General Big Cat Facts & Big Cat Pics

Unlike most African predators, cheetahs hunt during the daytime. When they spot prey, they can accelerate faster than most cars: from 0 to 60 miles (96 kilometers) an hour in only three seconds.

Big Cats Facts

• The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal. It can run at speeds of up to 70 miles an hour (113 kilometers an hour).
• An adult lion's roar can be heard up to five miles (eight kilometers) away.
• Long, muscular hind legs enable snow leopards to leap seven times their own body length in a single bound.
• A tiger's stripes are like fingerprints—no two animals have the same pattern.
• The strongest climber among the big cats, a leopard can carry prey twice its weight up a tree.
• The Amur leopard is one of the most endangered animals in the world.
• In one stride, a cheetah can cover 23 to 26 feet (7 to 8 meters).
• The name "jaguar" comes from a Native American word meaning "he who kills with one leap."
• In the wild, lions live for an average of 12 years and up to 16 years. They live up to 25 years in captivity.
• The mountain lion and the cheetah share an ancestor.
• Cheetahs do not roar, as the other big cats do. Instead, they purr.
• Tigers are excellent swimmers and do not avoid water.
• A female Amur leopard gives birth to one to four cubs in each litter.
• Fossil records from two million years ago show evidence of jaguars.
• Lions are the only cats that live in groups, called prides. Every female within the pride is usually related.
• The leopard is the most widespread of all big cats.
• Mountain lions are strong jumpers, thanks to muscular hind legs that are longer than their front legs.
• Tigers have been hunted for their skin, bones, and other body parts, used in traditional Chinese medicine.
• Unlike other cats, lions have a tuft of hair at the end of their tails.
• After humans, mountain lions have the largest range of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere.