Snow Leopard

True Wild Life | Snow Leopard | The snow leopard  is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of South Asia and Central Asia. Although sharing its name with the common leopard, the snow leopard is not believed to be closely related to the Leopard or the other members of the Pantherine group and is classified as the sole member of the genus Uncia uncia. The classification of this species has been subject to change and its exact taxonomic position will not be resolved until further studies are conducted.

Iberian Lynx

True Wild Life | Iberian Lynx | The Iberian lynx also known as Spanish lynx is a critically endangered species native to the Iberian Peninsula in Southern Europe. It is one of the most endangered cat species in the world. The species used to be classified as a subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx, but is now considered a separate species. Both species occurred together in central Europe in the Pleistocene epoch, being separated by habitat choice. Iberian lynx resembles other species of lynx, with a short tail, tufted ears and a ruff of fur beneath the chin. Iberian lynx has leopard-like spots with a coat that is often light grey or various shades of light brownish-yellow. The coat is also noticeably shorter than in other lynxes, which are typically adapted to colder environments.

White Tiger

True Wild Life | White Tiger | The white tigers originated in the pure Bengal strain in India. Later in captivity Siberian was crossed in to make a bigger more impressive white tiger. They do have some pigment, so they are not albinos. The white tiger has a shorter life expectancy than the orange tiger, thought to be due to the white tigers mutated genes and to the inbreeding depression necessary to perpetuate the bloodline. The white tiger was always rare to come across in the wild in India, and none have been seen in the wild for over 50 years. The gene that causes the background to be white is a simple recessive. For that reason to produce whites they must be mated either to other whites or to normal orange tigers that are carriers of the white gene. The white tiger has been known to give birth to an orange tiger when mated to an orange male. Cubs of both colors occur in the same litter.

Tiger

True Wild Life | Tiger | The tiger is the largest feline in the world, with the tiger growing to around 2.5 metres in length. The tiger is the most powerful of all the big cats, and is native to east and southern Asia. The tiger is feared by most human beings who inhabit settlements within the tiger's territory. There are six different subspecies of tiger which are the Bengal tiger, the Indochinese tiger, the Malayan tiger, the Sumatran tiger, the Siberian tiger and the South China Tiger. The white tiger is actually a Bengal tiger and is therefore not a subspecies itself.

Sumatran Tiger

True Wild Life | Sumatran Tiger | The Sumatran tiger is the smallest subspecies of tiger in the world, with male Sumatran tigers rarely growing to 2.5 meters in length. The Sumatran tiger is today a critically endangered species of tiger with only around 500 thought to be in the wild. The Sumatran tiger is natively found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra where the Sumatran tiger can be found inhabiting a variety of habitats from low and highland areas, to mountainous jungle and peat swamp forests.

South China Tiger

True Wild Life | South China Tiger | The South China tiger (also known as the Amoy, Chinese or Xiamen tiger) is a smaller-sized subspecies of tiger native to the forests of southern China. The South China tiger is the most critically endangered tiger species with only a handful left in the wild. The South China tiger is natively found in the temperate upland forests of southern China, where its once wide range has now been reduced to a few isolated populations, which are said to be found inhabiting the mountainous borders between provinces.

Serval

True Wild Life | Serval | The serval is a medium-sized cat that is found in parts of central and southern Africa. The average serval tends to be around 80cm in length but it is not uncommon for some adult servals to grow to over a meter in length. The serval has a spotted pelt like a cheetah and the serval also benefits from having astonishingly good fan-like ears which enables it to hear enemies and prey. The satellite dish ears also allow the serval to sense vibrations.

Puma

True Wild Life | Puma | Puma is simply another name for a cougar and therefore one of the largest and ruthless members of the cat family in the world. The puma is native to the Americas and can be found from Western Canada, to the Andes mountain range in South America and all along the west coast of North America.

Panther

 

True Wild Life | Panther | The term panther tends to be a general name that could refer to a few species of cat including the leopard, the cougar and the jaguar. The black panther is generally thought to refer to the black leopard, although it can also refer to the black jaguar. There have occasionally been reports of black cougars, but none have been documented with photos or a specimen. The panther tends to be black in colour and is otherwise identical to the feline species to which it belongs. The only real exception to this is the Florida panther found in the south east region of the USA, that is believed to be a subspecies of cougar and is quite rarely dark brown in colour. The Florida panther tends to have more of a speckled appearance.

Mountain Lion

True Wild Life | Mountain Lion | The mountain lion is one of the biggest species cat native to the mountains of the Americas. The mountain lion is thought to be a subspecies of cougar that is strictly confined to the mountainous areas. The mountain lion is a highly adaptive feline, able to withstand the harsh conditions in the Rocky and Andes mountains. The mountain lion does not hibernate and therefore the mountain lions undergo uncompromising winters.

