So how many different species of wild cats are there in the world? That depends on who you ask. The answer ranges from 37 to 42 species. The reason for this is that cat taxonomy is incredibly difficult and genetic analysis is still shedding light on the matter. Just in early 2017, the Sunda Leopard Cat was determined to be its own species from the Leopard Cat — now called the Mainland Leopard Cat. So, to clear things up, I put together the most accepted list of the 40 wild cat species in the world. This list will undoubtedly change in the future, especially as genetic analysis reveals that current species are actually multiple different species.

	African Golden Cat		African Wildcat
	Andean Mountain Cat		Bay Cat
	Black-Foot Cat		Bobcat
	Caracal		Chinese Desert Cat
	Cheetah		Clouded Leopard
	Cougar		European Wildcat
	Fishing Cat		Flat-Headed Cat
	Geoffroy's Cat		Iriomote Cat
	Jaguar		Jaguarundi
	Jungle Cat		Kodkod
	Leopard		Leopard Cat
	Lion		Marbled Cat
	Margay		Northern Lynx
	Ocelot		Oncilla
	Pallas' Cat		Pampas Cat
	Rusty-Spotted		Sand Cat
	Serval		Snow Leopard
	Temminck's Cat		Tiger
	Tiger Cat		Iberian Lynx
	Sunda Leopard Cat		Red Lynx

Genus/Species/Subspecies of Cats
Subfamily Acinonyxchinae - Cheetah
Genus	Species	Subspecies	English name
Acinonyx	Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus	A. j. jubatus	South African Cheetah
		A. j. hecki	Cheetah
		A. j. ngorongorensis	Cheetah
		A. j. raineyi	East African Cheetah
		A. j. soemmeringii	Cheetah
		A. j. venaticus	Asiatic Cheetah The Mogul Emperor of India, Akbar kept 1,000 only 50 - 100 now remain, in Iran
Subfamily Pantherinae - Big Cats
Genus	Species	Subspecies	English name
Neofelis	Clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa	N. n. nebulosa	Clouded leopard
		N. n. brachyurus	Clouded leopard
		N. n. diardii	Clouded leopard
		N. n. macrosceloides	Clouded leopard
Panthera	Lion Panthera leo	P. l. leo	Barbary Lion Extinct in wild in 1920, but possibly some in zoos
		P. l. bleyenberghi	Angola Lion
		P. l. krugeri	Transvaal or South African Lion
		P. l. massaicus	Masai Lion
		P. l. melanochaita	Cape lion Extinct 1850, may be some in zoos
		P. l. persica	Asiatic Lion 300 in wild
		P. l. senegalensis	Senegalese Lion
	Jaguar Panthera onca	P. o. onca	Jaguar
		P. o. arizonensis	Jaguar
		P. o. centralis	Jaguar
		P. o. goldmani	Jaguar
		P. o. hernandesii	Jaguar
		P. o. palustris	Jaguar
		P. o. peruvianus	Jaguar
		P. o. veracucis	Jaguar
	Leopard Panthera pardus	P. p. pardus	African Leopard
		P. p. adersi	Zanzibar Leopard probably extinct
		P. p. antinorii	Leopard
		P. p. ciscaucasia	Leopard
		P. p. dathei	Leopards from Armenia. validity 'dubious'
		P. p. delacouri	Leopard
		P. p. ehui	Leopard
		P. p. felis	Leopard
		P. p. fusca	Leopard
		P. p. ituriensis	Leopard
		P. p. japonesis	Chinese Leopard wild population unknown 80 in captivity
		P. p. jarvisi	Leopard
		P. p. kotiya	Sri Lankan Leopard 400 - 600 in early 1980s
		P. p. melanotica	Leopard
		P. p. melas	Leopard
		P. p. millardi	Leopard
		P. p. nanopardus	Leopard
		P. p. nimr	Arabian Leopard
