Felidae Cats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cats live in the wild almost worldwide, only absent from the Australian region, the polar areas, Madagascar, and most smaller ocean islands. The domestic cat has been introduced to Australia, where it is very harmful to the indigenous fauna.

Several cat species are threatened with extinction due reduction of habitat, usage of their beautiful furs for garments or adornments on house walls, or because parts of them are utilized in traditional medicine, see for instance tiger (Panthera tigris) below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Archaeological evidence suggests that domestication of the African wildcat began around 7000 B.C. in Mesopotamia, when crops of early farmers were infested with rodents, which ate a large part of the harvest. The cats were clearly beneficial in controlling the rodent populations in the villages.

In Ancient Egypt, the cat was venerated as a sacred animal. The early goddess of justice and execution, the lion-headed Mafdet, was gradually replaced by Bastet, the cat goddess, who, over time, changed to become the goddess of fertility and motherhood. The cat was so sacred that thousands of cats were mummified after death, just as humans. In Egypt, cats were known not only to kill rodents, but also venomous snakes like cobras.

Today, the domestic cat is mainly a companion pet, found in almost all parts of the world. The total population is estimated at between 300 and 800 million.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Numerous other subspecies (or even species) have been described from skins that are now regarded as specimens of African wildcat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheetahs have been in captivity for over 5,000 years and were first tamed by the Sumarians. They were kept as status symbols and used for hunting by royalty in Asia prior to the Assyrian Dynasty. In India, they were also tamed and used for hunting at a very early stage, and it is said that the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great (1555-1600) had a collection of an estimated 6,000 cheetahs.

The cheetah does not breed well in captivity, and wild animals were constantly captured, which led to the species going extinct in most of Asia, in India by 1952.

Today, the Asiatic cheetah, subspecies venaticus, which was formerly distributed from the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey eastwards to Central Asia and India, is confined to a tiny population in Iran. It is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN, as the total population in 2025 was estimated at only around 20 individuals, mainly in Turan National Park in northern Iran.

By 2025, the world population was estimated at between 6,500 and 7,100 individuals in the wild. In Africa, it is declining due to loss of habitat, poaching for the illegal pet trade, and conflict with humans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is still common in many areas, but populations are decreasing in large parts of its range due to habitat destruction, hunting, and traffic kills. The population in the United States is less than 100 individuals, and is classified as critically endangered.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek leon (‘lion’), and the Latin pardus (‘mottled’), originally from Ancient Greek pardos (‘leopard’), thus ‘the mottled lion’, or ‘lion-leopard’. Strange names for this smallish cat!

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘mottled like (a leopard)’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lion has been widely used as a symbol of power in various cultures and mythologies, as a heraldic symbol of power in countless coat-of-arms, and in art, and it is a sigificant element in various religions.

 

In Greek mythology, the Nemean lion was a vicious monster, living in Nemea, Peloponnese. This lion could not be killed with weapons of mortal people, as its huge golden fur was impervious to attack. Its claws were sharper than swords and could cut through any armour. Eventually, this monster was killed by the Greek hero Heracles, who strangled it with his bare hands. Subsequently, he wore the lion’s pelt as a magic cloak, which made him invulnerable.

According to a tale in the Talmud, Chullin 59b, Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah informs Roman Emperor Hadrian about a giant lion, living in the forest of Bei Ilai – a lion so huge that the space between its ears measures 9 cubits (corresponding to more than 4 m). The emperor orders the rabbi to call forth this lion, to which he reluctantly agrees. At a distance of 400 parasangs (c. 2,400 km) from Rome, the lion roars, causing all pregnant women to miscarry and all the walls of Rome to fall down. At a distance of 300 parasangs (c. 1,800 km), the lion again roars, and this time all the front teeth and molars of Roman men fall out, and even the emperor himself falls from his throne. He begs the rabbi to send the lion back, and, praying, he manages to make it return to its abode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In certain African cultures, the lion was a symbol of power, and some rulers included the term ‘lion’ in their title. One example was Marijata, of the Mali Empire (c. 1235-1600), who was called ‘The Lion of Mali.’

