🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

This study uncovered a general relationship between the population density of carnivores and the availability of their prey, showing that across species roughly the same amount of prey biomass support…

Carbone, C., Gittleman, J. L. · Science · 2002

Hosey proposed a conceptual model of how relationships form between zoo animals and the humans around them, distinguishing the effects of unfamiliar visitors from those of familiar keepers. He argued…

Hosey GR · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2008

Miller and colleagues proposed that the diversity of behaviours an animal performs, not just the presence or absence of specific behaviours, can serve as an indicator of positive welfare, with higher…

Miller LJ, Vicino GA, Sheftel J, Lauderdale LK · Animals · 2020

Watters, Margulis and Atsalis advocated systematic, ongoing behavioural monitoring of individual zoo animals as a foundation for evidence-based husbandry. They described how regularly recording behavi…

Watters JV, Margulis SW, Atsalis S · Zoo Biology · 2009

This influential comparative study estimated bite forces across a broad range of living and extinct mammalian carnivores using dry-skull dissection methods and lever modelling, then scaled the results…

Wroe, S.; McHenry, C.; Thomason, J. · Proceedings of the Royal Society B · 2005

Wang and Macdonald applied camera-trap capture-recapture to tigers and leopards in the high-altitude mountains of Bhutan, documenting the surprising presence of tigers at unusually high elevations and…

Sherub Wang, David W. Macdonald · Biological Conservation · 2009

Clubb and Mason analysed comparative data across 35 carnivore species to ask why some thrive in zoos while others pace and breed poorly. They found that wide-ranging species with large natural home ra…

Clubb R, Mason G · Nature · 2003

This review compiled what was known about reproductive hormone patterns across the cat family, drawing heavily on noninvasive fecal and urinary steroid monitoring developed for zoo animals. The author…

Brown JL · Theriogenology · 2006

Skibiel, Trevino and Naugher systematically compared categories of enrichment, including food-based items, spices and scents, and novel objects, for captive cats to see which most effectively boosted…

Skibiel AL, Trevino HS, Naugher K · Zoo Biology · 2007

Margulis, Hoyos and Anderson examined the relationship between how active captive cats are and how long visitors watch them. Observing several felid species, they found that visitor interest, measured…

Margulis SW, Hoyos C, Anderson M · Zoo Biology · 2003

In this widely cited book chapter, Carlstead reviewed how captivity alters the behaviour of wild mammals, examining feeding, social, reproductive and anti-predator behaviours and the development of ab…

Carlstead K · Wild Mammals in Captivity (University of Chicago Press) · 1996

De Azevedo, Cipreste and Young surveyed the published enrichment literature to identify which taxa, enrichment types and research questions were well studied and which were neglected. They found resea…

de Azevedo CS, Cipreste CF, Young RJ · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2007

This study documented the first confirmed natural SARS-CoV-2 infections in big cats, occurring in tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo early in the COVID-19 pandemic. After several cats developed respira…

D. McAloose, M. Laverack, L. Wang, et al. · mBio · 2020

McPhee tested whether feeding whole, intact carcasses rather than processed meat changes the behaviour of large captive cats. Providing carcasses increased feeding-related and active behaviours and al…

McPhee ME · Zoo Biology · 2002

Hill and Broom reviewed the conceptual and practical challenges of assessing welfare in zoo animals, applying Broom's coping-based definition to the captive context. They surveyed the range of indicat…

Hill SP, Broom DM · Zoo Biology · 2009

Whitham and Wielebnowski argued that zoo welfare assessment should move beyond minimising negative states toward measuring and promoting positive welfare, and toward individual-level, continuous monit…

Whitham JC, Wielebnowski N · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2013

Mellor elaborated the Five Domains Model, which structures welfare assessment around four physical and functional domains, nutrition, environment, health and behaviour, that feed into a fifth, the ani…

Mellor DJ · Animals · 2017

Every GPS collar embodies a compromise: more frequent fixes reveal finer movement detail but drain the battery faster, shortening the tracking period. This overview examines how researchers schedule f…

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist implants offer a reversible method of suppressing reproduction in cats by downregulating the reproductive axis after an initial stimulation. This overview survey…

Following the Bronx Zoo tigers, SARS-CoV-2 infections were confirmed in big cats at zoos and sanctuaries across multiple countries, including additional tigers, lions, snow leopards, pumas and others.…

While pacing dominates discussion of felid stereotypy, captive cats display a range of other abnormal repetitive behaviours that signal welfare problems. This overview surveys these: route-tracing and…

Genuine sanctuaries provide lifetime care for rescued big cats without breeding, commercial public contact or trade, distinguishing themselves from roadside attractions through formal standards. This…

A growing body of welfare thinking holds that giving animals control over their environment, the ability to make choices and influence outcomes, is itself a key contributor to good welfare. This overv…

Atipamezole, an alpha-2 adrenergic antagonist, reverses the sedative and immobilizing effects of medetomidine and dexmedetomidine, allowing controlled and rapid recovery from anesthetic protocols that…

Chemical immobilisation is sometimes unavoidable for examining or treating large carnivores, but it carries welfare and mortality risks and is itself stressful. This overview surveys the welfare consi…

Captive big cats commonly require dental procedures, especially for fractured canine teeth, and these interventions demand careful general anesthesia given the size, danger, and physiologic vulnerabil…

A survey of how restoring large cats to systems where they were lost can rekindle anti-predator behavior in prey and reinstate top-down effects. Where prey have lived without predators, they may becom…

Pregnancy rates from artificial insemination in wild cats remain modest and variable, reflecting the biological and technical challenges of the procedure. This overview surveys reported success rates…

Modern welfare science increasingly seeks not just to minimise suffering but to promote positive emotional states, yet measuring positive affect in cats is challenging. This overview surveys approache…

Assisted reproductive technologies, including artificial insemination, semen and embryo cryopreservation, and in vitro fertilization, have been applied to felids to support captive breeding and conser…