Wild Cats of the World [Hardcover]

Mel Sunquist (Author), Fiona Sunquist (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226779998 | ISBN-13: 978-0226779997 | Publication Date: August 15, 2002 | Edition: 1

Did you know that European royalty once used cheetahs to hunt deer, or that caracals can capture birds by leaping six and a half feet straight up into the air from a standing start? Have you ever wondered whether domestic cats really do land on their feet when they fall, or how Canada lynx can stalk their prey in the winter without falling through the deep snow?

Wild Cats of the World is a treasure trove of answers to questions like these, and many others, for anyone who's interested in learning more about the world's felids, including the ones with whom we share our homes. Mel and Fiona Sunquist have spent more than a decade gathering information about cats from every available source, many of them quite difficult to find, including scientific papers, descriptions of hunts, archeological findings, observations by naturalists and travelers, reports from government agencies, and newsletters from a wide variety of organizations. Weaving information from these sources together with their own experiences observing wild cats around the world, the Sunquists have created the most comprehensive reference on felids available. Each of their accounts of the 36 species of cat contains a description of the cat, including human interactions with it, as well as detailed data on its distribution, ecology and behavior, status in the wild, and efforts to conserve it. Numerous photographs, including more than 40 in full color, illustrate these accounts.

Ranging from the two-pound black-footed cat to the five-hundred-pound tiger, and from the African serval with its satellite-dish ears to the web-footed fishing cat of Asia, Wild Cats of the World will fascinate and educate felid fans of any stripe (or spot).

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Did you know that European royalty once used cheetahs to hunt deer, or that caracals can capture birds by leaping six and a half feet straight up into the air from a standing start? Have you ever wondered whether domestic cats really do always land on their feet when they fall, or how Canada lynx can stalk their prey in the winter without falling through the snow?

Wild Cats of the World is a treasure trove of answers to questions like these, and many others, for anyone who's interested in learning more about the world's felids, including the ones with whom we share our homes. Mel Sunquist and Fiona Sunquist have spent more than a decade gathering information about cats from every available source, many of them quite difficult to find. They draw on historical documents such as descriptions of hunts and observations by naturalists and travelers, as well as more recent information in scientific journals, archaeological research, reports from government agencies, and newsletters from a wide variety of organizations. Weaving information from these sources together with their own experiences observing wild cats around the world, the Sunquists have created the most comprehensive reference on felids available. Each of their accounts of the thirty-six species of cat contains a description of the cat, including human interactions with it, as well as detailed data on distribution, ecology and behavior, status in the wild, and conservation efforts. Many photographs, including more than forty in full color, illustrate these accounts.

From the two-pound black-footed cat to the five-hundred-pound tiger, and from the African serval with its satellite-dish ears to the web-footed fishing cat of Asia, Wild Cats of the World has information that will fascinate and educate felid fans of any stripe (or spot).

About the Author

Mel Sunquist is an associate professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

Fiona Sunquist is a science writer, photographer, and for fifteen years was a roving editor for International Wildlife Magazine. Together they are the authors of Florida: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide and Tiger Moon, the latter published by the University of Chicago Press.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 462 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (August 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226779998
• ISBN-13: 978-0226779997
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile addition to any wild cat reference library..., November 19, 2002

By 

MR DAVID J WITTS - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Cats of the World (Hardcover)

One of the few recent books that has dared to take up the challenge of producing a good single volume (452 pages) on *all* cat species, there is an inevitability that this volume will be compared with the likes of Guggisberg's "Wild Cats of the World" (1975).

In approach, the Sunquists' have chosen to create a more "scientific" presentation than Guggisberg; focusing less upon anecdotes and narrative, and including much summary information from previously published researches, many of which are indeed difficult to obtain first-hand.
In many areas, of course, this shows how *little* we actually know about many felid species: the entry for the flat-headed cat, for example, is brief and contains little new information from the last 27 years.

For each species, we are given a color image (bound in two signatures), one or more black and white pictures as a chapter heading, followed by a more-or-less detailed species account which has a core format (description, distribution, ecology, behavior and status in the wild) to which is added various other information, as is available.
Given the number of sources available in many cases, these accounts are well written and fully referenced within each species' chapter; a major plus for further researches.

Further chapters on study and conservation, the introduction ("What is a Cat"?) and appendices on communication, reproduction, trade and status (IUCN/CITES) seem to be somewhat "tagged on".
The first and last of these would be ably complemented by the IUCN's "Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan" (also available free-of-charge, on-line), whilst Andrew Kitchener's "The Natural History of the Wild Cats" and Paul Leyhausen's "Cat Behavior" would be of considerable interest with regards the other aspects; albeit there is, as yet, no single-volume reference work covering all felid-related topics in detail.

On the down side, the Sunquist's book appears to show a wilful and selective neglect of work carried out on a "non-scientific" basis. This is perhaps most obvious to the layperson in the section on translocation and reintroduction which totally fails to mention the Adamson's ("Born Free"), Billy Singh ("Tiger Haven"), and others. Given that issues surrounding the reintroduction of human-socialised big cats are of importance, it is surprising that such discussions are totally avoided, here.

