In the evolutionary history of life on earth, with the end of the dinosaur age, cats stood out in the new animal evolution process and once became the top land beasts on the earth. For a long time before the rise of humans, cats Cats have always stood at the top of the food chain, and their footprints have spread all over the country and every continent except Australia and the Polar Regions.
In the history of human development, cats were once a nightmare for humans. Early humans have been fighting for survival against these large terrestrial carnivores in fear, fear and confusion. The fear of "cats" seems to have been deeply engraved in humans. Deep in my mind. Even hundreds of years ago, when human society had made significant progress, the fear of felines has always been with us. Therefore, stories such as Li Guang shooting tigers and Yongzheng were hunting tigers in their dreams have been passed down.
It was not until the past hundred years that mankind entered the industrial era. The rapid development of science and technology and the improvement of human living standards led to the rapid growth of the population. Humanity's fear of cats was ended. However, at the same time, the dominant cats Humans have completed their "counterattack" against cats in just a few decades. Now, when there are not many of them left, humans are gradually realizing that they need to live in symbiosis with them.
As we all know, today's cats are no longer the masters of the land. They live under the "protection" of humans. So, what is the current status of the survival of cats on the earth today? Let’s take a look at the distribution of cats across continents.
1. The current status of cats in Asia.
Chinese Feline Collection
Our country used to be the country with the largest number of large cats, tigers, leopards, clouded leopards. Since ancient times, people have been competing with the ferocious beasts for living space. There are many allusions to the ferocious beasts in history. For example, , three bowls of but not enough, , the picture of tiger hunting in Yongzheng's dream, etc., there are records about tigers eating horses as early as in the relevant epitaphs of the Han Dynasty.
There are now 12 species of wild animals in our country, second only to India in the world. The main wild cats living in our country include leopards, cloud cats, Eurasian lynx, wild cats, snow leopards, rabbit cat , tiger, Asian golden cat , jungle cat , leopard, leopard cat , desert cat. Among them, there are three types of big cats, namely tiger, leopard and snow leopard. There are three types of medium-sized cats, namely clouded leopard, Asian golden cat, and lynx.
Clouded leopards
photographed in Tibet. From the perspective of protection levels, the four cats, tigers, leopards, snow leopards and clouded leopards, are all first-level protected animals . The Eurasian lynx, Asian golden cat, jungle cat, desert cat, rabbit cat, leopard cat, etc. are national second-level protected animals.
As another big country in Asia, India is the country with the richest wild cat species in the world, with as many as 15 species, including caracal , snow leopard, tiger, rabbit cat, Eurasian lynx, lion, and wild cat. , leopard, fishing cat , Asian golden cat, jungle cat, leopard cat, clouded cat (stone cat), clouded leopard, rusty spotted leopard cat.
India has a relatively rich range of wild cat species, including not only ligers, but also leopards, clouded leopards, and Asian golden cats. Although Asiatic lions currently only exist in Gujarat in India, India is still the only one in the world. A country with both wild lions and tigers. There were originally 5 kinds of big cats in India. Since the cheetah has become extinct, there are currently four kinds, namely tiger, lion, leopard , and snow leopard. There are currently 5 species of medium-sized cats, namely clouded leopard, lynx, caracal, golden cat and fishing cat.
Compared with India, the types and numbers of wild cats in our country are slightly inferior. In addition to historical reasons, our country has a large land area and has various climates such as tropical, temperate zone , frigid zone , etc., but compared with India Although most of India is in the tropics, it is located on the southern slopes of the Himalayas in the north. It has a very high density of biological diversity and is a vertical zone that can survive typical cats in hot, warm and cold zones. In addition, there are tropical deserts and savannahs, and the area of tropical rainforests is also larger than that of our country. Therefore, the types and numbers of cats are larger than those of our country.
