According to the IUCN Red List, every single cat species has a negative global population trend. Make no mistake, wild cats are disappearing.

I recently read an old book called "I'll Trade You an Elk" about a zoo in Kansas during the 1930. The author, a teenager at the time of the story, made an offhanded comment about how cheetahs in India were being used as hunting animals, and I though, wow, this guy's information is way out of date because there are no cheetahs left in India. They are extinct.

Then it hit me - his information was accurate at the time - it was the story that was old. The last verified shooting of a cheetah in India was in 1947. They disappeared while the author was growing up and getting on with his life, and he didn't even notice they were gone.

As I write this, I wonder if anyone will ever read my articles and think, wow, that information is way out of date. Those cats have been gone for decades.