		P. p. orientalis	Amur Leopard about 40 in wild, over 200 in captivity
		P. p. panthera	Leopard
		P. p. pernigra	Leopard
		P. p. saxicolor	North Persian Leopard 70 in Turkmenia, also found in Iran and Afganistan, 160 in captivity
		P. p. shortridgei	Leopard
		P. p. sindica	Leopard
		P. p. suahelica	Leopard
		P. p. tulliana	Leopard
	Tiger Panthera tigris	P. t. altaica	Amur tiger, previosly known as the Siberian and also as the the Manchurian, Ussuri or North-east China tiger 350 - 400 in wild, 514 in captivity
		P. t. amoyensis	South China (Amoy) Tiger only 20 - 30 exist in the wild, 53 in captivity
		P. t. balica	Bali Tiger Extinct - one killed in 1937 with some reports in 1940s
		P. t. corbetti	Indo-Chinese Tiger 1,200 - 1,800 remain in wild, 30 in captivity
		P. t. sondaica	Javan Tiger Extinct - Last seen in 1972
		P. t. sumatrae	Sumatran Tiger 400 - 500 exist in the wild, 247 in captivity
		P. t. tigris	Bengal or Indian Tiger 3,100 - 4,800 in wild, 259 in captivity
		P. t. virgata	Caspian (Hyrcanian or Turan) Tiger Became extinct in 1970s
Pardofelis	Marbled Cat Pardofelis marmorata (Felis marmorata)	P. m. marmorata	Marbled cat
		P. m. charltoni	Marbled cat
Uncia	Snow Leopard Uncia uncia (Panthera uncia)	U. u. uncia	Snow leopard

Mountain Lion,Puma,Cougar
Proposed subspecies		Old subspecies
Latin name	Common name	Latin name	Common name
P. c. costaricensis	Central American Puma (endangered)	P. c. costaricensis	Puma (endangered)
P. c. capricornensis	Eastern South American Puma	P. c. acrodia	Puma
		P. c. borbensis	Puma
		P. c. capricornensis	Puma
		P. c. greeni	Puma
P. c. cabrerae	Central South American Puma	P. c. cabrerae	Puma
		P. c. hudsoni	Puma
P. c. puma	Southern South American Puma	P. c. araucana	Puma
		P. c. pearsoni	Puma
		P. c. patagonica	Puma
		P. c. puma	Puma
P. c. concolor	Northern South American Puma	P. c. anthonyi	Puma
		P. c. concolor	Puma
		P. c. bangsi	Puma
		P. c. incarum	Puma
		P. c. osgoodi	Puma
		P. c. soderstromi	Puma
P. c. cougar	North American Puma	P. c. azteca	Puma
		P. c. browni	Puma (endangered)
		P. c. californica	Californian Mountain Lion
		P. c. coryi	Florida Panther 50 - 70 remain in wild
		P. c. cougar	Eastern Cougar (presumed extinct)
		P. c. hippolestes	Puma
		P. c. improcera	Puma
		P. c. kaibabensis	Puma
		P. c. mayensis	Puma
		P. c. missoulensis	Puma
		P. c. olympus	Puma
		P. c. oregonensis	Puma
		P. c. schorgeri	Wisconsin Puma (presumed extinct)
		P. c. stanleyana	Texas Puma
		P. c. vancouverensis

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Subfamily Felidae - Smaller Cats
Genus	Species	Subspecies	English name
Catopuma	Bornean bay cat Catopuma badia (Felis badia)	C. b. badia	Bornean bay cat, Bornean Red Cat
	Asian golden cat Catopuma temminckii (Felis temmincki)	F. t. temmincki	Asian golden cat (Temminck's Golden Cat)
		F. t. dominicanorum	Asian golden cat
		F. t. tristis	Fontainer's cat
Caracal	Caracal Caracal caracal (Felis caracal)	C. c. caracal	Caracal
		C. c. algira	Caracal
		C. c. damarensis	Caracal
		C. c. limpopoensis	Caracal
		C. c. lucani	Caracal
		C. c. michaelis	Caracal
