Russian Siberia and northern China in the taiga forests gave shelter to the largest cat on earth - the Amur tiger. This predator is simply huge - its weight reaches 400 kilograms, its length from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail is up to four meters, and its height reaches up to one meter. There are up to 400 individuals left in the wild, and approximately the same number in zoos. In Russia, measures are being taken to preserve this species; it is the real pride of the taiga forests, a real symbol of the Far East. He is depicted on the flag and coat of arms of the Primorsky Territory. In China, this species is protected with very strict laws - a poacher who kills a tiger faces the death penalty.
Peculiarities
There are only a few tigers left in the world, but the Amur species is the smallest in number and is under special protection due to a sharp decline in the population.
This species is the northernmost, adapted for living in cold winters and for moving on snow, therefore it has the thickest and longest fur, which can retain heat well.
Among the six species of tigers, the Amur tiger is the largest, while the Ussuri tiger is the largest cat on Earth.
The tail is a record holder among tigers and can reach a length of more than a meter.
Amur tiger is the official name of the tiger, but sometimes the non-scientific, but very common names Ussuri or Siberian are used in relation to this cat.
This is an endangered species listed in the Red Book.
Record-breaking tigers reach a weight of 400 kilograms, and usually the animal reaches a weight of 200 kilograms.
Tigresses are good mothers. They carry children for five months. Four or five blind and toothless tiger cubs will be born. It feeds for up to six months, then teaches it to hunt for up to a year. For another year, tigers hunt on their own, but live near their mother.
Hunting
Amur tiger - interesting facts about hunting. Tiger has no natural enemies(except for humans), he even hunts bears.
It goes hunting on its own at approximately one year of age.
Life expectancy in the wild is up to 12 years.
When hunting, it jumps up to seven meters in length.
On average, one individual eats two dozen kilograms of meat, but if a hunting trophy allows, it can eat up to 80 kilograms of meat.
Only about ten percent of attacks on prey result in food being obtained. And this despite the fact that he attacks from an ambush, hiding from the victim. The tiger must constantly hunt, and at the same time it spends a lot of energy on the hunt itself. This cat is having a hard time with his hunting grounds constantly shrinking due to human activity.
The Amur species of tigers very rarely attacks people, while other, more heat-loving tigers attack much more often.
He is very strong, he can pull a horse carcass for half a kilometer without any problems. When hunting, it reaches speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour, but over short distances it can accelerate to 80 kilometers per hour. Of the predators, only the cheetah can run faster. For a successful attack, they must sneak up to at least 25 meters.
Loves to hunt ungulates. To feed himself, he needs about 50 deer, wild boars, roe deer, and wapiti per year. In extreme cases, it attacks livestock.
Walking around its hunting grounds, a tiger travels up to 40 kilometers a day. Until the moment have a good hunting the beast can cover up to 600 kilometers in a few days. Animals need more than one hundred square kilometers for food, but often hunting territories occupy a large area.
Males defend their territory from competitors and, if necessary, get into a fight. But females with cubs are not touched, so tigresses can enter the tiger’s territory to hunt. But the territories of two females never overlap.
The Amur tiger is the most major representative of the cat family, living in our country. It is also the northernmost subspecies of tiger on the planet. In the 40s of the last century, there were about 40 of these beautiful animals in our country. Since then, many efforts have been made to save the tiger and restore its population.
The Amur or Ussuri tiger lives in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk regions of Russia. The highest concentration of these animals is observed in the foothills of the Sikhote-Alin in the Primorsky Territory.
The Amur or Ussuri tiger is one of six subspecies of the tiger that has survived in the wild to this day. Along with the Bengal, it is the largest cat on our planet, and the weight of males, as a rule, reaches 300 kg. Among all carnivorous mammals The sushi tiger is the third largest in terms of body weight, second only to the polar and brown bear.
Such impressive dimensions require large territory and plenty of food. Amur subspecies tigers live exclusively in forest areas, That's why last place, where it was preserved in the wild, the Ussuri taiga became untouched by man. Back in the 19th century, tigers lived far beyond Primorye; they could be found in many taiga areas Southern Siberia. It is known that the Amur tiger was even depicted on the coat of arms of the city of Irkutsk. But intensive economic development of the territory and physical extermination of the tiger led to the fact that its range was reduced to the coastal taiga.
Despite the fact that females sometimes live in small groups, the tiger is usually a solitary predator. Each animal is assigned its own territory, and in general, for the prosperous existence of the tiger population, vast expanses of taiga are necessary. The hunting grounds of males are usually 600-800 km. sq., for females it is a little more modest - 300-500 km. sq. Basic nutrition Amur tiger are ungulate mammals - wild boars, roe deer, moose, sika and red deer. Therefore, the well-being and sustainability of the tiger population directly depends on the abundance of ungulates in its territory. But if the hunt is unsuccessful or there is no large prey, the tiger can feed on smaller animals: fish, mice, birds.
Even with ideal conditions The Amur tiger is increasing its numbers quite slowly. They reach sexual maturity only at the 4-5th year of life. The female usually gives birth to 2-4 tiger cubs, which are completely dependent on the mother for up to one and a half to two years. But even after reaching this age, young tigers often remain with their family and live with their mother until they are 4-5 years old. It turns out that a female gives birth once every 2-3 years, and the life expectancy of tigers in the wild is about 15 years. Unfortunately, only about half of tiger cubs survive to adulthood.
Behind last century The Amur tiger has gone from almost complete extermination to relative prosperity. It is known that in the 40s of the last century there were about 35-40 individuals of the Amur tiger in our country. After a complete ban on hunting it and the creation of specially protected areas (reserves and national parks) the number of tigers began to increase. According to 2015 data, our country is home to about 530 Amur tigers, which is approximately 70% of the entire population. The remaining animals of this subspecies live in Manchuria, in neighboring China.
According to experts, the current number is the maximum number of Amur tigers that the territory at their disposal can accommodate. It is the presence of a natural habitat that is the most important condition for the well-being of the Amur tiger population. Preservation of existing, as well as restoration of cut down and burned cedar forests Ussuri taiga will serve as the key to the prosperity of the northernmost tiger on the planet.
More than 500 Amur tigers are a good indicator, but we still have a lot to do. Along with the protection of forests, it is necessary to restore the population of ungulates: only if there is a reliable food supply can we talk about the further prosperity of the predator. Another important factor in preserving the Amur tiger is the fight against poaching. Unfortunately, barbaric extermination for the sake of skins and other body parts is still not uncommon both in China and in our country.
