A tigress . . . from India, perhaps? Pearl of the Empire? Hmm . . . and a lion and leopard—Africans. Definitely not quite the same history, it would seem!

Well, the lions could be European lions! <G>

The continents of this world do not exactly correspond with ours. However, the species we're seeing are regional. The foxes, wolves, mink, rabbits, cats and horses are native to the continent this story is set in...as are this bloodline of lions. More lions and leopards come from the southern continent, and tigers and leopards from the eastern one. They've been in the country that is the subject of this story long enough to have been fully acculturated, though there are some cultural differences in all of the peoples.