Cats are distributed in Asia. In addition to China and India, countries such as Iran and Afghanistan used to be countries with many types of cats. However, due to some reasons, it has been impossible to know their species and species in recent years. In terms of quantity, other Southeast Asian countries have relatively few cat species.
2. Current status of African cats.
Africa is one of the few wildlife paradises on earth today. At present, most of the documentaries about wild animals are from the African grasslands. There are impressive wildebeest great migrations, groups of zebras and majestic and wild animals. A full pride of lions. Africa has the largest number of Bovine species in the world, which provides favorable conditions for the survival of large carnivores.
There are nine species of feline beasts living in Africa. The most famous ones are lions, leopards and cheetahs. In addition, there are also sand dune cats , wild cats, black-footed cats , African golden cats, caracals, serval and other small and medium-sized wild cats. Among them, the black-footed cat, African golden cat, and serval cat are endemic to Africa, and the other species are also distributed in Asia. Although Africa does not have the largest number of wild cat species, it has the largest number.
3. The living status of American cats.
Cats in the Americas are unique to the local species and are significantly different from cats in other continents. In fact, there are no native cats in the Americas. They all migrated from Asia and other places, but since the White House After the Strait Land Bridge disappeared, species in the Americas entered an independent stage of evolution, resulting in cats that were different from those on other continents.
There are a total of 7 species of cats living in the Americas, namely Canadian lynx , bobcat , tiger cat , slender cat , cougar , jaguar and tiger cat. Among them, the jaguar is the largest cat in the Americas. The jaguar is also called jaguar and can hunt crocodiles.
Among them, the tiger cat is an interesting species, which can be subdivided into seven types, tiger cat, long-tailed tiger cat , small group tiger cat, South American small group tiger cat, Andes tiger cat , South American grassland tiger cat and South American forest tiger cat .
4. Current status of European cats.
Europe is the birthplace of cats, but in terms of species and quantity, Europe is no longer a paradise for wild cats. There are currently only four wild cats living in Europe, namely Spanish lynx , wild cat, Eurasian lynx, Persian leopard .
not only has fewer types, but also is very rare in number. Among them, the endemic species in Europe, the Spanish lynx, has less than 700 individuals. The Persian leopard is currently only distributed in the North Caucasus Mountains, with less than 10 individuals. The current European population is dense, regardless of Neither the quantity of prey nor the natural environment is suitable for the survival of wild cats.
5. The “gold standard” for feline species richness: The Land of Seven Cats.
As far as the distribution of wild cats in the world is concerned, China, South Asia and South America are several relatively widely distributed regions. There is a "gold standard" for the distribution of cats, and that is the Land of Seven Cats, that is to say A place where seven or more species of wild cats live at the same time.
Cat collection
In my country, Xinlong County, Sichuan is a typical land of seven cats. There are seven kinds of wild cats, including golden leopard, snow leopard, lynx, golden cat, desert cat, rabbit cat, and leopard cat. Another one is expected to be The areas that meet the standards are and Medog County. Both places are sparsely populated areas with relatively complete natural environment and ecological chain, which are conducive to the survival of wild cats.
In the "Land of Seven Cats" in other countries, there are the Jeprei Desing lowland rainforest area in India, the central mountainous area of Nepal, and the Royal Manas Park in Bhutan , where Bengal tigers and There are seven kinds of wild cats including golden leopard, clouded leopard, Asian golden cat, clouded cat, jungle cat and ocelot.
The clouded leopard's unusually developed canine teeth
In addition, there are Indochinese tigers, golden leopards, clouded leopards, Asian golden cats, clouded cats, jungle cats, Seven species of cats including the ocelot. Located in Argentina in South America, seven species of cats live, including the long-tailed tiger cat, tiger cat, Joe's cat, puma, small spotted tiger cat, slender-waisted cat, and jaguar.
Feline ratings
From a global perspective, wild cats are still relatively abundant in species, but their numbers are very rare. Most of them are currently in an endangered state, and joint efforts from the world are needed to protect the continuation of this species. .
