Big cats as a term is used to refer to any of the five members of the Panthera family, e.g tiger, lion, jaguar, cheetah and leopard. The life of these creatures have always been a fascinating one. They are beautiful, majestic and ferocious animals who always inspire awe and terror at the same time. They are often seen as a symbol of power in many religion and traditions and the inspiration behind many tales and folklore.
For those of us who are always fascinated by all things cats, below are some of the most interesting facts about these guys that you might like.
Tigers
* An adult tiger can weigh up to 230kg reaching up to 3.3 meter in length. Making them the largest animal in the cat family
* Tiger are often found in Asia and the Bengal tiger is the most common.
* Adult tiger are solitary animals who live and hunt alone unless it is time to mate.
* They can live up to 20 years and above.
* Unlike any other animal in the cat family, tigers are good swimmers.Lions
* Lions are the only cats that live in groups.
* A group, or pride, can be up to 30 lions, depending on how much food and water is available.
* Female lions are the main hunters. While they’re out looking for food, the males guard the pride’s territory and their young.
* A lion’s roar can be heard up to eight kilometres away.
* Lions scent mark their territory, using their wee, to create a border.
* Lions are found predominantly in Africa
* An average adult lion can weigh up to 190kg and can get up to 2.5 meters in length.
Jaguars
* Jaguars are good tree climbers unlike other animals in the cats family
* They are the third largest in the cat family after tiger and lion.
* They share lots of features with the tiger. Just like the tigers, Jaguars are good swimmers and they also live alone unless its time to mate.
* They weigh around 56-96kg on average and ranges from1.2 to 2 meters in length.
Cheetah
* Cheetahs were wide-spread across African and Asian continents, but now they are confined mostly to dry open grasslands of Sub-Saharan Africa.
* Cheetahs can live in a drought environment thus, they have evolved to live in an environment where water is scarce, and can survive on one drink every three to four days.
* Female cheetahs are solitary, living alone or with their young. Males on the other hand live in small family groups of 2–3 brothers.
* The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world, reaching speeds of up to 112 km/hr or 70 miles per hour.
* The population of cheetah is declining. There is a probability that they will go into extinction very soon if proper measures are not taken.
* Only few countries around the world have cheetahs with majority of the population concentrated in southern Africa most especially Namibia.
Leopard
* Leopards are the only big cat that have high adaptation rate. They can survive virtually anywhere in the world that is why they are more in population than all other big cats.
* A male leopard have an average weight of 31kg while females weighs 27 on average.
* They have a life span of around 12 - 17 years
* Unlike any other big cats, leopards are mostly nocturnal animals, thus, they hunt majorly at night.
* Unlike all other big cats, leopards can camouflage in several ways making them difficult to spot in the wild.