Wild Cats of the World

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All authorities are agreed that the cats form one family of the order Carnivora, the Felidae. At this point agreement about their classification ends. The trouble is that Nature does not recognise human ideas of classification. The Cheetah is very different in appearance from all the other cats and has traditionally be placed in a separate genus, although some recent research suggests that the difference is more apparent than real. The rest are much more closely related and while they can be arranged into groups which appear to be more closely related to each other than to the rest of the family it does not follow that the groups are of generic status.

The most recent attempt to classify the cats divides them into so many genera that many contain only one or two species. At the same time it merges what have formerly been regarded as distinct species into one. It is likely that, when more work has been done on the genetics of cats, some of the genera will be recognised but others was be either discarded or relegated to the status of sub-genera.

For this reason it has been decided that for the present The Cat Survival Trust will continue to use an older system of classification which is probably no more satisfactory but is at least more familiar. Fortunately there is no compelling need to accept the latest as necessarily more correct.

In the table below the “new” generic names are shown in brackets.

The Cats and Where They Live

African Desert Cat	(Felis lybica lybica)	Africa
African Golden Cat	(Felis (Profelis) aurata)	Africa
Asiatic Desert Cat	(Felis lybica ornata)	West and Central Asia
Asiatic Golden Cat	(Felis (Profelis) temmincki)	Asia
Bay Cat	(Felis (Pardofelis) badia)>	Borneo
Black-footed Cat	(Felis nigripes)	Africa
Bobcat	(Felis (Lynx) rufus)	North America
Canadian Lynx	(Felis (Lynx) canadensis)	North America
Caracal	(Felis (Caracal) caracal)	Africa and SW Asia
Cheetah	(Acinonyx jubatus)	Africa
Chinese Desert Cat	(Felis bieti)	China
Clouded Leopard	(Neofelis nebulosa)	S.E. Asia
Eurasian Lynx	(Felis (Lynx) lynx)	Europe and Asia
European Wild Cat	(Felis silvestris)	Europe and parts of S.W. Asia
Fishing Cat	(Felis (Prionailurus) viverrinus)	S.E. Asia and N.E. India
Flat-headed Cat	(Felis (Ictailurus) planiceps)	Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo
Geoffroy's Cat	(Felis (Leopardus) geoffroyi)	South America
Iriomote Cat	(Felis (Mayailurus) iriomotensis)	Iriomotejima (Japan)
Jaguar	(Panthera onca)	Mexico, Central and South America
Jaguarundi	(Felis (Herpailurus) yagouaroundi)	Mexico, Central and South America
Jungle Cat	(Felis chaus)	S. and S.E. Asia, Middle East and Egypt
Kodkod	(Felis (Oncifelis) guigna)	Central Chile, including offshore islands, Andean Argentina
Leopard	(Panthera pardus)	Africa, Asia including Middle East
Leopard Cat	(Felis (Prionailurus) bengalensis)	E. and S.E. Asia, India
Lion	(Panthera leo)	Africa + about 400 in the Gir Forest in India
Manul	(Felis (Otocolobus) manul)	Central and West Asia
Marbled Cat	(Felis (Pardofelis) marmorata)	S.E. Asia
Margay	(Felis (Leopardus) wiedii)	Central and South America
Mountain Cat	(Felis (Oreailurus) jacobita)	Parts of Andes Mountains
Ocelot	(Felis (Leopardus) pardalis)	Central and South America + Mexico
Pampas Cat	(Felis (Lynchailurus) colocolo)	South America
Puma	(Felis (Puma) concolor)	North and South America
Rusty-spotted Cat	(Felis (Prionailurus) rubiginosa)	India and Sri Lanka
Sand Cat	(Felis margarita)	Africa, Arabia and S.W. Asia
Serval	(Felis (Leptailurus) serval)	Africa
Snow Leopard	(Panthera (Uncia) uncia)	Central Asia
Spanish Lynx	(Felis (Lynx) pardinus)	Spain and Portugal
Tiger	(Panthera tigris)	India, E. and S.E. Asia
Tiger Cat	(Felis (Leopardus) tigrinus)	South America

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Last update: 22nd February, 2000

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