On the same topic:
Photo of the day: chasing prey A project to restore an extinct Turanian tiger Valuable milk and a rider riding an elk: how the owner of the taiga was tamed
The tiger is listed in the International Red Book, as well as in the Red Book of Russia.
Due to constant persecution by humans and unfavorable changes in habitat conditions, the number of tigers is continuously falling, and the distribution area is shrinking. The bulk of the tiger's range is in tropical and subtropical latitudes. Currently, this predator is preserved in the north of Iran, the north of Afghanistan, Hindustan (mainly in the north of the peninsula), Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Indochina, the Malacca Peninsula, Java, Bali, in some provinces of South and Northeast China, north of the Korean Peninsula. Within Russia, a small population of tigers (120-150 individuals) is found only in the Far East, mainly in the Primorsky Territory, where about 110-130 animals are counted.
The Amur tiger is one of the largest subspecies of tiger. The largest recorded Amur tiger weighed 384 kilograms, the average weight of males is about 230, and females - 100-180 kilograms. This subspecies is distinguished by thick, long (compared to other tigers) and fluffy fur, with a more withered red background and fewer stripes than other subspecies.
Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)
Male Bengal tigers typically weigh between 205 and 227 kg, while females average 140 to 150 kg. Bengal tigers from northern India and Nepal are reliably larger than tigers from the south of the Indian subcontinent.
Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti)
The Indochinese tiger (also known as Corbet's tiger) lives in Cambodia, southern China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. The estimated size of its population varies in different sources from 1200 to 1800 animals, but an estimate closer to the lower value of this interval is more reliable. The largest population exists in Malaysia. Poaching in this country has been reduced to negligible levels by severe measures, but the tiger population is under significant threat through habitat fragmentation and inbreeding. In Vietnam, nearly three-quarters of tigers were killed to sell their organs for Chinese medicine.
The Indochinese tiger is smaller than the Bengal tiger and has darker colors. The weight of males averages 150-190 kg, females - 110-140 kg.
Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni)
The Malayan tiger is found exclusively in the southern (Malaysian) part of the Malay Peninsula. This subspecies was isolated only in 2004 during a study conducted by a group of scientists led by Stephen O'Bryan at the Laboratory of Genetic Diversity of the National Cancer Institute (Frederick, USA). Before that, the population was considered to belong to the Indochinese tiger. The latest census showed the presence of 600 in nature -800 tigers of this subspecies, making it the third largest tiger subspecies, after the Bengal and Indochinese tigers. national symbol Malaysia, where it is present on the country's coat of arms, emblems of various government agencies (for example, the Bank of Malaysia), emblems of army units and units special purpose, etc.
Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae)
The Sumatran tiger is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The wild population is estimated at 400-500 animals, the vast majority of which live in national parks and reserves. Recent genetic studies have shown the presence of unique genetic markers in the genotype of the subspecies; this is a sign that on the basis of this subspecies, a separate species of feline may eventually develop (if the subspecies is not destroyed). Based on this, many scientists believe that the Sumatran tiger is more worthy of conservation than any of the other subspecies.
The main threat to the Sumatran tiger is environmental destruction (deforestation occurs even in Sumatra's highly protected areas), and between 1998 and 2000, 66 tigers (or 20% of the population) were killed by poachers.
The Sumatran tiger is the smallest subspecies currently existing: the weight of adult males is 100-130 kg, females - 70-90 kg. The relatively small size of this subspecies is considered an adaptation to life in dense tropical forest.
South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis)
The South China tiger is the most endangered subspecies, and most likely no longer exists in the wild. It is also one of the smallest subspecies: the body length of both males and females is 2.2-2.6 m. Males weigh from 127 to 177 kg, females - from 100 to 118.
In 1977, the Chinese government passed a law banning tiger hunting, but it was too late for the South China subspecies. Apparently, the last South China tiger in the wild was shot in 1994.
There are currently 59 South China tigers in captivity (all in China), but they are all descendants of just six animals. Thus, the genetic diversity in this subspecies is extremely low, making its extinction natural conditions quite reliable.
Extinct tiger subspecies
Bali tiger (Panthera tigris balica)
The Bali tiger has always been found only on the small island of Bali. These tigers were hunted to extinction: the last Balinese tiger (a large female) was killed in the western part of the island (Sumbar Kama) on September 27, 1937. Balinese tigers have never been kept in captivity. Despite the complete disappearance of the local subspecies, the tiger plays important role in the Balinese version of Hinduism.
Turanian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata)
The Caspian (Turanian, Persian) tiger lived in Central Asia in the forests along river valleys and was separated from other populations. In the 1920s the population of these animals began to decline due to active hunting for them, reduction of habitats, and a decrease in the amount of available food. The last Caspian tiger was killed in February 1970 in the Turkish province of Hakkari.
The historical range of this subspecies included Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey. The Caspian tiger was a large subspecies, reaching the weight and size parameters of the Bengal tiger: the heaviest male recorded weighed 240 kg. The background color of the skin was approximately the same as that of the Indian subspecies, but the stripes were noticeable narrower and more dense, dark gray or brown rather than black. The fur of the Caspian tiger was long (relative to other subspecies), especially in winter. The Caspian tiger, along with the Bengal, was one of two subspecies used by the Romans in gladiatorial combat against gladiators and other animals such as Barbary lions.
In January 2009, an article on the Caspian tiger was published in the journal PLoS ONE by a group of scientists from Britain, Israel and the United States. It said that deciphering the genome of a person who disappeared in the 1970s. The Caspian tiger showed that it belongs to almost the same species as the Amur tiger - this opens up the possibility of restoring the population of this animal.
Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica)
The Javan tiger lived on the Indonesian island of Java. Apparently, this subspecies was destroyed in the 80s. twentieth century through hunting and habitat destruction, but extinction became extremely likely starting in the 1950s, when the number of tigers in Java dropped to 25 individuals. The last Javan tiger was seen in the wild in 1979.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Tiger (lat. Panthera tigris) - a predator of the class mammals, such as chordates, the order Carnivora, the cat family, the panther genus, the subfamily big cats. It got its name from the ancient Persian word tigri, which means “sharp, fast,” and from the ancient Greek word “arrow.”
The tiger is the largest and heaviest member of the cat family. Some male tigers reach a length of 3 meters and weigh over 300 kg. Tigers are listed in the Red Book, and hunting these animals is prohibited.