According to local mythology, Ndiadiane Ndiaye, the legendary founder of the Waalo Kingdom (1287-1855), in present-day Senegal and Mauritania, was raised by lions, returning to his people, part man, part lion, to unite them, using the knowledge he learned from the pride.

In Ethiopian folklore, the Lion of Judah was a symbol of Emperor Haile Selassie (1892-1975), born Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael, and also known as Ras Tafari.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lion merely looked at him with his large eyes, and Jackal quickly said, “No, uncle, I meant that you hit it.”

They followed the trail, and Jackal cleverly passed Lion’s arrow without drawing his attention. When they reached a crossroad, Jackal said, “Dear uncle, you are old and tired. Please stay here.”

Jackal went off in the wrong direction and scraped his nose so that it bled on the ground. Then he returned, saying, “I found nothing, but I saw traces of blood. You had better look yourself while I check another path.”

Jackal then discovered the dead animal, crawled inside it, and devoured the best parts. Unfortunately, his tail stuck out, and when Lion arrived, he grabbed it, pulled Jackal out, and threw him to the ground.

“You rascal!” roared Lion.

Jackal stood up and protested, “What have I done now, dear uncle? I was cutting out the best portion for us!”

“Let us go and fetch our wives,” said Lion, but Jackal insisted, “No, uncle, you are old. Stay here and rest.”

Jackal then took two portions of meat: the worst part for Lion’s family and the best part for Lion’s wife. When the lion cubs saw him, they cried happily, “Cousin has brought meat!”

Jackal tossed them the bad portion and muttered, “There, you brood of the big-eyed one!”

He then told his wife to pack up their belongings and move near the carcass. To deceive Lion further, Jackal scratched his own face in a thorn bush, and when they reached Lion he said, “Ah! What a wife you have! Look how she scratched me when I told her to come with us. You must fetch her yourself.”

While Lion went angrily to bring his wife, Jackal built a stone tower with his family. When Lion returned, Jackal called out, “Uncle, we built a tower to see game better.”

Lion asked to join them. Jackal pretended to help by lowering a thong. As Lion climbed, Jackal cut the rope, and Lion crashed to the ground. Twice more Lion tried, and twice Jackal cut the thong.

Finally, Jackal pretended to offer him a piece of meat. Instead, he heated a stone, covered it in fat, and threw it into Lion’s mouth. Lion fell, gravely hurt, crying for water. Meanwhile, Jackal escaped with his family, leaving Lion behind.

 

 

 

About 1600 B.C., the Hittites established an empire, centred around the city of Hattuşa, the ruins of which are situated near the present town of Bogazkale, central Anatolia, Turkey. This empire reached its peak around 1350-1300 B.C., during the rule of King Suppiluliuma I, when the major part of Anatolia, as well as what is today northern Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, were conquered. One of the entrances to the palace in Hattuşa was leading through the once imposing Lion Gate, thus named due to the lion sculptures in front of the entrance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The shakti (female aspect) of the great Hindu god Shiva is Devi, also named Parvati, Sati, Uma, Kali, or Durga, who is worshipped as the Mother Goddess. She is often depicted, riding on her mount, which is either a lion or a tiger.

Singh is an ancient Vedic name, meaning ‘lion’. This name was originally only used by Rajputs, a proud Hindu caste in Rajasthan, India. Following the formation of the Khalsa Sikh Brotherhood in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh wished all Sikhs to adopt the name Singh.

The Lion Capital of Ashoka was adopted as the official emblem of India in 1950. This capital, depicting four lions, standing back to back, was originally the symbol of the four truths of Buddhism. It dates back to the reign of Emperor Ashoka (272-238 B.C.), and was originally placed atop the Ashoka pillar at the sacred Buddhist site Sarnath, where Siddharta (later called ‘The Buddha’) gave his first lesson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many sculptures depict male lions with a paw placed on a globe-like item. This globe in fact depicts an embroidered ball. In the old days, balls, made from discarded clothes, were presented by children as offerings to temples – a symbol of yang (light forces) and friendship.

