Cats of the Wild

Deep in the north of India, hidden in the high valleys of the Himalayas, Ladakh is one of the most remote places on this planet. Leh, the capital of this region was once a major trading hub on the ancient Silk Road connecting Tibet to the east, Kashmir to the west and beyond through to India, China and Persia.

These mountains have always been the home to the 'grey ghost' - the snow leopard. This majestic big cat has lived in these remote and inhospitable regions long before the ancient Silk Road traders and yet they continue to be under threat from habitat loss, hunting and human-wildlife conflict.

Adventure seekers and wildlife enthusiasts come to Ladakh every year for the chance to see a snow leopard in the wild and Voygr Expeditions - one company that operates in the area has managed to see snow leopards on every tour they have operated since 2013.

This is more than tours & spotting snow leopards - it's about building mini economies led by snow leopard tourism to create a positive change that improves the lives of local people, whilst protecting their very own big cat - the snow leopard.

This episode features Behzad Larry from Voygr Expeditions

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The Cape Peninsula, home to the city of Cape Town in South Africa is a global biodiversity hotspot. Prior to European settlement, this area was home to almost every large African animal – elephants, rhinos, hippos, red hartebeest – even the now-extinct Cape Lion  – that was one and a half times larger than an African lion.

Today, Cape Town is a bustling, modern city and whilst it has lost most of its historic megafauna, it is still rich in a variety of plant and animal species. One of those species is the caracal, a mid-sized cat that lives in the urban edge of the city bounds.

This episode features Gabi Leighton from the Urban Caracal Project.

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The islands of Trinidad and Tobago have incredible biodiversity with tropical rainforests described as a mini Amazon, hundreds of species of birds and the last remaining island population of ocelots. All of this however is under threat - deforestation is tearing down precious habitats, hunting is rife and the island is at the nexus of the illegal wildlife trade.

But there's a local wildlife rehabilitation centre in Trinidad that's educating local Trinibagonians about their island's unique biodiversity and working to conserve, rescue and rehabilitate its native species – including the ocelot.

So how does the ocelot fit into this island's ecosystem? How can they thrive in these diminishing forests under all these threat? And will future research into the ocelot in Trinidad, reveal an entirely new subspecies of ocelot – to the world.

This episode features Ricardo Meade from the El Socorro Centre for Wildlife Conservation.

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Today, more than ever – the mountain lion is mired in controversy, misinformation and fear and their very existence in the landscapes across America are inextricably interwined with the tricky politics of managing wildlife reserves in the US.

What role does the mountain lion play in these ecosystems? What value if any, does it provide the local people and economies? And how do we move forward with the conservation of this species for all people. It's quite the cougar conundrum!

This episode features Dr. Mark Elbroch, director of the Puma Program at Panthera and author of the new book, 'The Cougar Conundrum'

Southern Africa is home to world's deadliest cat. It's not a lion, a cheetah or even a leopard – it’s the Black-footed cat.

Today, we know quite a bit about this cat – but this wasn't the case almost thirty years ago when Dr. Alexander Sliwa started his research into this species.

Research like this takes time, effort and most importantly passion. It can be tedious, arduous and sometimes boring. This is the story of Dr Sliwa and his passion for studying Africa's black footed cat.

In the Godavari river in the Eastern Ghats of India, fishermen and their families rely on the mangrove forest for their entire lives.

But it's not only fishermen that go fishing – these mangrove forests are also one of the key habitats for the Fishing Cat, who often snatch fish right out of fishermen's nets.

So how do you change an entire village's negative perception of the fishing cat? The answer – you start with the children.

This episode features Giridhar Malla, founder of the Godavari Fishing Cat Project

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Fishing Cat Image © Giridhar Malla

The African Golden Cat is a shy, mysterious species of wild cat that lives in the equatorial forests of Africa.

Little was known about this species until Badru Mugerwa, a conservation biologist from Uganda started studying this cat around the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with support from the local communities and the Uganda Wildlife Authority

Since then, he leads perhaps the only ongoing direct conservation work for this species in the world with innovative conservation initiatives that improve the lives of the local people and help protect the African Golden Cat.

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Image © Badru Mugerwa/Embaka

In Pauri Garhwal in India, the Leopard has been in conflict with the local people for hundreds of years. Every year people are injured by leopards and leopards regularly kill families' livestock.

In 2018, researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India began a year-long experiment to test the efficacy of a light – the fox light and found some surprising results. Can a simple LED light help people's relationship with the Indian leopard?

This episode features Dipanjan Naha from the Wildlife Institute of India and Ian Whalan the creator of the Fox Light.

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The Andean Cat is one of the world's most elusive wild cats. So when one stumbled onto a football field in a small Bolivian town - researchers were stunned! Where did he come from? Is he healthy? Can he be released back into the wild?

This is the story of Jacobo, the Andean Cat - his capture, the people that looked after him and the international operation to release him back into the wild.

This episode features the Andean Cat Alliance. Guests in this episode include Dr Rocio Palacios, Dr Fabian Beltran, Dr Juan Reppucci, Dr Cintia Tellaeche and Lillian Villalba. 

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