Wild Cat Fun Facts

“Big cats” are called Pantherinae. “Small cats” are called Felinae. Pantherinae consists of the lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, snow leopard, clouded leopard, and Sunda clouded leopard. Felinae consists of 33 different species. This includes everything from the puma to the jungle cat! 5 of the Felidae species are currently endangered. They include the tiger, Iberian lynx, Borneo bay cat, fishing cat and the flat-headed cat.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there are 41 different types of mammals in the felidae family. 40 of the felidae species are wild cats. The remaining one is the humble house cat. 

They fall into the Carnivora order. These are mammals that mainly eat flesh. Wild cats are carnivores, since they must eat meat.

You might call a group of wild, feral cats a “destruction”. But traditionally a group of house cats is called a “clowder”. 

Big cats have different group names, though! A group of lions is called a “pride” and a group of tigers is considered a “streak” or an “ambush”. A gathering of leopards, on the other hand, is a “leap”.

If you see a group of mountain lions, they're usually a family!

The male Amur Tigers are larger than the females. The males can weigh up to 450 pounds, although the largest Amur Tiger on record weighed 840 pounds. 

Sadly, there are only a couple of thousand of these tigers left. Conservation efforts have pulled them from the edge of extinction! They are not out of the woods yet and are still considered endangered, but the conservation efforts are promising.

This is a wider area than any other big cat.  Over-all, the species has lost 75% of its range. So even though they still cover a lot of land, they used to cover more. Certain subspecies of leopards are very endangered. Their numbers are currently declining. But hot spots can still be found in parts of Africa and Sri Lanka.

Depending on their anatomy, some big cats are better at climbing and swimming than others. But they are best at hunting on the ground. For example, jaguars can climb. But are not as good at it as leopards because they’re heavier and have shorter tails. So it’s difficult for them to keep their balance! 

Cats only sweat through their paws, so swimming is an important way to help them cool down. Big cats are also playful and enjoy the water because they have fun in it!

Our house cats spend most of the day lounging. But they run around the house at night. 

Lions are not much different! They will sleep most of the day and do most of their hunting at night. Lions are generally considered a nocturnal animal, as are most big cats. After sleeping for 16 to 20 hours during the day, they travel around 2 to 3 miles a day to find food at night. If they can’t find any food nearby, they can travel up to 8 miles to eat.

Pumas have more names than any other mammal - and the largest ‘small’ cat! They range between Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Dakota, Texas, and Florida. Cougars were hunted to stop them from hurting livestock. Today, their population is shrinking.

A bobcat can live between 5 and 15 years, but are quite small. They weigh between 9 pounds and 33 pounds. They can be found in all lower 48 states except 1! Can you guess which it is??

Delaware! If you live in a suburban or rural area, you're living in close proximity with your local bobcat population. Now is the perfect time to learn about them!

There are estimated to be only 50 ocelots left in the United States. This includes those on breeding reservations. The jaguar and the ocelot can be found from Texas to Arkansas to Louisiana.

98% of the Canadian lynxes in the USA can be found in Alaska. The other 2% are found in Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Idaho, and north-central Washington. They live in forests where their primary prey, the snowshoe hare, lives!