Big Cat Facts: With Pictures

Since a lot of people have difficulties distinguishing between the different big cats and their variations, this chart may help

Further More, some of the big kitties do have their own variations too, not only in appearance but in size and of course habitat as well.

By far the two big ones that often cause confusion are the leopard and the jaguar. Here is a leopard female:

...and here is a jaguar female (that is a radio collar on the back of its neck)

The jaguar is found in the Americas. Historically they occurred as far north as California, however the United States population is largely extinct. It extends south through Central America and into Argentina.

The leopard populations are found from China and India to the Middle East and down into Africa

Appearance. Below: leopard coat

Jaguars tend to have larger rosettes with spots in the middle (pic below), while the leopard has plain rosettes with no central spot in the middle.

Size:

Female leopard: 20 – 60 kg
Female jaguar: 85 – 90 kg
Male leopard: 40 – 80kg
Male jaguar: 110 -120 kg

The jaguar is the 3rd largest cat in the world:

1. Tiger
2. Lion
3. Jaguar
4. Leopard

Leopard male resting in a tree

Life expectancy

Leopards: 12- 15 in the wild, although there are a number of cases of females reaching over 17.
Jaguars: uncertain in the wild, but thought to be around 13- 15

Jaguars are not as agile in trees as leopards and they certainly do not spend as much time in the trees, but they are capable

Killing Style

Leopards kill using a suffocating bite. This bite will usually be around the throat, or may in fact be around the mouth.

The jaguar on the other hand, prefers to use one of two methods: 1) killing by canines piercing through prey’s skull (only large cat to use this technique) and 2) By severing the spinal column/backbone with a powerful bite and breaking the neck.

Both species of cat prefer to hunt by stalking and ambush rather then lengthy chases.

Here is a closer look at the killing style of the jaguar:

A few words about the strength of the animal:

The jaguar steals the show here. Pound for pound this cat is phenomenally strong. With the ability to deliver up to 2000 pounds of force, this makes jaguars the most powerful of the great cats – even more so than lions and tigers. It also ranks quite high on the list of top 10 most powerful bites in the animal kingdom:

1. Nile crocodile
2. Saltwater crocodile
3. American alligator
4. Jaguar (most powerful mammal)
5. Hippopotamus
6. Gorilla
7. Grizzly bear
8. Spotted hyena
9. Tiger
10. Lion

Link to part 2 Pumas, lynx and bobcats - due to popular demand:
http://imgur.com/gallery/tNjgD