Tiger: description and photographs
Tigers are distinguished by a flexible, muscular body and a round head with a convex forehead, expressive eyes and small but sensitive ears. Tigers see perfectly in the dark, and according to scientists, they can distinguish colors. Bengal and Amur tigers are the largest of their species. The size of these tigers can reach 2.5-2.9 meters in length (excluding the tail), and the weight of tigers of this species reaches 275-320 kg. The height of a tiger at the withers is 1.15 m. Average weight an adult male is 180-250 kg.
According to official data, the record recorded weight of the big tiger(Bengali) was 388.7 kg.
Moreover, females are usually smaller in size than males.
Elastic tiger whiskers white grow in 4-5 rows, framing the tiger's face. With sharp fangs up to 8 cm long, the tiger easily deals with its prey.
Special keratinized protrusions on the side of the movable tongue help to cut the carcass of a killed animal, and also serve auxiliary hygiene. Adult mammals have 30 teeth.
There are 5 fingers on the front paws of a tiger, there are only 4 on the hind paws, and retractable claws are located on each finger.
Tiger ears are small and round in shape. The animal's pupil is round, the iris is yellow.
Southern tiger species have a short and dense body hairline, northern brothers are more fluffy.
The color of the animals is predominantly rust with a red or brown tint; the chest and belly are much lighter, and sometimes even white.
The tiger owes its exceptional beauty to the dark brown or completely black stripes located throughout the body. The tiger's stripes have characteristic pointed ends, sometimes bifurcating, then joining again. Typically an animal has more than 100 stripes.
The long tail, covered with rings of stripes, is always black at the end. A tiger's stripes are uniquely positioned, like a human fingerprint, and serve as excellent camouflage for the animal.
The track of a male tiger is longer and more elongated than that of a female. The length of the male tiger's track is 15-16 cm, the width is 13-14 cm. The length of the female tiger's track reaches 14-15 cm, and the width is 11-13 cm.
The roar of a tiger can be heard at a distance of almost 3 kilometers.
Despite their considerable weight, tigers can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h regardless of the surrounding landscape.
The lifespan of an animal in captivity is approximately 15 years.
Who is stronger - a lion or a tiger?
This question worries and interests many. Unfortunately, there are very few recorded facts about battles between a lion and a tiger, so there is no reason to talk about the superiority of one representative of the animal world over another. It is only possible to compare a tiger and a lion according to their external parameters and lifestyle.
- So, as for the weight category, although a little, about 50-70 kg, the tiger is still heavier than the lion.
- In terms of jaw compression force when biting, both animals are in the same positions.
- The principle of killing the chosen victim is also identical - both the tiger and the tiger bite into the neck of their prey, piercing it with powerful fangs.
- But in terms of lifestyle, these two predators are radically different. The tiger is a born solitary hunter who prefers to get food in his own “lands”, that is, in a marked territory. Feuds between relatives are almost impossible, since tigers rarely intersect with each other during the hunt. Lions live in pride clans, so males often fight not only for the right to hunt, but also for the “lady of the heart” during mating games. Often such fights end with serious wounds and even the death of one of the lions.
- It is impossible to say with certainty who is more resilient - a lion or his striped brother from the cat family. Both animals run quite quickly, covering considerable distances, but such a criterion as endurance can be justified by the age of these predators, living conditions, or their state of health.
There are facts when trained lions fought with the same circus tigers. Basically, the lion emerged victorious from the battle, but again, this conclusion is subjective, no one kept statistics, so you should not use such information as a 100% statement of superiority.
Both animals, the lion and the tiger, are very strong, powerful and perfectly adapted to natural environment its habitat.
Subspecies of tigers, names, descriptions and photos
The classification identifies 9 subspecies of the tiger, 3 of which, unfortunately, have already disappeared from the face of the earth. Today in nature live:
- Amur (Ussuri) tiger (lat. Panthera tigris altaica)
The largest and smallest representative of the species, distinguished by thick fur and a relatively small number of stripes. The color of the Amur tiger is orange with a white belly, the fur is thick. The body length of males reaches 2.7 – 3.8 meters. The weight of a male Amur tiger is 180-220 kg. The height of the Amur tiger at the withers is 90-106 cm.
Population Ussuri tigers, numbering approximately 500 individuals, inhabits the Amur region of Russia. A number of individuals are found in North Korea and northeast China. The Amur tiger is listed in the Red Book of Russia.
- Bengal tiger (lat. Panthera tigris tigris, Panthera tigris bengalensis)
Characterized by the largest numbers, representatives have a bright coat color from yellow to light orange. In nature, there are also white Bengal tigers that do not have stripes at all, but they are rather a mutated species. The length of the Bengal tiger reaches 270-310 cm, females are smaller and reach a length of 240-290 cm. The tiger's tail is 85-110 cm long. The height at the withers is 90-110 cm. The weight of the Bengal tiger is from 220 to 320 kg as a maximum.
According to various sources, the population of this tiger species includes from 2.5 to 5 thousand individuals, most of which live in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and South Asia.
Albino white tiger
- Indochinese tiger (lat. Panthera tigris corbetti)
It is distinguished by a dull red color and numbers a little more than a thousand individuals. The stripes of this species are narrower and shorter. This type of tiger is smaller in size than others. The length of the male is 2.55-2.85 cm, the length of the female is 2.30-2.55 cm. The weight of a male Indochinese tiger reaches 150-195 kg, the weight of a female tiger is 100-130 kg.
The area where Indochinese tigers live is Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Southeast Asia, South China.
- Malayan tiger (lat. Panthera tigris jacksoni)
The third largest subspecies in the number of individuals, living in the Malaysian, southern region of the Malay Peninsula.
This is the smallest tiger among all species. The length of a male Malayan tiger is 237 cm, the length of females is up to 200 cm. The weight of a male Malayan tiger is 120 kg, the weight of females does not exceed 100 kg. In total, there are about 600-800 tigers of this species in nature.
- Sumatran tiger (lat. Panthera tigris sumatrae)
It is also considered the smallest representative of the species. The length of a male tiger is 220-25 cm, the length of females is 215-230 cm. The weight of male tigers is 100-140 kg, the weight of females is 75-110 kg.
About 500 representatives are found in nature reserves on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
- South China tiger (Chinese tiger) (lat. Panthera tigris amoyensis)
A small subspecies, no more than 20 of these tigers live in captivity in the south and center of China.
The body length of males and females is 2.2-2.6 meters, the weight of males does not exceed 177 kg, the weight of females reaches 100-118 kg.
Extinct species are Bali tiger, Caspian tiger And Javan tiger.
In addition to white tigers, species with a yellow color are sometimes born; such animals are called golden tigers. The fur of such tigers is lighter and the stripes are brown.
Tiger hybrids
Hybrids, born from crossing the big tabby cat and other representatives of the panther genus, began to appear in captivity as early as the 19th century.
- Liger
Hybrid of a lion and a female tiger, has huge size and in adulthood reaches three meters in length.
- Tigrolev (tigon)
A hybrid of a tiger and a lioness, always smaller than its parents and endowed with the characteristics of both: paternal stripes and maternal spots. Males have a mane, but it is smaller than that of a liger. 
Tigers and ligers are born exclusively in zoos. In the wild, tigers and lions do not interbreed.
Ussuri tigers live in Amur region in Russia, Khabarovsk and Primorsky territories, about 10% of the population is found in North Korea and northeast China. Bengal tigers live in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and South Asia. The area where Indochinese tigers live is Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Southeast Asia, and Southern China. The Malayan tiger lives in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula. Sumatran tigers are found in nature reserves on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Chinese tigers live in south-central China.
For their habitats, these striped predators choose the most different zones: tropical rainforests, shady jungles, semi-desert regions and savannas, bamboo thickets and steep rocky hills. The tiger is so able to adapt to conditions that it feels great both in hot climates and in the harsh northern taiga. Steep cliffs with numerous niches or secret caves, secluded reed or reed thickets near water bodies are the most favorite territories where the tiger makes his lair, hunts and raises restless and nimble offspring.
Tiger's lifestyle and habits
Possessing quite massive dimensions and enormous strength, tigers feel like absolute masters of the territory in which they live. Leaving his marks with urine everywhere, stripping the bark from trees along the perimeter of his property and loosening the soil with his claws, the male tiger clearly marks his “land”, not allowing other males there.
At the same time, tigers from the same “family” are quite friendly to each other and sometimes behave very funny during communication: they touch their muzzles, rub their striped sides, “snort” noisily and energetically, while exhaling air through their mouths or nose.
In nature, tigers are most often solitary animals, but in zoos with these cats everything looks a little different. After the birth of a pair of offspring, the tiger-father takes care of the babies no less reverently than the tigress-mother: he spends leisure time with them during games, licks them and gently trembles in the form of punishment for the scruff of the neck. Watching the tiger family is really interesting.
IN natural environment tigers do not limit themselves to the time of day during the hunt - when they are hungry and prey has turned up, then the fatal throw for the victim will be made. By the way, the tiger is an excellent swimmer and will never refuse to eat fish,
To the family Felidae already 35 million years. Wild representatives The cat family is absent only in Australia and Antarctica. There are 36-35 species in total, grouped into 4 genera.
The largest and the smallest
The largest wild cat is the tiger: its weight reaches 270 kilograms, but this is not the limit. Hunters have killed tigers weighing 320 kg. Lions in the wild rarely weigh more than 200 kg, their weight category is 125-250 kg. The experience of zoos and circuses convinces us: if a lion fights with a tiger, the first remains defeated. If the animals are not separated in time, the tiger will kill the lion.
The largest tiger
...Amur. The smallest is Sunda, he lived before on the island of Bali and now continues to live in Sumatra.
The biggest teeth
Of all predatory animals, the tiger has the largest teeth; its jaws are so powerful that they allow it to bite through the spine of any land animal.
The smallest
...black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), which weighs exactly 270 times less. It is smaller than a domestic cat, lives in Africa, the largest cat weighs about 2 kg.
Miniature leopard
Marble cat lives in the same forests as the clouded leopard, has the same coloration and also has a long tail, but is almost half the size. She hunts for small arboreal animals, frogs and lizards.
Little cats
Cat sizes depend on climate
Wild cat populations depend on climate: small cats live in countries with warm climate, large ones - in cold conditions. The Sumatran tiger, the smallest of the species (it is 1 m shorter than its northern relative), lives in the warmest areas, the Amur tiger, the heaviest, lives in the coldest.
Sexual dimorphism
In many cat species, the male and female differ significantly in size. Male fish cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) 11-12 kg, female - 6-7 kg. Fish cats are medium-sized cats.
How many wild cats live in nature?
African lions
Twenty years ago there were 230,000 lions in Africa, but today there are only 23,000. Many of them are carriers of AIDS and bone tuberculosis. The reason for the catastrophic reduction in livestock is their destruction by humans. Lions attack livestock. IN central regions In Kenya, lion damage to livestock is estimated at $A500 per year. For every lion there is one cow or three sheep per year. This problem could be solved by organizing more effective night security, but the population prefers to solve it through poisonous baits and shooting animals.
Asiatic lions
There are currently 300 Asiatic lions living in Asia, including 1 in the Gir Lion National Park. Gujarat, India on an area of 125,000 hectares.
Cheetahs were distributed throughout most of Africa, Central and Western Asia. Today there are less than 15,000 of them. The main enemy of cheetahs is wild dogs that live in areas adjacent to the Sahara region; in these areas there are less than 5,500 cheetahs left.
Striped skin
Tigers not only have striped fur, but also striped skin.
How many tigers are left
Back in 1930, approximately 100 thousand tigers lived on Earth, of which 40 thousand were in India. Today, only about 5,000 tigers remain in the world. More recently, there were 8 subspecies of tigers. The Caspian, Balinese, and Javan tigers have been completely destroyed. Today there are only five subspecies left: the Bengal tiger - about 4000 individuals (2000 in Indochina, the same in India), the Sumatran tiger - 600-700 individuals, the Indochinese tiger - less than 1500 individuals. More optimistic estimates double these figures. Thanks to the measures taken, the population of Amur tigers in the Russian Far East numbers 450-470 individuals, in the territory Khabarovsk Territory much smaller - 60-70 and no more than 20 individuals in China on the border with Russia. There are 50 tigers in Manchuria and Korea. In Java there are from 6 to 14 tigers.
How many snow leopards are there in Russia?
Total on site former USSR population is about 2 thousand snow leopards snow leopards
The rarest wild cats
Spreading Iriomothean cat (Felis iriomotensis) limited o. Iriomote, Ryukyu Islands, Japan. Their number does not exceed hundreds; several more individuals live in Japanese zoos.
Cats live and sleep in water
In Turkey, in Lake Van, there live cats whose whole life is connected with water. They not only live in water, but even sleep in it.
If it rains
The tiger endures rain and wanders around its territory in bad weather. And leopards hide if it drips from the sky.
Jaguar fur with a black spot in the rosette
Not everyone can tell a jaguar from a leopard. These animals are very similar, and their spots are similar in shape and color, only in the jaguar they are larger, and some rosettes have a small black spot in the center.