		C. c. nubicus	Caracal
		C. c. poecilictis	Caracal
		C. c. schmitzi	Caracal
Felis	Chinese mountain cat Felis bieti	F. b. bieti	Chinese mountain cat
	Jungle cat Felis chaus	F. c. chaus	Jungle cat
		F. c. affinis	Jungle cat
		F. c. fulvidina	Jungle cat
		F. c. furax	Jungle cat
		F. c. kelaarti	Jungle cat
		F. c. kutas	Jungle cat
		F. c. nilotica	Jungle cat
		F. c. oxiana	Jungle cat
		F. c. prateri	Jungle cat
	Sand cat Felis margarita	F. m. margarita	Sand cat
		F. m. airensis	Sand cat
		F. m. meinertzhageni	Sand cat
		F. m. hinobius	Sand cat
		F. m. cheffeli	Sand cat
	Black-footed cat Felis nigripes	F. n. nigripes	Black-footed cat
		F. n. thomasi	Black-footed cat
	Wildcat Felis silvestris (Includes Felis lybica and Felis catus)	F. s. catus (Felis catus)	Domestic cat
		F. s. silvestris	European wildcat
		F. s. caucasia	Caucasian Wildcat
		F. s. euxina	Wildcat
		F. s. gordoni	Gordon's Cat
		F. s. grampia	Scottish Wildcat
		F. s. molisana	Wildcat
		F. s. morea	Wildcat
		F. s. tartesia	Wildcat
		F. s. lybica (F. lybica lybica)	African wildcat
		F. s. brockmani (F. l. brockmani)	African wildcat
		F. s. cafra (F. l. cafra)	African wildcat
		F. s. caudata (F. l. caudata)	African wildcat
		F. s. chutuchta (F. l. chutuchta)	African wildcat
		F. s. foxi (F. l. foxi)	African wildcat
		F. s. griselda (F. l. griselda)	African wildcat
		F. s. iraki (F. l. iraki)	African wildcat
		F. s. issikulensis (F. l. issikulensis)	African wildcat
		F. s. kaslowi (F. l. kaslowi)	African wildcat
		F. s. matschiei (F. l. matschiei)	African wildcat
		F. s. murgabensis (F. l. murgabensis)	African wildcat
		F. s. nesterovi (F. l. nesterovi)	African wildcat
		F. s. ocreata (F. l. ocreata)	African wildcat
		F. s. ornata (F. l. ornata)	Indian Desert or Steppe Wildcat
		F. s. pyrrhus (F. l. pyrrhus)	African wildcat
		F. s. rubida (F. l. rubida)	African wildcat
		F. s. sarda (F. l. sarda)	African wildcat
		F. s. tristrami (F. l. tristrami)	African wildcat in Israel hybridisation widespead, no pure bred tristrami found recently
		F. s. vellerosa (F. l. vellerosa)	African wildcat
Herpailurus	Jaguarundi Herpailurus yagouarundi (Felis yagouaroundi)	H. y. yagouaroundi	Jaguarundi
		H. y. ameghinoi	Jaguarundi
		H. y. cacomitli	Jaguarundi
		H. y. eyra	Jaguarundi
		H. y. fossata	Jaguarundi
		H. y. melantho	Jaguarundi
		H. y. panamensis	Jaguarundi
		H. y. tolteca	Jaguarundi
Leopardus	Ocelot Leopardus pardalis (Felis pardalis)	L. p. pardalis	Ocelot
		L. p. aequatorialis	Ocelot
		L. p. albescens	Ocelot
		L. p. maripensis	Ocelot
		L. p. mearnsi	Ocelot
		L. p. mitis	Ocelot
		L. p. nelsoni	Ocelot
		L. p. pseudopardalis	Ocelot
		L. p. pusea	Ocelot
		L. p. sonoriensis	Ocelot
		L. p. steinbachi	Ocelot
	Oncilla Leopardus tigrinus (Felis tigrina)	L. t. tigrinus	Oncilla (American Tiger Cat, Little spotted cat)
		L. t. guttula	Oncilla (American Tiger Cat, Little spotted cat)
		L. t. pardinoides	Oncilla (American Tiger Cat, Little spotted cat)
	Margay Leopardus wiedii (Felis wieldi)	L. w. wieldi	Margay
		L. w. amazonica	Margay
		L. w. boliviae	Margay
