Felids & Friends grew out of a Florida animal-education mission built around rescued wild cats and a conviction that firsthand understanding changes how people treat animals. The organization welcomed students of all ages and offered its educational material freely, believing that accurate, timely information about wildlife, companion animals, and captive exotic animals was a public good.
The Mission
The mission had three threads that still run through this site:
- Teach the felids. From the house cat to the Florida panther, the cat family is a natural classroom in evolution, anatomy, and behavior.
- Champion responsible stewardship. Companion animals deserve informed care; wild and exotic animals deserve respect for what they actually need.
- Connect people to wildlife. A fact learned is a fact remembered; an animal understood is an animal defended.
A Florida Perspective
Rooted in Florida, the neighborhood paid special attention to the state's native wildlife — the elusive Florida panther, the widespread bobcat, black bears, and the wetland and forest habitats they depend on. Florida is a place where wild animals and rapidly growing human communities meet at close range, which makes clear, unsensational education especially valuable.
An Evergreen Resource
Felids & Friends is no longer an operating organization, and this site is maintained as a free educational archive rather than an active program. There is nothing to buy, join, or visit here — only things to learn. The animal facts collected here are timeless, the fables older still, and the conservation questions more urgent than ever. Organizations such as the Felid Taxon Advisory Group (AZA) continue the professional work of caring for and studying wild cats; the pages here are meant to spark the curiosity that supports that work.
How to Use This Site
Browse the Dija Know? facts if you like quick answers, dig into Big Cats vs Little Cats for the biology, meet the resident animals for the stories, or wander into the fables and lore for the way older cultures made sense of the animals around them. However you explore, welcome.