Wild Cats
There are 36 species of wild cat, ranging in size from the tiger to the tiny rusty spotted cat. They are found in every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
The increase of numbers of people, the spread of settlement and the exploitation of natural resources of wild lands hitherto little disturbed, together with persecution, are threatening some cats with extinction.
Other cat species are declining in numbers.
To assess the vulnerability of the cats, a system has been developed to rank them in five main categories, both on a world basis and a regional basis. The ranking systems are based on four factors:
*The number of habitat types with which each species is associated: the fewer habitats with which a species s associated, the more vulnerability it is to habitat loss.
*Total range size: the smaller the distribution of a species, the more vulnerable it is to further loss of range.
*Body size, which provides a link to estimates of total numbers: the larger the cats the fewer the number of individuals likely to be located in a given area compared with smaller cats.
*Active Threat, which refer to high levels of hunting pressure, leading to the loss of animals from habitat in which they would other wise to be present.
Combine the scoring on these factors makes it possible to group cats into categories in order of their priority for conservation.
Wild Cats
There are 36 species of wild cat, ranging in size from the tiger to the tiny rusty spotted cat. They are found in every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
The increase of numbers of people, the spread of settlement and the exploitation of natural resources of wild lands hitherto little disturbed, together with persecution, are threatening some cats with extinction.
Other cat species are declining in numbers.
To assess the vulnerability of the cats, a system has been developed to rank them in five main categories, both on a world basis and a regional basis. The ranking systems are based on four factors:
*The number of habitat types with which each species is associated: the fewer habitats with which a species s associated, the more vulnerability it is to habitat loss.
*Total range size: the smaller the distribution of a species, the more vulnerable it is to further loss of range.
*Body size, which provides a link to estimates of total numbers: the larger the cats the fewer the number of individuals likely to be located in a given area compared with smaller cats.
*Active Threat, which refer to high levels of hunting pressure, leading to the loss of animals from habitat in which they would other wise to be present.
Combine the scoring on these factors makes it possible to group cats into categories in order of their priority for conservation.
Wild Cats