A tiger's hind legs are larger than its front legs
The tiger is a very strong cat, with a powerful, muscular body that allows it to successfully cope with even large prey. His hind legs longer than the front ones. Due to this, he easily jumps on his prey. Its large claws and powerful, muscular shoulder girdle allow it to capture prey so that it has no chance of escape.
cat nose
A cat's nose leaves a print that can be used to identify it as belonging to a particular cat - it identifies it like a fingerprint identifies a person.
Drink a lot and swim
During lunch, tigers often settle down near water bodies, because... drink a lot while eating. And on hot days they spend many hours swimming in ponds. Tigers are good swimmers and do not hesitate to rush into the water for prey. Where the tiger is not disturbed, it can lie in the water. Tigers swim well: they can cross large rivers, even the Ganges, without difficulty.
Water and Jaguar (Panthera onca) he is not afraid - he loves to swim, and swims well. That is why the inhabitants of rivers and lakes have to feed this predator: capybaras (capybaras), turtles, and fish come to it for lunch, and the jaguar hunts fish from the shore, throwing them out of the water with powerful blows of its paws. He even hunts smaller crocodiles.
Jaguar in a boat
The jaguar swims well and swims across the Amazon. There was such a case: a jaguar attacked people in a boat. They jumped into the water, and the jaguar got into the boat and swam, looking around.
Fishing cat
Fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)- a relatively large cat weighing 12 kg, lives on the coast of the Indian Ocean. He climbs trees reluctantly. But it swims great. They say he even dives for fish like an otter.
And here sand cat (Felis margarita) able to live without water. They say she doesn't drink water. This is a small wild cat weighing 3.4 kg.
Cats learned to dive and swim
On the island of Miladummadulu, located in Indian Ocean, cats, having exterminated all small living creatures, were forced to learn to swim and dive and now get their food in the ocean, deftly hunting fish.
The skin is also striped
Tigers not only have striped fur, but also striped skin.
Five-centimeter layer of fat
In winter, Amur tigers have a five-centimeter layer of fat under the skin on their bellies.
Puma lives widely
The living space of no cat is as spread out as that of the puma: from southern Alaska to the Machellan Strait. This was the case at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Now the puma has been exterminated almost everywhere. The smallest pumas (about 30 kg) live in tropical forests South America - they have short red-brown fur. The largest pumas (9110 kg) inhabit Rocky Mountains North America and are found on Tierra del Fuego.
They growl and don't growl
The roar of a lion (Panthera leo) can be heard 5 miles away. But the cheetah does not growl or meow - it barks, squeals and chirps, but it can purr. IN good mood The leopard purrs, the clouded leopard and the puma too. But they can also growl.
Lion hunting area
...ranges from 8 to 150 square miles. This territory is guarded by male lions. Within one area, a flock of lions can live, consisting of six male lions, twelve adult lionesses and young lion cubs. Depending on the living conditions in a given territory and the number of other animals, a flock can occupy an area of up to 400 square km, however, where there is more than enough food, this territory can be much smaller.
The cougar lives in an area up to 100 miles in circumference. Even if she is not disturbed, she wanders within the area, never staying anywhere for long.
Black and smoky cats
Leopards (Pantera pardus) with black colored skin (black panthers) are especially common on the island of Java. Clouded leopards live there, as well as in the mountain forests of Nepal, Sikkim, all of southern China and Indochina. They are painted very beautifully: a black marble pattern on a bright yellow background. Clouded leopards are classified as a special genus because their anatomy combines the features of both large and small cats.
Children are spotted - adults are not
The puma's fur does not have any pattern, although its kittens are spotted. With the first molt, the spots disappear.
White and black leopards
Everyone knows about black panthers, but in the genus of leopards there are also albinos and so-called flavists: they have little black paint, their spots are faded, ocher, best case scenario chocolate. African leopards have small spots, while Asian leopards have larger spots. The background tone of the Caucasian and Central Asian ones is sandy-grayish, while that of the Far Eastern ones is reddish-yellow.
Lions' manesthere are black and light
Lions' manes are black and light, modest and wide - scientists distinguish 10-12 subspecies among lions based on their varied manes. The Barbary and Somali lions have a black mane; the Masai, Cape and Persian lions have dark brown manes, while others have yellow ones. The most magnificent mane was that of the Barbary lion, now exterminated.
Why do cats have short jaws?
Like all cats, the tiger has short jaws, due to this the gripping force and the depth of gnawing into the prey with its teeth increases many times.
Modern sabertooth
Skull clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) elongated, which distinguishes him from other cats. His fangs are larger than those of other cats in proportion to body size. Sometimes it is classified as a modern "saber-tooth".
The male is twice as heavy as the female
The male lion is much larger than the female and is 50 percent heavier in weight. He is easily recognized by his massive mane. The huge weight of the lion gives crushing force to its blow. He easily scatters females when he takes prey from them. Many males live by feeding exclusively on food obtained by females, and almost never try to get anything themselves.
Lion face
It's like a person's fingerprints. No two lions have the same muzzles (or even the same whiskers).
A bone with a claw at the end of the tail
The lion has a long, thin and very strong tail. The most remarkable thing about it is the brush, and in it there is a claw, or rather a thorn, the last vertebra breaking through the skin.
Cat color vision
There is reason to believe that cats have color vision - very rare in the animal world. In large predatory cats the pupil is round. And the small ones (clouded leopard) are ovoid.
Night vision of tigers six times better than humans Due to a mechanism that reflects light back to the retina, tigers' night vision is six times better than humans.
They look at the sun without blinking
Leo is called the king of beasts because he can look at the sun without blinking. Many other cats can do this too.
Lions vision
Five times better than a human, a lion can hear prey from a mile away.
Sense of smell is weak
Leopards have excellent eyesight and hearing, but a weak sense of smell.
When a tiger hunts, it approaches from the leeward side out of attention to the sense of smell of its victims; the tiger’s own sense of smell is no good. In India they say that the tiger is the smartest animal after the elephant. He seems to imitate the cry of a deer, luring him. But when he chases monkeys. He growls terribly, and they, frightened, weaken with fear and fall to the ground.
The fluffiest
The fur of the Pallas' cat (Otocolobus manul) is as thick and long as that of any other cat.
There are no wild cats in Australia and Oceania.
Lionesses are attracted to males with dark and luxuriant manes.
... more than lions with light and short hair. Dark mane color is usually observed in lions with high levels of the main male sex hormone testosterone in the blood. Under its influence, the development of male genital organs and secondary sexual characteristics is enhanced. Therefore, it is not surprising that lionesses prefer males with darker manes, while other lions are afraid of them.
