The Big Cats

Question: The mountain lion, or cougar, of the Americas is also known as the:

Answer: The puma (Puma concolor), which is also called a mountain lion, a cougar, a panther (eastern U.S.), or a catamount, is a large brownish New World cat comparable in size to the jaguar—the only other large cat of the Western Hemisphere.

Question: The term black panther is most frequently applied to:

Answer: Black panther is a colloquial term that refers to members of the cat genus Panthera that are characterized by a coat of black fur or large concentrations of black spots set against a dark background. The term black panther is most frequently applied to black-coated leopards (Panthera pardus) of Africa and Asia and jaguars (Panthera onca) of Central and South America.

Question: Which “big cat” is the largest member of the cat family (Felidae)?

Answer: Tigers are the largest members of the cat family. The Siberian, or Amur, tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is the largest of the tigers, measuring up to 4 meters (13 feet) in total length and weighing up to 300 kg (660 pounds).

Question: By the early 21st century, lions (Panthera leo) were limited to habitats in:

Answer: Historically, lions ranged across much of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but now they are found mainly in parts of Africa south of the Sahara. An isolated population of about 500 Asiatic lions constitutes a slightly smaller race that lives under strict protection in India’s Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary.

Question: Which big cat species can be found in pockets from southern Africa to the Korean peninsula?

Answer: Once distributed over large parts of both Africa and Asia, by 2015 leopards had lost close to 75 percent of their former range. Several large pockets, however, remained throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Iran, and the Himalayas, with smaller pockets scattered throughout Central Asia, India, Southeast Asia, eastern China and Manchuria, and the Korean peninsula. In addition, one tiny pocket of leopards persists in the Atlas Mountains.

Question: Which “big cat” species can be found in Indonesia?

Answer: Tigers range from the Russian Far East through parts of North Korea, China, India, and Southeast Asia to the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Question: In a sprint to capture prey, which member of the cat family is the fastest?

Answer: Cheetahs’ sprints have been measured at a maximum of 114 km (71 miles) per hour, and they routinely reach speeds of 80–100 km per hour while pursuing prey. The cheetah was common throughout North America, Europe, and Asia until the end of the last ice age, about 11,700 years ago.

Question: Which member of genus Lynx is the smallest in size?

Answer: The bobcat (Lynx rufus), roughly the size of a large domestic cat, is the smallest lynx. It weighs 9–12 kg (about 20–26 pounds) and stands 45–58 cm (18–23 inches) tall at the shoulder.

Question: Which member of genus Lynx is currently classified as a critically endangered species?

Answer: The devastation of the Iberian lynx’s (Lynx pardinus’s) staple prey, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), by myxomatosis beginning in the 1950s and by rabbit hemorrhagic disease from the late 1980s has caused significant population declines. Habitat loss, vehicle strikes, and hunting pressure have also contributed to an 80 percent decline in population since 1960.

Question: Which big cat listed below currently resides in isolated pockets of Central and South America?

Answer: The jaguar (Panthera onca), which is also called el tigre or tigre americano, is the largest New World member of the cat family (Felidae). It was once found from the U.S.-Mexican border southward to Patagonia, Argentina.