Crooked Cats

Big cats – tigers, leopards and lions – that make prey of humans are commonly known as ‘man-eaters’. Anthropologist Nayanika Mathur reconceptualizes them as cats that have gone off the straight path to become ‘crooked’.

Building upon fifteen years of research in India, Crooked Cats moves beyond both colonial and conservationist accounts to place crooked cats at the centre of the question of how we are to comprehend a planet in crisis. There are many theories on why and how a big cat comes to prey on humans, with ecological collapse emerging as a central factor. The book explores these in detail to offer new insights into the governance of nonhuman animals and their entanglements with humans.

Weaving together ‘beastly tales’ spun from encounters with big cats, Mathur deepens our understanding of the causes, consequences and conceptualization of the climate crisis.