seeing cats in the wild

Arizona Docent

Arizona Docent

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Just for fun, let's list the best place to see cats in the wild. Most cats are next to impossible to see in the wild, so even some of these "best places" are still a long shot. I have not been to most of these places, so feel free to correct me if you know of a better location.
 
Puma - Torres del Paine, Chile
Leopard - Kruger Private Reserves, South Africa
Bobcat - washes of Tucson, USA
Jaguar - rivers of Pantanal, Brazil
Lion - Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Tiger - Bandhavgar, India
Iberian Lynx - Sierra de Andujar, Spain
Cheetah - Phinda Reserve, South Africa
 
Lions, leopards, and cheetahs can be seen in the major national parks of east and southern Africa. If you go with a knowledgeable guide then that greatly improves your chances. Of course nothing is guaranteed, but I have seen lions in Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia, and leopards in all of those countries except Namibia (but I wasn't there very long).

Bobcats can be seen in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles, but it's very luck of the draw. You probably have a much better chance of seeing coyotes.
 
Impossible? Not at all, just nocturnal. If you go with the spotlight, you will see them.

To add:
snow leopard - Leh valley, Ladakh, India
European/Scottish wild cat - Ardnamurchan peninsula, Scotland
Leopard cat - Tabin reserve, Borneo
Flat-headed cat - Kinabatangan, Borneo
European lynx - Bialowieza, Poland

Khao Yai and Kaeng Krachan in Thailand and Danum in Malaysia are good for several species of wild cats, but it is not that any is certain. Ocelot is widespread in South America, but there is no one special place to see them - Rio Ciuaba in Pantanal is good. Geoffroy's Cat is widespread in Argentina and Pallas Cat is widespread in Tibet and Mongolia, but again, no single good place.
 
I saw 2 leopards, 3 cheetahs one pride and one lone male lions in Kruger national park in one day. This is fairly exceptional but cat sightings are fairly likely there.
I have also seen the same 3 species in the Masai Mara.
:)
 
You mean Neofelis nebulosa or cloudedleopard? :D
Phu Khieo wildlife sanctuary in Thailand if you mean Neofelis nebulosa.
Fantasy Zoo forum if you mean cloudedleopard.
 
For sunda clouded leopard:
Sabah, Borneo (Kinabatangan area, Danum Valley, Tabin).
I had the indredible luck to see a clouded leopard in bright daylight in Danum Valley right next to the street!

Kinabatangan is also your best bet if you want to see a flat headed cat, marbled cat or bay cat. I guess those sightings are even rarer then clouded leopards - those are seen occassionally on night tours.
 
Yassa said:
For sunda clouded leopard:
Sabah, Borneo (Kinabatangan area, Danum Valley, Tabin).
I had the indredible luck to see a clouded leopard in bright daylight in Danum Valley right next to the street!

Kinabatangan is also your best bet if you want to see a flat headed cat, marbled cat or bay cat. I guess those sightings are even rarer then clouded leopards - those are seen occassionally on night tours.
Click to expand...

I'd love to see any of those four species full stop, never mind in the wild!
 
BeardsleyZooFan said:
Took me a few moments to get that one...:D
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Me, too. There's a subspecies of SnowLeopard that's been seen quite a few times and in different climates/landscapes. I have yet to spot this elusive creature, but I know several people on here have seen it. ;)

Mountain Lion...golf course in northeast Scottsdale/Rio Verde area
Bobcat...northeast Scottsdale and Cave Creek
 
Arizona Docent said:
Puma - Torres del Paine, Chile
Leopard - Kruger Private Reserves, South Africa
Bobcat - washes of Tucson, USA
Jaguar - rivers of Pantanal, Brazil
Lion - Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Tiger - Bandhavgar, India
Iberian Lynx - Sierra de Andujar, Spain
Cheetah - Phinda Reserve, South Africa
Click to expand...
when I was in India everyone was talking about Ranthambore being the most reliable place for wild tiger sightings (have a look on Google Images!). For leopards, Yala in Sri Lanka is supposed to be the best place to see them.

BeardsleyZooFan said:
Is there any good spot to find Clouded Leopard? That seems to be one of the most elusive ones out there...
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Danum and Tabin, as Yassa says, for Sunda clouded leopard. In Sumatra, Way Kambas is probably the best bet.
 
Chlidonias said:
when I was in India everyone was talking about Ranthambore being the most reliable place for wild tiger sightings (have a look on Google Images!).
Click to expand...

I believe its one of them, Bandavghar being another. I believe at these places the Tigers are very conditioned to human observers,like Lions in some African parks, and easier to locate due to park staff monitoring their movements via walkietalkie etc so making them easier to find. But I think as a result, and as some Google images appear to show, viewing one is often done alongside hordes of other people in a sort of mad scramble, not a very edifying experience.
 
Yassa said:
For sunda clouded leopard:
Sabah, Borneo (Kinabatangan area, Danum Valley, Tabin).
I had the indredible luck to see a clouded leopard in bright daylight in Danum Valley right next to the street!

Kinabatangan is also your best bet if you want to see a flat headed cat, marbled cat or bay cat. I guess those sightings are even rarer then clouded leopards - those are seen occassionally on night tours.
Click to expand...

I remember your photo well Yassa, since it's probably the only photo of a wild clouded leopard in the forum!
http://www.zoochat.com/743/borneo-clouded-leopard-296619/
 
- According to a recent post on the Mammalwatching website, there are at least two Asiatic golden cats (one melanistic individual) being seen 'often' along the main trail of Kerinci Seblat National Park.
- Way Canguk in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is supposedly also a good place for Diard's clouded leopards, with a local gibbon field study reporting clouded leopards being seen hunting the study animals with somewhat regular frequencies.
More information - including references of where to see Sumatran tigers and marbled cats - can be read here: https://mammalwatching.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/sumatra/

- Also, a good place to see European wildcats is Picos de Europa in Northern Spain during late summer, when the meadows have been cut and the wildcats emerge to hunt small mammals.
 
My brother told me about the golden cat sightings. That would be exciting.

A customer at work told me last week she was stalked by a bobcat at Sweetwater Wetlands here in Tucson. She said it followed her all the way back to the parking lot, stopping when she stopped, following when she walked. Highly unusual behavior - the one time I saw one there it disappeared before I could get a photo.
 
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