The Wild Cats #Panthera Is Saving

Ocelot--Least Concern

The charitable mission of Panthera (founded by billionaire Tom Kaplan) is to protect the world’s 37 species of wild cats from habitat degradation, retaliatory killing and poaching. It operates or is developing “rangewide” programs to help the big 8, while its Small Cat Action Fund supports and runs projects on the remaining species like the ocelot pictured here. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists ocelots in the least concern category, because they face a relatively low extinction risk compared with cats that are assessed as threatened or near threatened. (Photo by Steve Winter for National Geographic)

Tigers--Endangered

Panthera’s Tigers Forever program operates at 17 sites in 7 countries. This four year-old female returned to the cave in Bandhavgarh National Park where she was born to have her first litter. (Photo by Steve Winter for National Geographic)

Photo: Steve Winter

Cougar--Least Concern

Panthera is working on a long-running cougar monitoring project in the Tetons. (Photo by Steve Winter)

  

Jaguar 

Panthera is leading an ambitious effort to establish a safe jaguar corridor from Mexico to Argentina. (Photo by Steve Winter)

 
 

Snow Leopard--Endangered 

Camera traps set high in the Himalayas capture the comings and goings of snow leopards and are monitored by monks in monasteries on the Tibetan plateau. (Photo by Steve Winter for National Geographic)

 

Clouded Leopards--Vulnerable

In collaboration with Oxford University's WildCru, Panthera is studying clouded leopards, one of the least known large cat species, on the island of Borneo. (Photo by Steve Winter for National Geographic)

 
 

Cheetahs--Vulnerable

In Iran, Panthera is training Cheetah Guards to protect the last remaining population of the Asiatic cheetah—there are fewer than 100—from illegal hunting. (Photo by Luke Hunter)

 

Leopard--Near Threatened

In South Africa, Panthera has impacted public policy to regulate trophy hunting of leopards and helped reduce demand for leopard skings worn by religious groups by providing fake fur products. (Photo by Luke Hunter)

 
 

Lions--Vulnerable 

As more than half of lion range is outside of formal protection, Panthera is committed to preserving lions beyond a few game parks. One project is surveying the last remaining areas in West Africa that might still hold lions. (Photo by Phillip Briggs)

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