World of Warcraft Classic's upcoming Cataclysm expansion adds attractive new hunter pets to tame, including rare spawns and, in a later patch, those that pose extra challenges to acquire.

“When Cataclysm Classic launches [on May 20], all of the special encounter rare pets for hunters introduced during the launch of the original Cataclysm will become available,” said Kris Zierhut, principal game designer. “We have not made any changes to their spawn timers, locations or pathings.”

Zierhut also said Cataclysm's so-called “challenge tames,” which feature tameable beasts with special buffs and difficulty for hunters, will come later. 

“While we may be working from the 4.3.4 data patch in terms of class and encounter balance and tuning, content tied to a specific update, such as rare pet tames in the Molten Front that are part of the 4.2 Rage of the Firelands patch, will be accessible when that respective content goes live,” he said. Challenge tames include Ban'thalos, the cats Magria and Ankha, and the Molten Front spiders.

For now though, here's how to find the Cataclysm hunter pets you can obtain at launch. A reminder that you must be at least the same level as the pet in order to tame it, so you'll have to wait until level 85 to get some of these rare spawns. Many of these are exotic spirit beasts, so they will also require players to have the top-tier Beast Mastery talent to capture them.

WoW Cataclysm hunter pets list

For all of these, I'd recommend using the add-on SilverDragon to help notify you when they're up in your vicinity, and a coordinates add-on such as TomTom to tell you precisely where you are in the game. Otherwise, you can always create a targeting macro for the pet you're hunting and put it on a keybind you can easily spam. For example, “/tar Karoma” will target the spectral wolf in Twilight Highlands.

Ghostcrawler

Zone: Vashj'ir
Area: Abandoned Reef

Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street was a Blizzard developer famous for saying things like “nerf paladins to the ground,” so it's appropriate that his namesake is a level 85 spectral crab spirit beast with the hard-hitting ability Nerfbat. You'll find it roaming the Abandoned Reef in the underwater continent of Vashj'ir.

This area is far below the water, it can take a long time to find him, and you have to cover a good amount of the area to look. So even if you didn't level up in Vashj'ir, it's worth getting the seahorse mount for this. Keep one eye over your shoulder as you roam; the gigantic elite monster Kolorath patrols this area, and he's too much for one hunter to take on alone.

Ghostcrawler is easy to see when he's up: His spectral white color makes him stand out in the darkness of the water. But he has a long patrol path and periodically disappears and reappears along the route, whether you're taming him or not, so SilverDragon is especially helpful here. Unlike the other pets, he is not trappable, and he does a lot of damage. It's worth casting Deterrence before you start the tame.

Because Ghostcrawler paths through pretty much the entire Abandoned Reef area in the southwest corner of Vashj'ir's Abyssal Depths zone, we can't give specific coordinates for him, though he does like to walk closer to the southern/ocean-side ledge.

Karoma

Zone: Twilight Highlands
Spawn Coords: 65.6, 60.4; 58.6, 63.6; 54.2, 76.2; 49.6, 75.2; 54.0, 54.0; 59.6, 43.4

In Classic, hunters with enough haste gear could tame a briefly-summoned ghost wolf from enemy shamans in Swamp of Sorrows, until the creature was hotfixed and made no longer tamable. Those who missed out get a second chance in the level 85 spirit beast Karoma, whose spectral wolf model is based on the Wrath of the Lich King version.

You'll find Karoma in one of six locations scattered around the southeastern quadrant of the Twilight Highlands zone. 

Sambas

Zone: Twilight Highlands
Spawn Coords: 68.8, 25.6; 49.6, 22.6; 45.8, 29.4; 42.8, 38.8; and 38.2, 53.2

If Karoma is the Horde-shaman-themed hunter pet in Twilight Highlands, then Sambas definitely represents the Alliance. This level 85 golden lion, taken directly from the Alliance logo, is based on the same model as the new 1,500-gold Guild Level 25 mount, Reins of the Sun King. He can be found at one of several locations in a loose arc across the top of the zone. 

Sambas is rare, but not a spirit beast, so non-Beast Mastery hunters can tame him.

Terrorpene

Zone: Mount Hyjal
Area: Sulfuron Spire

Terrorpene is a big level 81 fiery turtle that patrols the eastern shore of the Sulfuron Spire lava pit, near The Firelands raid instance in Mount Hyjal. He's available now, though the Firelands raid itself doesn't open until the Molten Front patch hits later. He's not a spirit beast, so any hunter can tame him.

He hits hard, so again, Deterrence is worthwhile, and a Potion of Speed to hurry up the taming cast helps if you're not max level. If you have the fishing skill, you can fish the nearby Volatile Fire pools in the lava while you wait for him to spawn.

Madexx

Zone: Uldum
Spawn Coords: 44.4, 10.4; 44.4, 22.0; 50.8, 20.2; 53.2, 19.4

Madexx is a level 84 scorpid in Uldum with a unique skin that matches the new Horde level-25 Guild Mount, much the way Sambas matches the Alliance version. He can be tamed by any hunter.

He spawns in five different colors, and keeps the color he had when he spawned after he's tamed. Find him in green, red, brown, black and blue. All colors spawn in the same area in the Sakhet Wastes between the rivers in northern Uldum.

Unfortunately, there's an archaeology digsite in Madexx's area, so it's often hard to find him alive. Or, if you want to look on the bright side, you'll often have something to do while waiting for him to spawn.

Good luck taming all the new pets!