Sculptures, depicting lions, are also often placed as guardians on Daoist graves.

During Daoist festivals, so-called lion dances often take place in front of temples. As a rule, this dance is performed by two men, hidden under a gaily coloured cloth, which acts as the body of the lion, whereas a lion mask is held by the man in front. During a more acrobatic form of lion dance, two men, hidden beneath a lion cloth, jump between small metal plates, placed on poles, which are often rather tall.

Daoism is described on the page Religion: Daoism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In his book The Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, the famous hunter, writer, and conservationist Jim Corbett (1875-1955) relates his hair-raising adventures, when he, between 1918 and 1926, was trying to rid the people of Garhwal, Uttarakhand, of the infamous man-eating leopard of Rudraprayag, a terrible animal, which killed 125 people, before Corbett managed to shoot it.

The following extract from his book gives a vivid picture of the terror, caused by this leopard among the hill people:

 

The pilgrims were unwilling to accept this advice; they said they had done a long march that day and were too tired to walk another four miles, and that all they wanted were facilities to prepare and cook their evening meal, and permission to sleep on the platform adjoining the shop. To this proposal, the shopkeeper vigorously objected. He told the pilgrims that his house was frequently visited by the man-eater, and that to sleep out in the open would be to court death.

While the argument was at its height, a sadhu [holy man] on his way from Mathura to Badrinath arrived on the scene and championed the cause of the pilgrims. He said that if the shopkeeper would give shelter to the women of the party he would sleep on the platform with the men, and if any leopard – man-eater or otherwise – dared to molest them he would take it by the mouth and tear it in half.

To this proposal, the shopkeeper had perforce to agree. So, while the ten women of the party took shelter in the one-roomed shop behind a locked door, the ten men lay down in a row on the platform, with the sadhu in the middle.

When the pilgrims on the platform awoke in the morning, they found the sadhu missing, the blanket on which he had slept rumpled, and the sheet he had used to cover himself with partly dragged off the platform and spotted with blood. At the sound of the men’s excited chattering the shopkeeper opened the door, and at a glance saw what had happened. When the sun had risen, the shopkeeper, accompanied by the men, followed the blood trail down the hill and across three terraced fields, to a low boundary wall; here, lying across the wall, with the lower portion of his body eaten away, they found the sadhu.”

 

 

Fifty yards from the tree, while climbing over a rock, Ibbotson slipped, the base of the lamp came in violent contact with the rock, and the mantle fell in dust to the bottom of the lamp. The streak of blue flame directed from the nozzle on to the petrol reservoir gave sufficient light for us to see where to put our feet, but the question was how long we should have even this much light. Ibbotson was of the opinion that he could carry the lamp for three minutes before it burst. Three minutes, in which to do a stiff climb of half a mile, over ground on which it was necessary to change direction every few steps to avoid huge rocks and thorn bushes, and possibly followed – and actually followed as we found out later – by a man-eater, was a terrifying prospect. [As it later turned out, the two men were followed by the leopard.]

(…) When we eventually reached the footpath, our troubles were not ended, for the path was a series of buffalo wallows. (…) Alternately slipping on wet ground and stumbling over unseen rocks, we at last came to some stone steps which took off from the path and went up to the right. Climbing these steps, we found a small courtyard, on the far side of which was a door. We had heard the gurgling of a hookah [water pipe] as we came up the steps, so I kicked the door and shouted to the inmates to open. As no answer came, I took out a box of matches and shook it, crying that if the door was not opened in a minute, I would set the thatch alight. On this an agitated voice came from inside the house, begging me not to set the house on fire. (…) A minute later, first the inner door and then the outer door was opened, and in two strides Ibbotson and I were in the house, slamming the inner door, and putting our backs to it.

