Wild Cats

[Tallulah]

TIGER – Pathera tigris

The tiger has existed for 1.5 million years. It once lived from the Caspian Sea, through India and southeastern Asia, and up to northern China and Siberia.

The tiger is the largest living cat species. The Siberian tiger weighs up to 220kg, and may have been even heavier in the past. Further south, the tiger is smaller, and darker in colour.


Siberian tiger – don't argue with this one!


Sumatran tiger – more orange, with narrow stripes.

Of the eight recent subspecies, three are already extinct, and the remaining five are endangered, some critically so. The Bali tiger became extinct in 1937. In 1970, a research programme came too late for the Javan tiger, who became extinct only two years later. The most critically endangered subspecies is the South China tiger, with no confirmed sightings since 1983. But there is hope. By the early 1940s, only 30 Siberian tigers remained. Conservation efforts have proved successful, and there are now 450-500 individuals.

The white tiger is the result of a pair of recessive genes which first occurred around 100 years ago. All white tigers in captivity are descendents of a male white tiger captured in India in 1951, and his normal-coloured daughter. Generations of inbreeding have led to reduced fertility, increased cub mortality and a high rate of deformities such as this fella:


Tigers can swim, and often lounge, half-submerged, in hot weather. The can climb trees, but only do so when provoked.

Tigers will eat anything they can catch, from frogs to elephant calves, but they normally take the most abundant large prey in the area, which may include deer, wild pigs and domestic cows.

Tigers are solitary cats, although evidence suggests they could be as social as lions under the right circumstances.

Gratuitous Baby Photo:

[Edgewood]

For one of my Christmas presents Mick paid for me to support the Born Free charity and adopt a Tiger for a year. They a wonderful big cats. My dream would be to see on in the wild.

[Tallulah]

MANUL or PALLAS CAT – Otocolobus manul

The manul is a distinctive-looking cat. It is about the size of a domestic cat, with short legs, long, silver hair, a flattened face and widely spaced ears.


Not an ewok!

The Manul lives in mountainous areas, steppe and semi-desert regions, from the Caspian Sea, eastwards as far as China and Mongolia.

They are not particularly fast runners, and hunt by creeping up on their prey. Their unusual head shape allows them to peer over rocks without exposing too much of their head. They eat mostly pikas, voles, gerbils, rodents and chukar partridge.

They shelter from the severe winter cold in dens in rock fissures or abandoned burrows of other animals. Approximately once per decade, exceptionally cold winters mean many manuls starve to death. However, the population can recover quickly since they can have large litters of kittens, who are independent by six months of age.

The manul is protected by international laws restricting the trade in pelts, but it exists in countries who lack the resources for reinforcement, such as China, Iran and Afghanistan. Nevertheless, the species is not thought to be at serious risk.

[kimthecat]

I hadn't heard of the Pallas cat before.!

I think there is a possiblilty of pumas or similar living wild in the UK. Remember if the 70s people kept them as pets in their h omes with no restrictions at all.  One bloke used to take his puma to the pub in harrow until one day it went beserk 

About the Caracal- Thats interesting about the pupils
"Unlike most small cats, the caracal's pupils contract to form circles rather than slits"
I wonder why that is?
Ali

[gabrielleinlondon]

Oh my, the expression on that Pallas cat's face is JUST like the expression Bad Bella has, when she's done something awful (like grabbing my legs) and I've told her off.  Sort of half defiant, half apologetic!

[Tallulah]

About the Caracal- Thats interesting about the pupils
"Unlike most small cats, the caracal's pupils contract to form circles rather than slits"
 I wonder why that is?

No one actually knows, but it's thought it's because cats with slitted pupils have something called a multifocal lens, which is useful for seeing clearly in dim light. The slitted pupil allows them to take most advantage of this special lens. Once they evolved the multifocal lens, individuals with slitted pupils would have been at an advantage, which would have led to the evolution of the accompanying slitted pupils. If the caracal does not have the multifocal lens, then slitted pupils would have been no benefit to it.

[Burmatruex]

I had never heard of the Scottish Wildcat.  So I did some looking.  I found it very interesting that apparently it is the only wild cat that cannot be domesticated in any way, even when bred and raised in captivity.  Cool, cool, kitty.

