Most people are really only concerned with their fuzzy felines at home, but what about the wild species of cats? Unfortunately there are many species of wild cats that are going extinct. This is not only sad, but it can sometimes really destroy an ecosystem. A lot of people do what they can to help out these creatures and do as much for the environment as possible, but sometimes this is not enough. The world is still filled with cruel poachers and other bad people that could not care less about nature and its inhabitants. Today we will be covering some of these felines and why these poor guys and gals are struggling to survive.
Amur Leopard
The first endangered species on our list is the Amur leopard. Sadly these beautiful guys and gals only have a population of 48 to 50 individual leopards left in the wilds of Russia. The biggest issue that the species of wildcat faces is poachers. Their fur is sought after in the hunting/poaching community. Another serious problem that the Amur leopards face is the destruction of their home and habitat. There has been a slight increase in population for this strict carnivore, but not nearly enough of an increase. An odd little fact about this sub species is that they were actually not recognized as a separate sub species until 2001.
Iberian Lynxe
From here we move onto the Iberian lynxes. These amazing furry creatures can be found in both Spain and Portugal, but unfortunately are kind of hard to come by in today’s time. Sadly, because of careless humans, two diseases were brought over to these two countries that spread to the Iberian lynxes. These diseases destroyed the population of these guys and gals. The first disease outbreak happened in 1988 and was called the viral hemorrhagic Disease (VHD). This disease nearly annihilated Spain’s European rabbit population and this is how the disease spread. Once the Iberian lynx hunted and ate the rabbit, the virus spread to them. Around 50 years back the population was a healthy 4000 where as today there are only about 100 to 200 individual cats left.
Asiatic Cheetah
Another wild kitty cat that is on our list of endangered cats is the Asiatic cheetah. This beautiful and fast feline can be found in the Middle East and Central Asia. The main problem is that this cats face is poaching. They also do struggle with habitat deconstruction and the loss of some prey animals because humans over-hunt. According to studies they are only about 100 or so of these fascinating creatures left living in Iran. This number maybe wrong, however. A long-term study was done where the Asiatic cheetahs were secretly filmed. Unfortunately, they have only managed to capture 20 different cheetahs on film. Out of this group seven of them were females.
Iriomote Cat
Next on our list is the Iriomote cat. The species of wildcat is located on a 284 km² island found near Japan. This island is also where they get their name from as well. These particular felines live in forest type areas and when it comes to size these cute guys and gals are typically no bigger than a house cat. There are only about 100 or so of the Iriomote cats left on the island, (which is the only place that they can be found). Once again, humans are the main cause for the devastation of the species. Humans began to really expand on the island bringing in development, predatory domestic dogs, diseases from other cats, invasive toad species, new roadways, and vehicles.
South China Tiger
The last species of endangered wildcat that we will be discussing is the South China tiger. This last species is so endangered that there have actually been no sightings of them in the wild since the 1970s. When the species could no longer thrive on their own out in the wild, the remaining few were captured and taken into captivity. There have been many supposed sightings, but none have been confirmed. There was even a farmer who attempted to pass off pictures of the South China tiger, but naturally they were fake. Scientist and animal conservationist have brought the population up some, but they still continue efforts to help out this species.
There are still so many species of cats and other animals out there that are in danger. Most of these problems stem from humans. Humans have been careless towards nature and animals for so long and a lot of creatures are suffering for it in return. All creatures are so important to each ecosystem out there and if just one creature disappears, it can cause an entire ecosystem to collapse.