Other worries include careless interpretation (such as the family tree of wild cats on page 14, suggesting that many felid lineages diverged from the same common ancestor at a single instant in time) and the avoidance of scientific works not published in Western sources. The dustwrapper inscription suggests that the authors "have spent more than a decade gathering information about cats from every available source", yet on tigers alone they totally miss key books and papers in the Indian literature on man-eating (Chakrabarti), white and other color variations (Desai, L.A.K. Singh), olfactory communication and social behavior (Choudhury, Sankhala, etc.) and ethnographic impact/human interaction (Chakrabarti, Niyogi, A. Singh, etc.). The same absence of references to primary Russian sources (for the Amur tiger) is also noted, and similarly for other species (such as the only worthwhile book on the Asiatic lion, Srivastav's "Asiatic Lion: On the brink").

It is also unclear what the authors have to benefit from their assertion (in the Introduction) that 25 years ago, "the biology of even easily recognizable species... was virtually unknown, and nothing was known about what they needed in terms of space and food". Despite the fact that our knowledge has increased greatly in recent years, a review of the available literature from the 1960s through mid-1970s proves this statement to be largely false; indeed, references to these "non-existent" sources are made throughout the Sunquists' book....

On balance, then, good reading and a most worthwhile addition to any wild cat reference library, albeit our understanding of these intriguing and fascinating animals is in a continual state of flux and it can be dangerous to place *too* much credence in any single volume written at a given date.

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile addition to any wild cat reference library..., November 19, 2002

By 

MR DAVID J WITTS - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Cats of the World (Hardcover)

One of the few recent books that has dared to take up the challenge of producing a good single volume (452 pages) on *all* cat species, there is an inevitability that this volume will be compared with the likes of Guggisberg's "Wild Cats of the World" (1975).

In approach, the Sunquists' have chosen to create a more "scientific" presentation than Guggisberg; focusing less upon anecdotes and narrative, and including much summary information from previously published researches, many of which are indeed difficult to obtain first-hand.
In many areas, of course, this shows how *little* we actually know about many felid species: the entry for the flat-headed cat, for example, is brief and contains little new information from the last 27 years.

For each species, we are given a color image (bound in two signatures), one or more black and white pictures as a chapter heading, followed by a more-or-less detailed species account which has a core format (description, distribution, ecology, behavior and status in the wild) to which is added various other information, as is available.
Given the number of sources available in many cases, these accounts are well written and fully referenced within each species' chapter; a major plus for further researches.

Further chapters on study and conservation, the introduction ("What is a Cat"?) and appendices on communication, reproduction, trade and status (IUCN/CITES) seem to be somewhat "tagged on".
The first and last of these would be ably complemented by the IUCN's "Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan" (also available free-of-charge, on-line), whilst Andrew Kitchener's "The Natural History of the Wild Cats" and Paul Leyhausen's "Cat Behavior" would be of considerable interest with regards the other aspects; albeit there is, as yet, no single-volume reference work covering all felid-related topics in detail.

On the down side, the Sunquist's book appears to show a wilful and selective neglect of work carried out on a "non-scientific" basis. This is perhaps most obvious to the layperson in the section on translocation and reintroduction which totally fails to mention the Adamson's ("Born Free"), Billy Singh ("Tiger Haven"), and others. Given that issues surrounding the reintroduction of human-socialised big cats are of importance, it is surprising that such discussions are totally avoided, here.

Other worries include careless interpretation (such as the family tree of wild cats on page 14, suggesting that many felid lineages diverged from the same common ancestor at a single instant in time) and the avoidance of scientific works not published in Western sources. The dustwrapper inscription suggests that the authors "have spent more than a decade gathering information about cats from every available source", yet on tigers alone they totally miss key books and papers in the Indian literature on man-eating (Chakrabarti), white and other color variations (Desai, L.A.K. Singh), olfactory communication and social behavior (Choudhury, Sankhala, etc.) and ethnographic impact/human interaction (Chakrabarti, Niyogi, A. Singh, etc.). The same absence of references to primary Russian sources (for the Amur tiger) is also noted, and similarly for other species (such as the only worthwhile book on the Asiatic lion, Srivastav's "Asiatic Lion: On the brink").

It is also unclear what the authors have to benefit from the assertion (in the Introduction) that 25 years ago, "the biology of even easily recognizable species... was virtually unknown, and nothing was known about what they needed in terms of space and food". Despite the fact that our knowledge has increased greatly in recent years, a review of the available literature from the 1960s through mid-1970s proves this statement to be largely false: indeed, references to these "non-existent" sources are made throughout the Sunquists' book....

On balance, then, good reading and a most worthwhile addition to any wild cat reference library, albeit our understanding of these intriguing and fascinating animals is in a continual state of flux and it can be dangerous to place *too* much credence in any single volume written at a given date.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Cats of the World, April 29, 2008

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Wild Cats of the World (Hardcover)

I would highly recommend this book to any who enjoys learning about felines or any members of Carnivora. The book offers a good base knowledge of Felidae, particularly of individual species. As a reference book, I find it invaluable, with all the basic facts I need. The text is easy to read and written in an organized fashion. The pictures add a very nice touch and every species seems to be included, from lions to Andean mountain cats.