Cats are beautiful, powerful, graceful creatures. They have fascinated humans for centuries. To associate oneself with a cat brings about a sense of superiority, power and gracefulness. Think about all of the sports teams and cars with the name of a cat.
Unfortunately, most of the wild cat species are in danger of extinction due to man's ever increasing need for land, among other things. The snow leopard's wild population has a minimum estimate of fewer than two thousand individuals and may vanish from the wild in our lifetime. The lion no longer roams over Africa, Europe and parts of Asia. It has now been reduced to several "pools" of land in Africa and one small area in India. The cougar has now been obliterated from the wildlands across North America to a small population in the western area. This is just three species of cats out of over thirty that are in trouble. The cats (and other animals) need your help. If you are able, please contribute to any one of the several wildlife organizations established to preserve our natural heritage.
What is a Big Cat?
All cats are mammals, as you and me. They are the most carnivorous (meat eating) of the carnivores (dogs, bears, weasels, civets...). Cats sit at the top of most food pyramids due to their carnivorous nature. As you shall see, the size of the cat does not necessarily define if it is a "big cat" or a "small cat".
Scientists have classified the animals by their physical features. The reasons why animals are classified the way they are is complex and beyond the scope of this document. Entire books are written on the subject and could make for some rigorous, if not interesting reading.
Cats have been classified under the family Felidae. The classification known as the genus separates the large cats (Panthera) from the small cats (Felis). Pantherine cats are classified this way because of the structure in their throats that allow them to roar, the inability of them to purr continuously or at all and the lying position they assume while feeding. Felis cats are generally smaller, cannot roar, can continuously purr and crouch, rather than lay down, while feeding. This is why the physically large cat, the puma, is classified under felis, the "small" cats. Some cats, such as the cheetah, clouded leopard and snow leopard have traits that make it difficult to place them in the genus of Panthera or Felis, so they are placed in separate genera. Note that the snow leopard is often classified under Panthera with the other big cats.
The species describes what the animal is, such as leo species is the lion and pardus is the leopard. The genus followed by the species is how an animal is commonly distinguished scientifically. For example: Panthera leo is the lion and Panthera onca is the jaguar.
In many cases there are subspecies of a species. A subspecies is usually recognized as belonging to the species, but has minor traits that give scientists enough reason to subdivide a species into subspecies. A good feline example of this is the leopard with its several subspecies, such as the Amur leopard, which is smaller than a "typical" leopard and has longer fur for a colder climate.
Back to Big Cats Connection home page