		L. w. cooperi	Margay
		L. w. glaucula	Margay
		L. w. nicaraguae	Margay
		L. w. oaxacensis	Margay
		L. w. pirrensis	Margay
		L. w. salvinis	Margay
		L. w. yucatanica	Margay
Leptailurus	Serval Leptailurus serval (Felis serval)	L. s. serval	Serval
		L. s. beirae	Serval
		L. s. brachyura	Serval
		L. s. constantina	Serval
		L. s. hamiltoni	Serval
		L. s. hindeio	Serval
		L. s. ngridi	Serval
		L. s. kempi	Serval
		L. s. kivuensis	Serval
		L. s. ipostica	Serval
		L. s. onnbergi	Serval
		L. s. mababiensis	Serval
		L. s. robertsi	Serval
		L. s. togoensis	Serval
Lynx	Canadian lynx Lynx canadensis (Felis lynx)	L. c. canadensis	Canadian lynx
	Eurasian Lynx Lynx lynx (Felis lynx)	L. l. lynx	Eurasian lynx
		L. l. asabellina	Eurasian lynx
		L. l. dinniki	Eurasian lynx
		L. l. kozlowi	Eurasian lynx
		L. l. sardiniae	Eurasian lynx
		L. l. stroganovi	Eurasian lynx
		L. l. subsolanus	Eurasian lynx
		L. l. wrangelli	Eurasian lynx
	Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus (Felis lynx)	L. p. pardinus	Iberian lynx, (Spanish Lynx) 600 in wild
	Lynx rufus (Felis rufus)	L. r. rufus	Bobcat
		L. r. baileyi	Bobcat
		L. r. californicus	Bobcat
		L. r. escuinapae	Bobcat
		L. r. fasciatus	Bobcat
		L. r. floridianus	Bobcat
		L. r. gigas	Bobcat
		L. r. pallescens	Bobcat
		L. r. peninsularis	Bobcat
		L. r. superiorensis	Bobcat
		L. r. texensis	Bobcat
		L. r. uinta	Bobcat
Oncifelis	Pampas cat Oncifelis colocolo (Felis colocolo)	F. c. colocolo	Pampas cat
		O. c. braccata	Pampas cat
		O. c. budini	Pampas cat
		O. c. crespoi	Pampas cat
		O. c. garleppi	Pampas cat
		O. c. pajeros	Pampas cat
		O. c. thomasi	Pampas cat
	Geoffroy's cat Oncifelis geoffroyi (Felis geoffroyi)	0. g. geoffroyi	Geoffroy's cat
		0. g. euxantha	Geoffroy's cat
		0. g. leucobapta	Geoffroy's cat
		0. g. paraguayae	Geoffroy's cat
		0. g. salinarum	Geoffroy's cat
	Kodkod Oncifelis guigna (Felis guigna)	0. g. guigna	Kodkod or Guigna
		0. g. tigrillo	Kodkod
Oreailurus	Andean mountain cat Oreailurus jacobitus (Felis jacobita)	O. j. jacobitus	Andean mountain cat
Otocolobus	Pallas cat Otocolobus manul (Felis manul)	O. m. manul	Pallas cat
Prionailurus	Leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis (Felis bengalensis and F. iriomotensis)	P. b. bengalensis	Leopard cat
		P. b. borneoensis	Leopard cat
		P. b. chinensis	Leopard cat
		P. b. euptailura	Leopard cat
		P. b. horsfieldi	Leopard cat
		P. b. manchurica	Leopard cat
		P. b. trevelyani	Leopard cat
		P. b. javaensis	Leopard cat
		P. b. minutus	Leopard cat
		P. b. sumatranus	Leopard cat
		P. b. iriomotensis (Mayailurus iriomotensis)	Iriomote Cat
	Flat-headed cat Prionailurus planiceps (Felis planiceps)	P. p. planiceps	Flat-headed cat (Little Malayan red cat)
	Rusty-spotted cat Prionailurus rubiginosus (Felis rubiginosus)	P. r. rubiginosus	Rusty-spotted cat
		P. r. phillipsi	Rusty-spotted cat
	Prionailurus viverrinus (Felis viverrina)	P. v. viverrinus	Fishing Cat
Profelis	African golden cat Profelis aurata (Felis aurata)	P. a. aurata	African golden cat
		P. a. celidogaster	African golden cat
		P. a. cottoni	African golden cat