[Tallulah]

They are seriously wild, yet actually the same species as the domestic cat. Domestic/wild hybrids can be tamed if removed from the mother at a very young age, depending on which way around the parents are.

[Tallulah]

SNOW LEOPARD – Uncia uncia

The snow leopard stands 56cm at the shoulder, with thick, smoky-grey fur marked with rosettes. It has a thick tail, almost as long as its body. It has massive paws, well suited to gripping rocky hills and for supporting the cat's weight on thick snow. The long tail helps with balance when climbing, leaping, and on quick turns while chasing prey.


Long tail!

The snow leopard lives in high mountainous regions of central Asia. They can travel through deep snow, but prefer to use trails left by other animals where possible. One snow leopard was tracked walking through snow for 10km without resting. The animal's paws sunk to a depth of 43cm, and its belly had created a furrow in the snow.

Snow leopards eat mostly bharal and ibex, but also prey on domestic livestock. They generally give birth to 1-3 cubs during May or June. The mother lines the den with her own fur – one den was carpeted 1.27cm deep with moulted fur!


A snow leopard's diet makes its butt taste icky!

The snow leopard has probably always been rare. Today, an estimated 4,500 – 7,500 individuals live throughout many scattered areas. There is concern about the potential for inbreeding, but anecdotal evidence suggests that some individuals do walk between habitats up to 600km apart.


Babies!!!

The snow leopard is threatened by hunting for pelts. Over-hunting of its prey also poses a threat, and also makes it more likely that they will take domestic livestock. To conserve the snow leopard, it is essential to gain the co-operation of local farmers. One pilot scheme aims to provide incentives to persuade people to protect local wildlife and find methods to protect their livestock.

[Mustrum Ridcully]

I have always wanted to snuggle a Snow Leopard tummy!

[gabrielleinlondon]

That wonderful David Attenborough 'Planet Earth' series contains a sequence about these beautiful snow leopards.   You can see a bit of it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIVcg0eGEsg

The whole series is great - I treated myself a couple of years back to the box set.   I've watched it over and over again.   Even the music is glorious.

I just checked on Amazon and you can now buy the whole thing for around a tenner.

[Mustrum Ridcully]

The whole series is great - I treated myself a couple of years back to the box set. 

Me too 

In fact, I have treated myself to every single David Attenborough DVD ever made! 

[AnnaT]

Love this thread and also love everything David Attenborough does, along with Simon King who we seem to be hearing more and more of these days and rightly so 

[Tallulah]

I loved the Snow Leopard on Planet Earth. Its mannerisms were so much like Mitzi's! And there was the photo of the snow leopard that won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition a couple of years ago as well. My mum has the DVD and I'm hoping to borrow it, only it always takes her absolutely forever to watch anything.

I missed Simon King's new Shetland programme this week. I've had to watch Big Cat Week for part of my course, and his enthusiasm for the cats really shines through. I want to buy his book. There are photos of him stroking cheetahs in there. I want to know how it feels to stroke a cheetah!

[Tallulah]

CLOUDED LEOPARD – Neofelis nebulosa

The clouded leopard has the powerful, robust build of a large cat, but is not quite as big as a leopard. It is thought the clouded leopard evolved 5-6 million years ago, much earlier than the Panthera (big) cats.

It has a tail as long as its head and body, short, stocky legs and broad paws. It has canine teeth up to 4cm long – relative to its body size, the largest of any living cat. It has gres, yellow or brown fur, with large, dark, cloud-like blotches.



They live south of the Himalayas in southwest Asia, Sumatra and Borneo. They are very elusive and little is known of their behaviour. They are probably solitary and eat a variety of mammals and birds.

The main threats to the clouded leopard are habitat destruction, accidental trapping or poisoning, and an illegal trade in skins. On Sumatra, up to 80% of lowland forest has been destroyed for agriculture. The Taiwanese population has been falling since the mid-1970s, and a 1986 survey reported no sightings in Taiwan. The last record of clouded leopards in Nepal was 1863, but four individuals were found in 1987. the species is considered vulnerable, but not seriously endangered at present.

Kittens here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7967197.stm