We all think we understand cats (after all, many of us have one living in the house with us), but there's plenty more to wild cats than meets the eye.
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Did you know that jaguars hunt crocodiles, or that no cat can both roar and purr? Whether they're sprinting at eye-watering speeds, leaping across massive ditches or even boasting tails long enough to double as a chic winter garment, these fascinating predators never fail to impress (or surprise). Here are ten facts about wild cats that reveal just how remarkable they are.
19 wild cat facts
1. Not all big cats roar. Of the five species of big cat – lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard – one cannot roar. The snow leopard instead communicates using purrs, meows, and other sounds associated with wild cats. Find out why only big cats can roar here.
2. Cats are ‘obligate carnivores’ which means they need to eat meat in order to remain healthy
3. Among the big cats, the lion is the only social one. The other species of big cat live solitary lives in the wild, while lions nearly always live in groups – called prides – of up to 30 adults and their offspring.
4. Cats often have slit-like pupils which can more rapidly open and close, meaning they can adapt from different light conditions more quickly. The majority of cats and dogs also have a reflective layer behind the retina, called the tapetum, that allows for enhanced night vision.
5. The snow leopard has an extremely long tail, which provides balance and also offers additional warmth during the colder seasons when the animal can wrap it around its body.
6. Cheetahs are the fastest animal in the world, running up to speeds of 94kmph. Not only are they fast: they also have impressive acceleration, increasing their speed by 10kmph in a single stride. While they are large cats, they are not classified as a 'big cat' in the same way as lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars and snow leopards, which belong to the Panthera group.
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7. The tiger is usually considered to be the largest cat species, weighing in at up to 300kg and measuring 3m long. In captivity, the world's largest cat is Hercules, a lion-tiger hybrid (called a liger) at Myrtle Beach Safari in California, US. He measures 3.33m in length, and weighs 418.2kg.
8. The five big cat species were assessed and categorised by the IUCN Red List, and the tiger was the species most threatened with extinction, listed as Endangered. The other big cats were listed as Vulnerable (lion, leopard and snow leopard) and Near Threatened (jaguar).
9. In the wildlife kingdom, purring and roaring are mutually exclusive, so lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars are incapable of purring, while every other cat can purr but can't roar.
10. Not all cats hate water. Jaguars in particular are fans of water – they often live near water and are good swimmers. As a result, there's an entire new category of prey available to them: they will eat crocodiles and other aquatic animals. There's even a cat that can swim underwater and specialises in diving for its prey - meet the fishing cat. We named it one of the weirdest wild cat species in the world
11. Snow leopards have been known to leap up to nine metres – six times their body length. In fact, the longest jump recorded for any feline was 11.7m by a snow leopard leaping over a ditch, which was observed by a team of Russian biologists.
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12. Tiger habitats have been destroyed by human activity the world over, and as a result, they have lost an estimated 95% of their historical range – and what's remaining is still under threat. One of the world's largest tiger populations is found in the Sundarbans, a large mangrove forest area on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Rising sea levels caused by climate change are threatening to wipe out these forests and the last remaining habitat for this tiger population.
13. Cat’s were first domesticated 4000 years ago in Ancient Egypt. Cats were initially valued for their ability to kill rodents and venomous snakes, but tomb paintings show that many of these felines were also household pets and a part of family life.
14. Vying for first place in the smallest cat in the world category are the rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) and black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), which are very close in size, measuring 35-48cm and 35-52cm in length respectively.
15. The jaguar has the strongest bite of any big cat relative to its size. Research by Adam Hartstone-Rose and colleagues at the University of South Carolina, who compared the bite forces of nine different cat species, reveals that a jaguar's bite force is only three-quarters as strong as a tiger's bite force.
16. Cats marked their territory long before we did, emerging in Eurasia 30 million years ago (Mya) and 25 million years before our ancestors first appeared in Africa.
17. Cats possess a third eyelid, which provides additional physical protection for the delicate cornea, and helps to lubricate and clean the eyeballs. They may be translucent to allow partial vision even when closed.
18. Black panthers are not a species as such, but rather ‘melanistic’ leopards and jaguars. The levels of the pigment melanin in an individual determines how dark they are, as the more pigment an animal has the darker it is. In many African countries black panthers are revered and considered symbols of power, darkness, death and rebirth.
19. There are lions in India. Ask people to name an African animal and it will probably be a close call between lions and elephants. However lions are also found in Asia, though, with one small population of about 670 lions living in Gir National Park in north-west India.
Top image: A female Amur tiger (credit: Getty Images)