Fingers and claws
All cats retract their claws, with the exception of the cheetah, which moves by touching the ground with its claws. Interestingly, young cheetahs have claws for up to four months. Like all cats, they can retract into their fingers. With age they lose this ability. A tiger has five toes on its front paws and four on its hind paws. All fingers of a tiger have claws ranging from 80 to 100 mm long.
Walking in the snow
Various predators of our forests are differently adapted to winter deep snow. For example, a wolf is poorly adapted to running in the snow, which is explained by the small supporting surface of its paws. Weight load per 1 sq. cm is equal to 89-103 g. For a lynx, these figures are 34-39 g, for a wolverine – 20-35 g, for a tiger – 155 per 1 sq. cm.
Climber cat
Snow Leopard, or snow leopard (Uncia uncia) - a resident of the Altai, Pamir, Tien Shan, highland Mongolia, Tibet, Himalayas), lives at an altitude of 2-3 thousand m above sea level. In summer, following the mountain ungulates, the leopard rises even higher - up to six thousand meters. He watches for hours somewhere on a rock or under a rock for rams or goats.
The largest predator living in Madagascar
is the Fossa - an animal weighing from 5 to 10 kg, vaguely reminiscent of a cat.
The fastest of mammals
This cheetah Acinonyx jubatus, which develops a speed of 96 km (60 miles) per hour over short distances, there is data about 105-115 km per hour. And according to unofficial data, some hunters with stopwatches in their hands measured the running speed of the cheetah and said: 140 kilometers per hour. Of other wild cats, the lion reaches a speed of 75-80. The usual speed of a lion in the first minutes of the hunt is 50 kilometers per hour.
Longest-legged cat
also a cheetah. After the South American maned wolf, the cheetah is the longest-legged animal of prey. He gives the impression of a dog with a cat's head.
Tigers defeated lions
A tiger fights better because he has more experience in martial arts; a lion living in a pride is used to counting on his comrades. For this reason, lions were driven out of Asia not only by people, but also by tigers.
African lions sleep the most
Swiss zoologist P. Hodiger traveled for several years across countries and continents, finding out how much different animals sleep. It turned out that African lions sleep the most. When transistor transmitters were strapped to the necks of lions in Tanzania, it was discovered that one lion slept 20 hours a day. In three weeks, he walked, hunting and having fun, only 90 km.
Sleeping in the trees
Where there are a lot of elephants and rhinoceroses, so that these pachyderms do not disturb the peace, lions sleep in the trees, stretched out on the branches and hanging their paws down.
Jaguars know how to sleep in trees, hiding in the foliage so that you cannot notice them. True, they forget to remove their tail, and it hangs from the branch, warning other animals of danger.
Sleeping in the trees
Where there are a lot of elephants and rhinoceroses, so that these pachyderms do not disturb the peace, lions sleep in the trees, stretched out on the branches and hanging their paws down.
Jaguars know how to sleep in trees, hiding in the foliage so that you cannot notice them. True, they forget to remove their tail, and it hangs from the branch, warning other animals of danger.
Tiger Power
Great is the strength of the tiger. wild bull a guar that one tiger killed was dragged along the ground for almost 12 meters. 13 people could not move the carcass of this bull. Another tiger killed a horse and dragged it along the ground for 500 m. There are rare cases when tigers defeat young elephants that have strayed from the herd in a difficult battle. A case is described in which two tigers attacked an adult elephant and killed it.
But when the tiger is hungry, he eats rodents, frogs and even berries.
Speed and jumping
The lioness can reach speeds of 35 miles per hour for short distances, with a jump length of up to 30 feet.
African leopards (Panthera pardus) can jump onto trees up to 5.5 meters high.
The puma (Puma concolor) jumps 5-6 m in height, and sometimes 14 m from a height downwards.
The agile lynx itself is a caracal
The caracal (Caracal caracal) can catch birds in flight. He will creep up to a flock sitting on the ground and jump high above it. The birds fly up screaming, and the beast claws them in the air. This is an average Asian cat weighing 18 kg. The fur of the caracal is uniform, red, and the cubs are spotted.
Lynx prowls for tens of kilometers
When there is a lot of prey, and the main prey of the northern lynx (Lynx lynx) is hares, then the hunter remains on familiar place. If there are few hares, the lynx goes tens of kilometers away. If the lynx's attack is unsuccessful, then it pursues the prey for a day or two.
Servals don't like to climb
Servals (Leptailurus serval) can climb trees, but they do not like it. Only from wild dogs do they seek shelter above the ground: in the branches of acacia or baobab trees.
The most vocal
Roar lion heard at a distance of several miles, it is not a roar, but thunder from heaven. More often, however, lions roar half-heartedly, which is also impressive. However, the most amazing feature lion talk is ventriloquism. Lions are capable of making strange sounds that seem to come not through the throat, but from the belly. In this way, the old lion leads the hunt, giving ventriloquist instructions to his subordinates.
Doesn't growl
Jaguar– the only cat that doesn’t growl.
Purr and growl
Clouded leopards They can purr like small cats, but they can also growl.
Clean leopards
Leopards, like domestic cats, buries, and tiger and lion- No.
How do cheetahs live?
Cheetahs often unite in small groups. These are females with grown up young cheetahs, sometimes several adult males also hunt together. They also accept females into the “male” company. Sometimes this animal lives and gets food alone. But associations of female cheetahs alone were never seen anywhere.
Sometimes tigers unite
If, due to some circumstances, it becomes very difficult for one tiger to get food, then several tigers can unite to hunt. But tigresses usually settle separately and carefully mark their territory. Typically, the hunting grounds of females do not border each other, much less intersect. However, the domain of a male tiger may border or even include the domain of several females. Tigresses' marks help males find them if they are ready to mate. Maintaining and preserving the territory within its boundaries is essential for the survival of tigers. While the tiger is walking around its territory, it can learn about good places for hunting, breeding, etc.
If sometimes you happen to see several tigers together, it is most likely a tigress with her cubs, who remain with the mother until they are able to get their own food.
Internal structure subordinate
Within flocks, herds, etc. there is a complex internal structure of subordinate individuals or groups according to “ranks”. Lions are the only cats that live in packs (prides). Several animals live in idleness: a male (usually one adult. But sometimes two or three), females, cubs, young lions. Sometimes the number of animals reaches 30, but more often there are about 18. The pride is led by an old lion - the head of the family. Prides consisting only of lionesses have also been observed.
Domain of the Lions
The pride's domain consists of tens of square kilometers of thickets and open spaces. People, as a rule, do not interfere with lions.
The tails of wild cats almost never rise above their backs.
How do bachelors live?
