Big Cats Facts

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

Photograph by Chris Johns

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.

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