SNOW LEOPARD
(Panthera unicia)

The Snow Leopard is a large cat that lives in the mountains of Central Asia. It is 5 feet long and weighs about 90 pounds. The snow lepoard is known for its beautiful fur. Its dense undercoat is covered with long gray and cream-colored hair and speckled with black spots. The snow leopard's large paws are padded for warmth. The fierce snow leopard does not roar like a lion but purrs like a house cat. Like most cats, snow leopards hunt animals for food. The snow leopard is endangered. It has been overhunted for its fur. It has also lost its natural prey due to the clearing of land for farming.

CHEETAH
(Acinonyx jubatus)

Cheetahs are native to South of the Sahara Desert in Africa. Instead of hunting by stealth, the cheetah relies on speed. The fastest land animal, it can reach 60 miles per hour in just four seconds. Cheetahs are built for speed, with slender bodies, long legs, and flexible spines. Unlike other cats, they do not have retractable claws on their front feet, so they bring down their prey by knocking it to the ground. Cheetahs feed mainly on antelope and other grazing mammals. They live in grassland and semidesert areas.

PUMA (a.k.a. Cougar and Mountain Lion)
(Felis concolor)

This widespread American predator has many alternative names. It is also known as a mountain lion, although it has little in common with a true lion. Unlike a lion, the puma screams instead of roaring, and it hunts on its own. Deer are among its favorite prey. If a puma catches more than it can eat, it often hides the remains under branches, returning later to finish feeding. Female pumas have up to six kittens a year. The kittens are spotted when they are born, but lose their spots during their first few months.

JAGUAR
(Panthera onca)

Although it is slightly shorter than the leopard, the jaguar is more heavily built and can weigh up to 325 lb. During the 1950s and 1960s, huge numbers of jaguars were hunted for their beauiful fur. Jaguars live mainly in forests and swamps. Unlike most cats, they are good swimmers and seem to enjoy going into water. They often hunt along riverbanks, attacking otters, turtles, and even large snakes. Jaguars are capable of killing people, but attacks are rare, and the cats normally avoid humans.

LEOPARD
(Panthera pardus)

This lithe and beautiful animal lives in a remarkable variety of habitats, from grasslands and deserts to mountain slopes. Most leopards are spotted, but the black leopard's coat is so dark that the spots cannot be seen. Leopards feed mainly at night, attacking from close quarters instead of chasing their prey. They are good climbers and are strong enough to lift animals heavier than themselves. They often haul their kills into the trees to thwart hungry scavengers.

LYNX
(Lynx lynx)

Lynx look very different from other cats, with very short tails and tuffed ears. Experts disagree about how many species there are. Some think there is only one, but many believe that there are three-one in North America, another in Europe and Asia, and a third in Spain and Portugal. Wherever they are found, lynx live mainly in forests and other places where there is cover. They eat a wide variety of birds and small mammals, but in North America they particularly depend on snowshoe hares. North American lynx have large, round paws, which help them to walk on snow.

OCELOT
(Felis pardalis)

Ocelot live in a wide variety of habitats and find their prey mainly on the ground, including deer, monkeys, rodents, and somtimes snakes. Female ocelots usually give birth to two kittens at a time. The male helps his partner by bringing food to the den. Spotted cats are often hunted for their fur, but few have suffered as much as the ocelot. Its markings are so attractive that its fur fetches an extremely high price, and at one time, more than 10,000 ocelot skins were sold each year. The trade is now banned, but hunting still continues.

BOBCAT
(Lynx rufus)

Though this North American cat looks like a lynx, it is smaller and lives farther south. Its ear-tuffs are also shorter and can be difficult to spot. Bobcats live in a wide range of habitats. They feed mainly on rodents, rabbits, and hares, and in the winter they sometimes attack deer. They also eat animal remains, but only if the remains are fresh. Bobcats make dens in rocky crevices and hollow trees, where females produce a litter of up to six kittens every year.

EURASIAN WILDCAT
(Felis sylvestris)

Though the world's largest cats are heavyweight predators, other species, like this one, are not much larger than a domestic cat. The Eurasian wildcat is solidly built, with thick fur and a bushy tail. It lives in rocky places and forests. It feeds on rodents, rabbits, and occasionaly young deer. Because it hunts mainly by night and is wary of people, it is seldom seen. The African wildcat (Felis libyca) is similar, but less shy. It is thought to be the ancestor of all domestic cats.

AFRICAN GOLDEN CAT
(Felis sylvestris)

This cat lives in the dense forests of tropical Africa. It has twice the size of a domestic cat and has golden-brown fur. Some golden cats are spotted all over, but others have hardly any spots at all. Like most cats, it is solitary and nocturnal, and hunts in trees and on the ground.

FISHING CAT
(Felis viverrina)

Apart from the jaguar, most cats avoid water and try not to get wet. But the fishing cat spends most of its life along rivers and streams, and it often wades or swims. Fishing cats eat frogs and snakes, but fish make up most of their diet. They wait at the water's edge for a fish to swim near, then flick the fish onto land with their partly webbed front paws.

SERVAL
(Felis serval)

With its long legs, large ears, and short tail, the serval is one of Africa's most distinctive cats. It lives in scrub and grassland, where it uses its keen sense of hearing to pinpoint prey in the undergrowth before pouncing to catch animals with its front paws. The serval has such sensitive hearing that it is able to find mole-rats by lstening for the faint sounds they make as they tunnel under ground.

CARACAL
(Lynx caracal)

The caracal has long legs, an unspotted coat, and tuffs of black fur at the tips of its ears. It lives in dry, open country and hunts mainly at night. An expert at catching birds, the caracal has such quick reactions that it can knock low-flying birds out of the air.

**All Facts and Information contained in this website can be found in the following reference materials: The Kingfisher Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia and The Complete Book of Animals from The American Education Publishers