The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture

This book is about the culture of cats–big cats as well as house cats, wild cats as well as domesticated cats. The author, who is an anthropologist and has also written books about dog and deer behavior, has many fascinating stories to tell about the behavior of house cats, lions and tigers in the wild and captivity, and American pumas. The book meanders a bit–it doesn't progress toward a central argument so much as give many examples of cats teaching/learning culture from different types of cat life.

This is NOT a cute book of cat stories, though. I had to take a break from it for a few weeks because I found it too hard to read about dwindling wild cat populations, unwanted tigers being sold to people who provide “game” for hunters to shoot, zoos euthanizing tigers after they've passed their breeding age, and so forth. These depressing topics were discussed in a matter of fact way, but I was not in a frame of mind to be able to deal with them one after the other, page after page.

I was surprised by Thomas's argument for why the life of a circus tiger was better than that of a zoo tiger–especially since I have recently received a rash of emails from an animal rights group which wants me to oppose animal circuses in my city. Also, her description of the time she spent in the Kalahari with a community of bushmen, observing, among other things, their relationship with the lion population there, was very beautiful. I recommend this book, but approach with care if you are sensitive.