Exiled males sometimes form a pack where they have a better chance of surviving. A pride of bachelor males is short-lived. Driven by instincts, males go to prides where lionesses live, and there they try to fight for leadership. In the heat of battle, success favors the strongest and most agile, and the once friendly pack of males soon disintegrates.
How much do lions eat?
A pride of four lions kills a large antelope or zebra once a week. One lion kills about fifteen large animals with an average weight of one hundred and ten kilograms per year. He shares his prey with his packmates.
Eat meat from three weeks of age
Three-week-old cheetah “kittens” eat meat in addition to milk.
How do lions hunt?
While one of the lions scares, distracting attention. His comrades are lying in ambush. Crawling up on his belly in the grass. The bloody role is usually assigned by lionesses to young lions. The old lion leads the hunt. The lenient role of lions towards jackals is surprising: while the lioness eats from the middle, the jackals pull the end of the victim. But lions strangle hyenas when the opportunity arises, because hyenas attack decrepit lions.
Male lion cubs are trained to hunt late
Male lion cubs are taught to hunt later than lionesses; sometimes young lions begin to learn only in the fifth year of life. Therefore, it is important that males remain in their home pride for as long as possible, but they are usually kicked out when they are still young.
Leopards drag prey up a tree
There is one significant feature that distinguishes leopards from other big cats: their habit of dragging prey up trees. Thus, their food remains safe and does not go to predators that are warring and competing with leopards - lions and hyenas.
Doesn't hunt like a cat
The cheetah's hunting style is not that of a cat. First, he looks out for his victim from a high hill, having identified the victim, crawls up, and 20-100 meters before the target he rushes in pursuit. Immediately developing amazing acceleration. When it catches up, it strikes with its front alps, knocks down its prey and immediately bites into the throat. If the cheetah does not catch up with the game in the first hundred meters of the race, it no longer pursues it.
Hunting
Every fourth hunt is successful
Every fourth lion attack ends, as a rule, in the complete victory of the predators. When the hunters eagerly pounce on their prey, the male lion appears. It is possible that a pack of hyenas may be nearby. Usually lions, having dealt with a large killed animal, generously allow others to feast on the prey.
Wild cats kill their prey instantly by biting its spine. in the area of the cervical vertebrae. The chance of delivering such an accurate and effective bite is one in a million.
Strategy – pursuit
Tigers hunt alone. The tiger's hunting strategy boils down to chasing its prey into the most impenetrable thickets, where it has no chance of escape. That's when he pounces on her. When a tiger attacks, it attacks the prey from the side or from behind. The tiger strangles its prey by biting its throat. He wouldn't hurt a kid, but he hates dogs
If leopard If he's not hungry, he won't hurt even a kid. The leopard harbors enmity towards dogs and strangles them as soon as possible. There was a case when a leopard stole a dog right from under the table on the veranda in front of people.
Leopard vs monkeys
Leopards kill thousands of baboons every year, and with leopards wiped out completely, baboons have become a serious problem in many areas. They attack sheep and even people.
10 cm fangs
U leopard fangs are the size of a Finnish blade, 10 cm. And very sharp.
Leopard doesn't use trails
The leopard has no specific routes; it appears unexpectedly. When meeting with a trespasser, the leopard enters into a fight.
Lions are attacked by large crocodiles
Crocodiles attack lions on hot days when they come to drink water: they grab them and drag them into the water.
Tiger attacks people from behind
Tigers usually avoid contact with humans. However, in India, people who go to places where tigers live wear a mask depicting a person's face on the back of their heads. The fact is that tigers always attack their prey from behind. With such a mask, staying in the forest is relatively safe. The tiger does not pursue people wearing such masks: after all, it does not see the “back”, does not find it, and therefore does not attack.
How tigers talk
A tiger growls during a fight or lets out a victorious roar after a successful hunt. When meeting a person or rival, the tiger hisses or purrs threateningly. When attacked, it snorts like a domestic cat. During love encounters, the tiger purrs gently, sometimes turning to meowing.
Living cat
A tiger shot in the heart continues to live for another 10-20 seconds. The tiger, struck by a fatal shot, remains on its feet for some time.
Tiger Telepathy
When tiger walks through the jungle, birds, deer and monkeys scream in alarm when they see him. Even a person, without yet seeing a tiger, without expecting its appearance, feels a special strange anxiety - perhaps this is telepathy. The raging emotions of the beast subconsciously excite a person.
Theft
Lions They hunt large animals: zebras, gazelles, wildebeests and do not hesitate to steal, taking prey from other predators, mainly hyenas and cheetahs.
Apart from the cheetah, all large cats eat not only fresh meat, but also carrion, often in old age.
Lion's Meal
The pride of lions' meal lasts 4 hours. The lion eats first, although the lionesses brought the prey. After the meal, the lion goes to water, and he drinks for 20 minutes. A lion in a zoo eats 15 pounds of meat daily; in the wild, lions eat twice a week.
Most tiger attacks are successful
The tiger's striped skin serves as good camouflage in forests and bushes, and thanks to the soft pads on its paws it moves almost silently. Most of his attacks are successful.
Live canned jaguar
Hunting turtles by the sea, the jaguar throws them belly up one after another. Turtles cannot roll over and crawl away, but they do not die or deteriorate. Then the jaguar comes and with its claws pulls out of the shell those who are tired of lying with their backs up and sticking their heads out.
Tiger's Meal
Tiger (Panthera tigris) On average, he eats 7-9 kg of meat per day. A tigress with cubs quickly makes short work of even a large animal. A female with 2 cubs has to kill one large animal every 5 or 6 days to feed herself. A tiger requires about 2.5-3 tons of meat per year, almost twice as much as a lion. Taking into account the skin and guests, the total weight of the tiger's victims is 4.5 tons. An Indian tiger eats a sambar deer in two days, and a buffalo in three to four days. Having had enough, it covers its prey with branches and settles down to rest nearby.
Polite companions
Later, when the cubs grow up, their father comes to visit the family. Sometimes this happens during lunch. J. Schaller once saw an adult tiger, two tigresses and four cubs, who were quite friendly, without quarrels, eating one bull. Another time, a tigress and four cubs were having lunch when an adult tiger appeared. He was hungry and greedily looked at the prey. However, he politely waited on the sidelines until the kids were full. And only then did he start having lunch himself.
Beware the porcupine
Tigers and leopards, when hungry, they attack porcupines. They do not always manage to dodge and grab the prickly one by the head; the porcupine's quills go deep into the muscles of the predator in case of an unsuccessful hunt. In the body of the tigers, fragments of needles as thick as a pencil and a quarter of a meter long—up to fifty pieces—were found.