There were some twelve or fourteen men, women, and children of all ages in the room. When the men had regained their wits after the unceremonious entry, they begged us to forgive them for not having opened the doors sooner, adding that they and their families had lived so long in terror of the man-eater that their courage had gone. Not knowing, what form the man-eater might take, they suspected every sound they heard at night. In their fear, they had our full sympathy, for from the time Ibbotson had slipped and broken the mantle, and a few minutes later had extinguished the red-hot lamp to prevent it bursting, I had been convinced that one, and possibly both, of us would not live to reach the village.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The population of tigers in India dwindled to between 2,000 and 3,000 in the 1970s, and at least a hundred were killed annually by poachers to feed the Chinese market, where tiger parts are utilized in traditional medicine: the claws as a sedative for insomnia; the teeth for fever; the fat for leprosy and rheumatism; the nose skin for wounds; the bones for rheumatism and arthritis, dysentery, headache, and stiffness or paralysis of lower back and legs; the eyeballs for epilepsy and malaria; the tail for skin diseases; the bile for meningitis in children; the whiskers for tooth ache; the brain for laziness and pimples; the penis for usage in love potions, and as an aphrodisiac; the faeces for boils and haemorrhoids, and to cure alcoholism.

According to TRAFFIC, which is monitoring international wildlife trade, a minimum of 1,590 tigers were seized by officials between January 2000 and April 2014, aimed at the illegal wildlife trade.

Historically, the tiger was distributed in large parts of Asia, from Iran across Central Asia to Ussuriland in south-eastern Siberia, southwards to southern India, Java, and Bali. However, populations in Iran, Central Asia, Java, and Bali have been wiped out.

As of 2025, the global wild tiger population is estimated to be around 5,500, an increase from a few decades ago, largely due to improved conservation efforts in India, which now has more than 3,100 tigers. Significant populations still exist in Russia and Indonesia, though populations in Southeast Asia are declining. Populations in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia, and China seem to be stable or rising, but threats like poaching and habitat loss persist, and the species is still threatened with extinction in the wild.

White tigers have been recorded in India since the 16th Century. A white tiger, which was captured in 1951 by Martand Singh, the king of Rewa, in the forest of Mukundpur, Sidhi District, was named Mohan. Today, white tigers are extinct in the wild, but they are still found in zoos around the world. They are all offspring of Mohan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Kerala, South India, the Hindu god Ayyappan is riding a tiger to display his celestial power.

In the Sundarbans of West Bengal, both Hindus and Muslims worship Bonbibi, called ‘the lady of the forest’ – a guardian spirit who rides a tiger and protects people, when they enter the mangrove forests to collect wood and other resources, from being attacked by the man-eating tigers that roam these forests.

Some forest-dwelling tribes of indigenous peoples in central and western India worship Waghoba, an ancient tiger deity, which is regarded as a protector of the jungle and the people, and temples and sacred stones are dedicated to it.

The Bharias and Gonds of central India venerate Bageshwar, or Baghdev, the tiger god, performing puja (worship) and giving offerings to get protection and ensure a good harvest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The presence of the tiger in Daoist temples is more easily explained than the presence of the lion. Daoism was brought to Taiwan from China, where the tiger was once quite common. In Chinese mythology, the tiger is the ruler of all animals, representing the masculine forces in nature. Traditionally, it is also regarded as one of the four super-intelligent creatures, the others being the dragon, the feng-huang (erroneously called ‘Chinese Phoenix’), and the tortoise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In later years, it has been expanding in western United States, sometimes even entering villages and towns. There has been a rising number of incidents of cougars attacking and mauling people, in a few cases fatally.

Until 2005, it was believed that the tiny population of cougars in Florida, often called Florida panther, constituted a distinct subspecies, P. concolor ssp. coryi. However, recent genetic studies have concluded that all North American cougars are very similar, and all former subspecies have now been lumped in the subspecies couguar.

In the 1970s, it was estimated that as few as 20 cougars remained in the wild in Florida, but strict conservation measures have caused the population to increase to an estimated 230 by 2017, and in 2025 there may even be as many as 300.