Countries

Wild Cats Worldwide

Wild cats are members of the Felidae family, also known as felids. They have roamed the Earth for millions of years. From big cats like lions and tigers to smaller species such as the Asian golden cat and serval, you can still find these amazing felines living on several continents.

Wild cats are carnivores, feeding on animals like deer, rabbit, antelope, zebra, African buffalo, and primates, as well as reptiles, birds, and fish.

They emerged as tropical forests shrank and grasslands expanded.

The wild cats we see today come from a common ancestor that migrated to other parts of the world using the land that connected the continents as bridges.

The current distribution of wild cats resulted from approximately ten migrations as the cats traveled around the globe to places with less competition for food. New wild cat species developed when the land bridges disappeared and isolated the cats, demonstrating their ability to evolve and survive in changing environments.

Big cats like lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards have been around for over six million years, followed by smaller wild cats like the African golden cat, Asian golden cat, bay cat, serval, caracal, and marbled cat.

They live in forests, mountains, deserts, and many other types of environments.

Most wild cat species have significantly declined in both numbers and the size of their range (where they live and hunt). They can still be found on many continents (excluding Australia and Antarctica), but usually in much smaller and fragmented populations.