the three-way interactions among tigers, leopards and dholes, the dominant predators of South and Southeast Asian forests. These species partition a shared ungulate community by prey size…

Studies of leopard diet around Mumbai and across rural Maharashtra consistently find heavy reliance on domestic animals, particularly free-ranging dogs, alongside livestock, feral pigs, rodents and sm…

Leopards have perhaps the broadest diet of any large cat, recorded eating a vast array of species from large antelope to rodents, birds, reptiles, and invertebrates. This overview synthesizes scat and…

An overview of how co-occurring small felids divide prey to coexist, a less-studied counterpart to big-cat guild ecology. Where species such as ocelots, margays, oncillas, jungle cats, leopard cats an…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Geoffroy's cat and the kodkod (guigna) are closely related small cats of southern South America whose relationships illuminate the Leopardus radiation. This overview examines their phylogenetic placem…

The Indian subcontinent hosts two recognized leopard subspecies, the Indian leopard of the mainland and the Sri Lankan leopard isolated on its island. This overview examines the evidence distinguishin…

A survey of the factors that lead snow leopards to kill domestic livestock, the principal source of conflict that drives retaliatory killing of this endangered cat. Depredation rises where wild prey s…

Drought intensifies competition between people and predators for scarce water, forage, and livestock, often heightening human-wildlife conflict. This overview surveys how dry periods push cats toward…

This overview reviews technological and community early-warning systems designed to alert people to the presence of big cats before conflict occurs. It synthesises approaches including GPS- and geofen…

Conserving big cats in a human-dominated world depends on applying their ecology to the challenge of coexistence. This overview synthesizes how understanding prey requirements, ranging, dispersal, and…

A survey of how the kills of large cats function as a form of ecosystem engineering, structuring scavenger communities, nutrient flow and local biodiversity. Because predators such as pumas, leopards…

Habitat edges created by urban development alter microclimate, vegetation, prey, disturbance and predator interactions, shaping how felids use the boundary between natural and built land. This overvie…

Detecting climate-driven range shifts in snow leopards requires repeated, standardized occupancy surveys across elevation gradients. This overview surveys how camera-trap arrays and occupancy modeling…

In the mountains of Asia, common leopards, snow leopards, and tigers can occur along elevational gradients, partitioning the landscape by altitude and habitat. This overview synthesizes research on ho…

The physical environment of an enclosure, including space, complexity, seclusion, and the ability to avoid disturbance, influences the reproductive function of captive cats. This overview surveys how…

Environmental DNA, the genetic material that animals shed into their surroundings, offers a powerful new way to detect elusive cats without observing them directly. This overview surveys how environme…

Vocal abilities are distributed across the felid family tree in informative ways, and this overview reviews the evolution of cat vocal anatomy. Mapping hyoid structure and laryngeal features onto feli…

In territorial solitary cats such as leopards, cubs are sometimes fathered by males other than the dominant resident, raising questions about mating dynamics. This overview surveys evidence for extra-…

A survey of the conditions under which big cats switch from hunting to scavenging, and what this means for their ecology. Although large felids lack the scavenging specializations of hyenas and vultur…

Because the entire wild Amur leopard population is confined to one small area, conservationists have long studied the feasibility of establishing a second, geographically separate population as insura…

Measuring glucocorticoid stress hormones in feces provides a noninvasive way to assess how stress relates to reproductive function in cats. This overview surveys the use of fecal glucocorticoid monito…

The presence of cats in South America results from the Great American Biotic Interchange, when the Isthmus of Panama connected the Americas and allowed northern mammals to disperse south. This overvie…

Tea, coffee and rubber plantations across South and Southeast Asia form extensive human-modified habitats used by leopards, leopard cats, jungle cats and fishing cats with varying tolerance. This over…