This big cat fact sheet is a continuation of my quest to bring you up to speed on interesting factoids about felines. Here, we take a look at the great cats such as lions, tigers, and leopards.
Stealthy Feet and Powerful Claws
All big cats are able to retract their claws when not in use, with the exception of the cheetah (which is technically not a big cat or great cat, as they're called). The extended claws help the cheetah with traction at high speeds (see cheetah speed).
Big cats will sharpen their claws by scratching on a post or tree.
They also really enjoy Christmas trees! I love the tiger's "chuff" in this video at 0:17...
Facts about Lions
The lion is known as the "King of the jungle" but does not thrive in rain-forest environments. Instead, lions typically live in the open plains areas.
Male lions are the only cats with manes.
Lions will drink water when it's available. They can, however, get all the moisture they need from their food. In the Kalahari desert, lions will eat tsama melon. And you thought they only liked gazelle or wildebeest.
Lions are unusually social within the cat family, forming groups, called prides. Although feral cats and barn cats have been known to form loose colonies, pride behavior is unique to lions.
Lion cubs are born with spots, which typically fade with age.
Females within prides will share responsibilities for raising each other's cubs.
Male lions play no part in raising the cubs, and the mother will take steps to prevent the male from approaching the cubs.
One of the major cause of injury and death to lion cubs is... adult lions.
Tigers are the largest of all the cats, with many over 500 lbs.
Tigers inhabit Asia, India, and Russia, but not Africa as some people may think. The exception to this is 2 tigers that were raised from cubs by humans, taught to hunt, and relocated to preserves in Africa. This is an amazing story, and I really can't say enough about it. Living with Tigers is a must-have DVD for the true cat lover!
Tigers do not fear water. In fact, they are good swimmers, and often use a river or lake to cool off. They hunt very well in water. In fact, they often out maneuver their prey in the water.
Tigers are typically solitary, and are rarely seen together in a group.
The tiger's only real threats are other tigers, and humans.
The tiger's usual hunting strategy is to stalk and ambush its prey. This is in contrast to the lion or cheetah, both of whom often chase prey in the open field.
Leopards Are Tree Climbers
Leopards find safety in trees and use them as tools (I suspect scientists would disagree with using the term tool). They often sleep in them, sometimes hunt in them, keep their cubs safe in them while they are away, and usually use them to store a fresh kill.
African leopards are such good climbers that they have been caught on film snatching a baboon out of a tree and making a meal out of it.
Just like house cats, leopards sometimes having trouble getting down from a tree. The backward pointing claws are best for going up!
(Many house cats feel more at home when they can climb to a high spot to survey their territory. Various types of cat climbing furniture are available to help satisfy this need in your cat).
Leopards may use both the ambush method of hunting (like tigers), or the chase and dash method (more like cheetahs).
Leopards are solitary animals, and almost always hunt at night.
Black panthers are... not! This is an often misunderstood fact about the big cats. The animal referred to as a black panther is actually a leopard with an almost black coat.
Known as melanistic leopards, their coats are not solid black.
If you look closely, you may be able to see the spots, even though the coat is very dark.
In the Malay peninsula, almost half of the leopard population may be of the "black" variety.
As the caretaker stretched the skin for me to take the picture, I could clearly see that there were indeed spots on this cat.
This big guy was bouncing around his confinement area like a kitten, but I can tell you from being up close to the fangs and claws that wrestling with him is not a good idea!
You could hear (and feel) the power in the huge paws as he galloped all over the place. He was like a giant house kitty playing with his toys.
Spirit of the Wildcat is one of my recommended books with several excellent pictures of both melanistic leopards and melanistic jaguars (more cat books).
Below is a close up picture of the spots on the black leopard.
Big Cat Rescue has tons of big cat fact sheets as well as many more videos on their website, such as this one about one of my favorites, the jaguar.
is a must-have DVD for the 
is one of my recommended books with several excellent pictures of both melanistic leopards and melanistic jaguars (more