The lion comes from the wind
No hunter approaches the game from the side from which the wind blows. And the lion does just that. Its task is to frighten the victim and distract its attention from the ambush.
Cannibals
Lions, tigers and other big cats can be man-eaters. Tigers appear to attack people more often than other cats, and the reasons for this behavior are still unclear. Perhaps it is provoked by the size of a person, corresponding to the size of the animals that tigers usually attack; In addition, an old or wounded tiger can easily attack a person. Only 3 percent of the entire tiger population may be man-eaters. More people died in Africa from crocodiles than from lions.
Attracted by the frog's croaking
One day a tiger attacked a man carrying a bag of frogs. It is said that the tiger was attracted by the frog's croaking.
Lynx in enmity with wolves
In winter, wolves attack a lynx in a pack, drag it to the ground and kill it. If a lynx encounters a lone wolf, it will kill it.
Loving cats
The record holders for mating among mammals are lions and tigers. Tigers can mate up to 50 times a day for five or six days, with each act lasting from 5 to 15 minutes. However, they are inferior to Australian crickets (Ornebius aperta) - male crickets can copulate 50-58 times within 3-4 hours with the same female.
Gentle at any time
U leopards The male and female not only during the breeding season, but also at other times, live nearby and are very affectionate with each other: they love to play and frolic.
Milk is three times more nutritious than cow's milk
Leopard milk is fatty and three times more nutritious than cow's milk.
Lioness gives birth alone
When the time comes for breeding, the lion takes his girlfriend away from the pride. Then they return to the pride. After 100-108 days, the lioness leaves the pride to give birth. She makes her lair in the thick of thorny bushes or in a mountain crevice. After the birth of 3, rarely 5-6 lion cubs, she lives with him in solitude, and at the age of one and a half months she brings her offspring to the pride.
Close-blooded mating has led to serious degradation of South China tigers
High incidence of disease and "mental weakness" are threatening the existence and development of this critically endangered species, a sad situation, Chinese experts say. The South China tigers now living in China are the offspring of six “grandfathers” and “grandmothers” captured in the wild in 1956. As a result of close-blooded mating and a “carefree life,” tigers developed signs of degeneration such as an underdeveloped physique, physical weakness, decreased immunity and other ailments.
One female raises tiger cubs
Tigers pair up only for a short period of time. The tiger cubs are raised by one female. The litter contains two to four tiger cubs weighing from 800 to 1750 grams. They spend the first two months in a shelter that the mother finds before they are born. Then the babies begin to gradually switch to the prey brought by the tigress, but they suck mother’s milk for up to six months and spend the first three years of their lives with the tigress, completely dependent on her. That is why females can bear offspring only once every three to four years.
Pride females do not have cubs at the same time
Lions breed at any time of the year, however, females of one pack (pride) prefer to have cubs at the same time (to make it easier to protect them from other predators and male lions of another pride). They even feed them, without dividing them into friends and foes. If one female dies, the others take care of the deceased's cubs.
Cheetah moms
Mother cheetahs are so exhausted caring for their playful offspring that they sometimes fall asleep while sneaking around for prey.
Lions kill cubs
One of the mysteries of lion behavior was that for some reason the males killed their cubs. Now this mystery has been solved. The fact is that the attack of males is caused by their jealousy of young lion cubs. Male lions do not tolerate unnecessary rivals in their pack, so they strive to get rid of them. There is another explanation for such cruel and incomprehensible behavior. The male in this way encourages the female to give birth to new cubs. And they have a better chance of survival than previous cubs. And they will get more food.
Can eat babies
Father from leopard unimportant: on occasion he is not averse to eating the cubs. The female therefore builds a den in secret from him.
Meat for a rainy day
Leopard cubs weigh 20-80 kg and are unusually voracious. They hide the meat on a tall tree.
The father takes care of the cubs
Male- cheetah takes care of the female and offspring and brings them food. If a female cheetah dies, the father does not abandon the cubs.
Leopards are born in a hollow
The clouded leopard gives birth to its offspring in a hollow tree; there are 1-5 cubs in a litter, each weighing 150-280 grams.
Leopard from the vulture's nest
Often snow leopards They make a lair in vulture nests on low trees. There their offspring are born.
Pulls fur from belly
Mother leopard (Uncia uncia) insulates the lair by tearing the fur from its belly. The jungle cat (Felis chaus) also does this. Other cats don't.
Loss of genetic diversity
Cheetahs There are no more than 20,000 left in the wild; cheetah cubs living in nature reserves do not survive one year in 70% of cases, and in zoos, in the safest conditions, up to 30% of kittens die. The reason was the loss of genetic diversity of the species. Almost all living cheetahs are genetically almost identical. The most likely reason for this phenomenon is some ancient (10-12 thousand years ago) catastrophe, after which one or two pairs of these animals survived. Thus, all cheetahs are very close relatives who do not receive “fresh blood”, and therefore have the same set of characteristics, received from both their father and mother. They have completely lost the ability to adapt.
The jaguar is not related to the leopard
The American jaguar (Panthera onca) looks like a leopard. It has a length of up to 1.8 meters, excluding the tail, its weight ranges from 36 to 158 kg. Indeed, both animals are close relatives. It even turned out that females, a cross between a leopard and a jaguar, are capable of procreation.
Leopards love to ride from the mountains
Leopards love to play and roll in the snow. Having become playful, they slide off the cliff on their backs, and at the bottom they quickly turn over and fall into a snowdrift on all four paws.
Cougars are chasing butterflies
The puma loves to have fun: when frolicking, it jumps after butterflies, somersaults, and catches its tail if there is no one to play with. If she meets a person in the desert, she never attacks herself - she will run up, jumping and digging the ground with her paw, as if inviting the person to play.
Lifespan of a lion
...13 years old, the lion "Nero" is known, who lived for 29 years in a West German zoo. Average duration life of a tiger: 16-18 years. In zoos, tigers live on average twenty to twenty-five years. In general, tigers can live 40-50 years.
Cloning a Tasmanian tiger
Scientists at the Australian Museum managed to obtain genetic material from the Tasmanian tiger, the largest predator that lived on this continent, that disappeared more than half a century ago. The last individual of this animal died at the Gobart Zoo 66 years ago, but in May 1999, scientists accidentally discovered a test tube with a Tasmanian tiger embryo in one of the archives. Now researchers have to clone the animal, which requires finding a “surrogate” mother and implanting DNA cells into her. They claim that around 2010 they will be able to revive this animal.
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