🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

When a new coalition of males takes over a pride they commonly kill unweaned cubs, which brings females back into breeding condition sooner. This research overview surveys how lionesses respond by giv…

No single indicator captures welfare reliably, so the field has moved toward integrated assessment combining multiple lines of evidence. This overview surveys how comprehensive welfare evaluation for…

Effective conservation increasingly requires integrating disease information alongside genetic, demographic and habitat data in planning for felids. This overview surveys how disease data are incorpor…

Felids share landscapes with other carnivores, and pathogens frequently move among species within these guilds, shaping disease dynamics. This overview surveys interspecific transmission among carnivo…

Big cats not only compete for prey but kill one another, and intraguild predation shapes the structure of carnivore communities. This overview synthesizes research on how dominant cats such as lions a…

A survey of the lethal interactions between cats and dogs that share prey and space, a major structuring force in carnivore communities. Lions and hyenas kill wild dogs and cheetahs; pumas and coyotes…

The response to catnip and related iridoids is not unique to domestic cats; various wild felids also react. This overview surveys reports that some big cats, such as lions and others, show interest in…

Cooperation among male lions in coalitions is shaped by how closely the members are related, with kin selection favoring tolerance of shared reproduction among relatives. This overview surveys the rel…

A survey of the pervasive theft of kills within the African large-carnivore guild, where lions, spotted hyenas, leopards, cheetahs and wild dogs constantly contest carcasses. The direction and outcome…

An overview of how often cheetahs lose their kills to lions, hyenas and other competitors, and the consequences for cheetah foraging. Because cheetahs are exhausted after high-speed pursuits and canno…

This overview synthesises studies identifying which landscape and management variables predict where big cats kill livestock, a recurring quantitative question across conflict research. It reviews con…

This overview examines how the ecological concept of the landscape of fear, the spatial distribution of perceived predation risk, has been applied to human-carnivore conflict. It synthesises work expl…

Body size affects how easily an animal gains or loses heat, and this overview reviews its thermoregulatory consequences for big cats. Because surface area grows more slowly than volume with size, larg…

The last wild Asiatic lions, confined to the Gir Forest of India, form a small, genetically depleted population whose disease exposure draws particular concern. This overview surveys what is known and…

This overview synthesises long-term research on lions ranging at the boundary of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, where the park abuts communal farmland and trophy-hunting concessions. It reviews evide…

An overview of how resident lions respond to the dramatic seasonal pulses of migratory wildebeest and zebra that pass through their territories. Because lions are territorial and cannot follow the mig…

Lion territory size ranges from tens to many hundreds of square kilometers depending on prey density and water availability. This overview reviews radio-telemetry and GPS studies showing that prides i…

Kruger National Park supports one of the most studied savanna lion populations, offering insight into how large protected areas regulate big cat numbers. This overview reviews how prey availability, d…

Genetic studies have reshaped understanding of how lions are organized across their range, revealing deeper structure than the traditional African-Asiatic split implies. This overview surveys research…

A survey of the predator-prey relationship between lions and African buffalo, a preferred large prey whose size and defensive behavior make it both rewarding and dangerous to hunt. Lions, especially m…

This overview synthesises continental assessments of African lion decline, emphasising conflict-related mortality, prey depletion, and habitat loss as principal drivers. It reviews evidence that retal…

A recurring theme in lion movement research is the edge effect, the way protected-area boundaries shape mortality and movement, and this overview synthesizes the evidence. GPS telemetry shows that lio…

South Africa has reintroduced lions into numerous fenced reserves where they had been extirpated, creating a network of small, intensively managed populations. This overview surveys research on these…

Conservation strategy for lions increasingly centers on the concept of strongholds, large protected landscapes that hold robust, well-connected lion populations capable of long-term persistence. This…

The redrawing of lion subspecies along a north-south axis has direct regulatory consequences under CITES and the Red List. This overview explains how the recognition of the northern subspecies Panther…

Retaliatory and preemptive killing of lions by pastoralists protecting livestock is a leading cause of lion decline outside core protected areas. This overview surveys research on the drivers of depre…

As the largest African cat, the lion exerts strong intraguild pressure on cheetahs and leopards. This overview synthesizes research on how lions kill cheetah cubs and steal kills, forcing cheetahs int…

In the seasonally flooded Okavango Delta, lions face a landscape that shifts from dry ground to a maze of channels and islands. This overview reviews how delta prides adapt by wading and even swimming…

Lionesses in a pride often conceive and give birth at similar times, producing synchronized litters that are reared communally in a creche. This overview surveys the determinants of lion litter size a…

Where cats and livestock overlap, the distribution of herds and the layout of settlements shape predator movement, and this overview synthesizes telemetry insights relevant to conflict. GPS data show…