Fantastic Animals – The Big Cats

பிப்ரவரி

TIGER

·    The lion is the only big cat, which lives in a pride and hunts together.

·    The hunting techniques of all the big cats is the same – to ambush and deliver the strangle hold in the prey’s wind pipes.

·    The cheetah is the fastest mammal on land and can race up to speeds of 70 kmph.

·    The secret behind the cheetah’s speed lies in its body. It does not have any excess fat, hair and its bones are light as aluminium sheets.

·    The leopard can climb a tree with its prey twice its weight.

·    The tiger is the only big cat which can swim while the rest of the cats hate water.

·    The tiger is the biggest cat in the big cat group. It weighs about 200-320kg.

·    Black panthers are black in colour because the of the genetic condition melanism.

·    The lion’s roar can be heard up to 5 km. It is because it has the longest larynx.

·    The lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, cheetah can roar but cannot purr like other cats!

·    The mix between a male lion and a female tiger can give the liger. It is bigger than its parents but cannot run as fast as them.

·    For its amazing speed, it has enlarged lungs and heart. Its tail helps it to balance while running zig-zag to catch its prey.

·     A snow leopard can leap seven times their own body length in a single bound.  It is because of the long muscular hind legs.

·    No two tigers have the same stripe patterns like the human fingerprint.

·    Female lions do most of the hunting. Almost 95% of the hunting is done by them while the males guard and mark their territories.

Compiled by : Ezhilan Olivannan
Chennai