Big Cats
Habitat
Big Cats live in a range of places depending on the type, from the African plains to the moist jungles of Asia. Most of them, like lions and cheetahs, live on the beautiful African plains, where the grass grows wild, golden, and free, with a few acacia trees growing here and there. They also live with others animals like elephants, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, and hippos, who all share a couple watering holes with the predators of the savanna. In Asia, they live in the steamy, mysterious rain forests. The big cats that live there are tigers and panthers and such.
Diet
Big Cats are what we call carnivores, which means that they eat meat. On the African plains, the big cats eat things like gazelles, zebras, and giraffes. In Asia, they eat things like deer, reptiles, and birds. Getting the gist here? They all eat some type of meat! There's even a couple big cats here in Colorado. Can you guess what what one of their names is? That's right, it's the mountain lion! They eat things like squirrels and rabbits.
Description
Big Cats basically look just like your common household cat, except they're much, much bigger. However, they don't come in a number of various breeds like domestic (pet) cats do. They come in different types of big cats, such as the lion and the tiger. Some have manes, some have stripes, and some are all black and sneaky. Some have pointed ears, some have long tails, and some have ginormous paws. Every type of big cats is unique from the rest in it's own way.
Types/Breeds
There are so many different breeds/types of big cats that I'm only going to name a few. Some that live in Africa are lions, cheetahs, African Golden cats, African wildcats, black-footed cat, caracals, sand cats, and servals. The big cats that live in Asia are tigers, panthers, pumas, and leopards. Some other big cats that live elsewhere around the world are mountain lions, cougars, jaguars, ocelots, bobcats, and lynxes.
Fun Facts
- Big Cats can either roar or purr-they can't do both. Here's an example: Lions can roar extremely loud, but they can't purr whatsoever. Weird, huh?
- The tiger is the largest of the big cats-or any other cats- in the world!
- The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. They can run up to 70 miles per hour- that's how fast your car would be going on a highway!
- Lions are the only big cats that live in a group with other lions. All other big cats live solitary lives.
- Panthers aren't really exactly their own breed of big cat. They're actually just jaguars with a genetic condition called melanism, which makes them completely black.