Map your cat: Interactive tool links felines around the world

Feline lovers around the world are invited to add their cats to a new Cat Map. The Zoological Society of London is using the Cat Map to promote a new zoo exhibit featuring two endangered Sumatran tigers. The exhibit opens later this month, but the Cat Map is live now, allowing people to search, learn about and add to the collection of information about the world’s cats. FastCoCreate

Cat lovers, the day we have been waiting for has finally arrived!

A Cat Map pinpointing the exact locations of all of the world’s housecats is now live courtesy of the Zoological Society of London.

Well, actually, it doesn’t include all of the world’s cats…yet. There are just over 3,000 on the map now, but that number will surely grow. While the Zoological Society initially put out a call for Londoners to add their cats to the map, kitty lovers from around the globe are also welcome to submit photos and a few bits of info about their felines for inclusion.

The new map is searchable, so if, say, you are interested in checking out adult male tabbies, you can simply input that request into the search engine, and up pops a map full of adorable cat faces indicating the whereabouts of known tabbies, and some quick-hit info about them.

I clicked on a cat face situated above Italy and was treated to a photo of a handsome fellow named Ibra. He was sitting in a bag and described as a “natural bird killer.”

A search for blue-grey females led me to Sammie, a cute London cat said to have “used up more than her share of nine lives.”

In addition to providing a valuable service to those of us who enjoy oohing and ahhing over pictures of cats, the map–similar to those used by field conservationists tracking animal populations–is also designed to get people thinking about animal conservation and planning visits to the London Zoo’s new Tiger Territory.

Opening on March 22, the enclosure will be home to two Sumatran tigers, Jae Jae and Melati, both of whom are featured on the Cat Map. Sumatran tigers, native to Indonesia, currently number only 300 and are an endangered species, according to the Zoological Society.