Feline Family
Lion (panthera leo)
 
The lion has been know since ancient
times as the "king of the beasts". Large, majestic and agile,it once ranged over a wide territory. As late as 500 B.C., lions
roamed over eastern Europe as far west as Italy, the Near East from Turkey to India, throughout Arabia and all Africa from
Gibraltar to the Cape of Good Hope. Today, the lion`s range has been greatly reduced and this big cat is found only in southern
Africa, Iran, Arabia and western India. A massive cat, the lion is well-muscled, powerful and surprisingly agile for its size.
The male has a heavy mane, unique among the felidae, which covers head and neck, extending down on to the chest and backward
over the abdomen to the hind legs. There are also thick growths of hair on the elbows of the forelegs and hairy tuft on the
tip of the tail. The coat is predominantly a solid tawny or yellowish brown colour without spots, rosettes or stripes. Males
sometimes reach an overall length of ten feet, measured from the nose to the tip of the tail. Although the lioness is manless
and smaller than the male, she is nonetheless a powerful and fercious cat, similar in appearance to the puma, or mountain
lion, of the western hemisphere. The old saying that female of the species is more dangerous than the male is aptly applied
to the lioness.
The lion, unlike some of the other cats, does not live in jungles.
It is strictly a hunter and dweller of the plains, veldts and savannahs. Dispite its ferocity in the hunt and its loud threatening
roar, the lion is basically a retiring animal. It is true that the Romans amused themselves by staging fights between gladiators
and lions in the Circus Maximus and other arenas; the slaughter of christians by lions before Roman spectators was another
barbarous use of the lion. However, the fact remains that lions rarely attack human beings and when they do the reasons usually
are starvation,pain and lack of mobility resulting from wounds, and an instinct to protect their young. Even the most timid
animal will attack human being when goaded or enraged beyond its tolerance.
Tiger (p.tigris)
 
The domestic cat displays some characteristics
of another great cat, the tiger. This member of the felidae is the largest, strongest and most ferocious of the felines. The
name "tiger" stems from an Iranian word meaning pointed or arrowlike, and was bestowed on this great cat because of its sharpness
and quickness in the hunt.
Originally an arctic mammal that ranged over eastern siberia,the
tiger is now found in Amur, Korea, China, Burma, India, Indochina, Malaya to sumatra, Java, Bali, Iran, Afghanistan and the
Caucasus.
Tigers have been associated with dense jungles, but actually this
great cat prefers grassy plains, swamps and fringes of forests. These areas provide the tiger with excellent "command posts"
from which to observe their primary prey: grazing animals. Although some tigers do inhabit jungles, most of them suffer from
the heat and will seek cooler regions, especially areas near rivers, streams or other waterways.
Tigers have an average length of nine feet, although larger specimens
have been reported. A few years ago a fifteen-foot tiger was said to have been killed in India's Assam province a truly gigantic
specimen.
Nature has provided the tiger with excellent camouflage; its coat
is a bright fawn colour, with wide transverse black stripes. Albinos, or white tigers while rare, are not unknow. They have
been reported in the region of Rewa, India, but it has not been definitely established that these light specimens are true
genetic albinos.
Leopard(p.pardus)
 
Another interesting relative of our
domestic cat is the common leopard, smaller than the lion and tiger, but larger than any other spotted cat.
some leopards
reach a length of seven and a half feet. This sleek cat once ranged from Europe to Japan and southward through
all Asia
and Africa. Today, the leopard has been squeexed into a limited range in Africa and southern Asia.
Leopards have yellowish-tan
or reddish-buff coats, with many dark spots which are always arranged in rosettelike patterns or groups.
Melanistic, or
black leopards are by no means rare; however, no albinos have been reported. A distinguishing feature of the leopard is its
eyes. They
are quite unlike those of other cats. When contracted in bright light, the pupils appear circular in shape.
Those of other cats are linear or straight.
African leopards inhabit the jungles and veldts from the mediterranean sea
to the cape. In Asia, leopards frequent both plains and
jungles. One subspecies, the mountain leopard, lives in the
mountainous regions of India. A first-rate climber, the leopard is extremely
fast and agile as it hurtles down from its
perch hidden in the foliage of a tree.
It usually preys upon large and small mammals, occasionally attacking man.
The
leopard roars as do the tigers and lion, but with less volume than either of the other two great cats.
Snow leopard (p.uncia)
 
Snow leopard(p. uncia)
The snow leopard,
sometimes called the "ounce",is a relatively rare cat, ranging from the mountainous regions of central Asia (north
of the
Himalayan mountains to the steppes), eastward to the Altai mountains in Siberia and on into Amur and Sakhalin Island. It is
similar in appearance to the common leopard.
Especially adapted for life in cold climate, the snow leopard is well-protected
with think coat of pale yellowish-grey fur.
The coat is clearly marked with large, dark rosettes. Snow leopards attain
a length of seven and a hlfe feet. They prey mainly on wild goats
and sheep and rarely attack human beings.
Jaguar (p. onca)
 
Jaguar(p.onca)
The spotted jaguar
is the only great cat native to the western hemisphere. It is found in southern California,
parts of Arizona and
new Mexico, Mexico, Central America and parts of south America as far south as patagonia.
The jaguar is the largest and
most powerful of American cats. A yellowish-grey coat, vividly marked with black
spots surrounded by black rings, distinguishes
the jaguar. The rings and spots are in horizontal parallel lines
on both flanks. Occasionally, an albino jaguar is seen
in the Amazon jungles.
jaguars are expert tree climbers, but are also at home on the plains and semi-desert
regions
of the south-westen United States. They hunt animals, alligators, turtles, shellfish and when other game is scarce insects.
South
American jaguars are fond of fat capybara, a huge guinea-pig-like rodent that lives along rivers and streams and sometimes
weight as much as 250 pounds. The jaguar's powerful forelegs armed with razor-sharp claws can fell a victim with a single
swipe
or blow
|
