🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Feline panleukopenia, caused by feline parvovirus, was historically a devastating, highly fatal disease of cats, especially kittens, before effective vaccines dramatically reduced its incidence and ma…

Cats cool themselves differently from humans, and this overview reviews their reliance on panting and limited sweating. Lacking extensive sweat glands over the body, cats have sweat glands mainly on t…

Many protected areas exist on maps but lack the staff, funding, and enforcement to deliver real protection, a phenomenon known as paper parks. This overview surveys research using tools such as the Ma…

This overview examines participatory approaches in which affected communities themselves map where, when, and how big-cat conflict occurs, combining local knowledge with spatial tools. It synthesises…

Parvoviruses of carnivores have a history of host-switching, with canine parvovirus having evolved from a feline-like ancestor and continuing to exchange between hosts. This overview surveys the evolu…

Most modern camera traps fire when a passive infrared sensor detects a moving heat signature, the contrast between a warm animal and its cooler background. This overview explains how PIR sensors work,…

A cat's temperament is shaped not only by early experience but by inheritance, and this overview surveys evidence that the father contributes to kitten boldness and friendliness. It examines studies i…

Understanding which male tigers father cubs in wild populations clarifies the species' mating system and informs management of small, fragmented populations. This overview surveys efforts to assess pa…

Within a lion pride, resident males form coalitions that collectively defend breeding access, raising the question of how paternity is shared among them. This overview surveys genetic and behavioral s…

The concept of pathogen pollution describes the human-mediated introduction of pathogens into new host populations, a recurring driver of disease in wild felids. This overview surveys how activities s…

Feline diabetes mellitus most closely resembles human type 2 diabetes, characterized by insulin resistance combined with impaired insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells, often in the setting of…

Leopard attacks on humans, though rare relative to encounter frequency, shape public perception and policy across urban-adjacent India. This overview surveys research on the spatial and temporal clust…

Individual cats often favour one paw when reaching for food or stepping, and laterality research has linked this to underlying brain organisation and even temperament. This overview surveys studies me…

This overview reviews how delays, bureaucratic complexity, and inadequate payouts undermine government compensation schemes for big-cat depredation, particularly in South Asia and Africa. It synthesis…

Beyond compensating losses, some programs pay communities or landowners directly for conserving predators or their habitat, aligning economic incentives with conservation. This overview surveys resear…

This overview reviews how payments-for-ecosystem-services (PES) frameworks have been adapted to compensate communities for hosting large carnivores, treating predator presence as a service worth rewar…

Much of Sumatra's lowland forest grows on carbon-rich peat that, when drained for plantations, becomes highly flammable, fueling the recurrent fire and haze crises that also degrade tiger habitat. Thi…

Pedigree analysis uses recorded ancestry to estimate relatedness, inbreeding coefficients, and founder contributions that guide breeding decisions. This overview surveys how felid studbook pedigrees a…

Zoos and breeding programs maintain studbooks to manage the genetics of captive cat populations, aiming to retain diversity and avoid inbreeding across generations. This overview surveys how pedigree…

Distinguishing a true wildcat from a tabby domestic cat or hybrid is a practical taxonomic challenge with conservation stakes. This overview describes the morphological characters used, including a bu…

Coat pattern played a central role in confirming the clouded leopard split. This overview describes the diagnostic pelage differences: Sunda clouded leopards tend to have smaller, darker cloud marking…

This overview synthesises studies across Latin America comparing ranchers' perceived livestock losses to jaguars and pumas with verified depredation, a recurring theme in big-cat conflict. It reviews…

Periodontal disease, the inflammation and destruction of tissues supporting the teeth driven by plaque bacteria, is extremely common in adult cats and a leading reason for dental intervention, progres…

Blood flow to the skin and extremities is a key thermoregulatory tool, and this overview reviews its role in cats. By adjusting circulation to the paws, ears, and other peripheral areas, cats can shed…

This overview surveys the science of permafrost-preserved cave lion remains, an exceptional class of fossils in which freezing has retained skin, fur, muscle, and other soft tissues for tens of thousa…

A challenging finding for felid welfare management is that stereotypic pacing, once established, can persist even after enclosures are enriched or enlarged, becoming partly independent of its original…

Individual cats differ consistently in boldness, fearfulness, aggressiveness and sociability, and these stable traits affect welfare, breeding success and how animals respond to husbandry. This overvi…

Reliable personality assessment helps match cats to homes and tailor care, and this overview surveys research developing and validating temperament tests for shelter and pet cats. It covers behavioura…

Consistent individual differences in cats extend to how they cope with stress, linking behaviour to physiology. This overview surveys research relating feline personality dimensions such as boldness a…

Climate change is shifting the timing of biological events, and while phenology is best studied in plants and birds, it bears on cats through their prey and reproductive timing. This overview surveys…