Lion

True Wild Life | Lion | The lion is one of the biggest and most powerful of all the cats, with the lions body growing to roughly 3 meters long! The lion is currently found predominantly in Africa, but the lion can also be found in remote part of Asia. The Asian lion however, is thought to be smaller than the African lion and numbers of the Asian lion are decreasing rapidly. In historic times, the lion was likely to be found in southern Europe but the lion no longer exists there today. The male lion will only get to about 8 years old, where the female lion have been recorded to live until the lion is 20 in the wild. The lions tend to stay in groups of around 20 lions but only one lion is a male.

Leopard Cat

True Wild Life | Leopard Cat | The leopard cat is a small species of wild cat, native to south-east Asia and parts of the Indian subcontinent. There are eleven different species of leopard cat in the Asian jungles and as the name suggests, the fur of the leopard cat has the the similar spotted pattern to that of a leopard. The leopard cat is found in a variety of different habitats including tropical jungles, woodlands, scrubland and semi-desert regions that are relatively close to water. The leopard cat is widely distributed and can be found inhabiting parts of Indonesia, Philippines, Borneo, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, China, Taiwan, Korea, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

Leopard

True Wild Life | Leopard | The leopard is the smallest of the four big cats, with the leopard weighing just 90kg. The leopard is incredible at climbing trees, where the leopard can see any incoming prey or danger. The leopard mainly inhabits sub-Saharan Africa, where the leopard is most predominant. There are now small populations of the leopard in the jungles of south east Asia.

Fossa

True Wild Life | Fossa | The fossa is a cat-like carnivorous predator native to the largest African island of Madagascar. The fossa is the largest predator on Madagascar and therefore has no real natural predators apart from the human and the occasional crocodile that swims astray. The fossa tends be less than a meter in length with the tail of the fossa being about that the same length as the body of the fossa. However, in recent years fossils of the now extinct giant fossa has been uncovered in the jungles of Madagascar, the biggest giant fossa fossil measured nearly six meters in length and was thought to have weighed around 17 kg!

Fishing Cat

True Wild Life | Fishing Cat | The fishing cat is a medium-sized feline, natively found throughout the countries of south-east Asia, and is most closely related to the smaller leopard cat. The fishing cat is found inhabiting coastal wetlands, swamps and mangroves from eastern Pakistan right down to the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java. Fishing cats are also commonly found living close to lakes, rivers and streams.

Cougar

True Wild Life | Cougar | The cougar is native to the Americas, particularly south America and western North America and is often known by other names such as mountain lion, puma and panther. Cougars can be found mainly in the mountain regions of Canada and Mexico, but as the name cougar is often used to describe an un-spotted leopard, cougars are also found in Asia and Africa. The cougar is the fourth biggest feline in the world behind the lion, tiger and jaguar, making the cougar the second largest cat in the Americas. The cougar has longer back than front legs and a long heavy body.

Cheetah

True Wild Life | Cheetah | Cheetahs are best known for their incredible speed, the cheetah being the fastest recorded mammal on land. Cheetahs do lack climbing abilities though meaning that the cheetah needs to use its super speed to its advantage. Cheetahs have been known to reach speeds of up to 75km and can accelerate from 0 to 60 faster than most modern day cars.

Cat

True Wild Life | Cat | Cats (domestic cats) seem to date back to around ancient Egyptian times, when they were worshiped and heralded as sacred animals to the Gods in Egypt. The cat has since become an honored and valued member of family homes worldwide.

Caracal

True Wild Life | Caracal | The caracal is also commonly known as the Persian Lynx or African Lynx despite the fact that the caracal is not a lynx at all. The caracal is thought to be most closely related to the African golden cat and the serval. The caracals name is believed to come from the Turkish word Karakulak, which means black ears. The caracal typically has 20 different muscles in the caracals ears which enables the caracal to detect prey.

Bobcat

True Wild Life | Bobcat | Bobcats are widespread and adaptable predators across North America. They share the genus Lynx with the Canadian lynx, but they are a separate species with physical differences. Bobcats are usually more heavily spotted than the lynx. They have smaller feet and larger ears. They tend to have a more aggressive temperament and have been known to run the much larger lynx off of food. The bobcat's ears do have small tufts on the end like those of the lynx. Although the bobcat shares many characteristics with the Canadian Lynx, the bobcat is smaller than the lynx at about double the size of a domestic cat.

Bobcats eat mainly birds and rabbits but also eat fish and insects, that the bobcat hunts for at night. The bobcat tends stay in wooded areas and many bobcats are also found in the mountain regions of North America. Bobcats do fairly well in suburban environments and can be seen hunting at dawn and dusk.