How many Amur leopards are left in the world. Far Eastern leopard, or Amur leopard, or Amur leopard. The main enemy of the tiger is the poacher

Jaguar- a beautiful and graceful animal, a representative of the cat family. It is considered the largest predator of the inhabitants of the American continent, ranking third worldwide.

The length of his body is often more than one and a half meters. And especially large males reach a weight of up to 158 kg. Females are much smaller, and the average weight of individuals ranges from 70 to 110 kg.

The jaguar has a long tail: from half a meter or more. The height of the animal at the withers reaches 80 cm. The animal belongs to the genus. As seen on animal photo, jaguar outwardly looks like, but much larger.

And the color is also similar to its predatory relative, but resembles the structure of the skull. It has thick and short fur and rounded ears. The color is varied: from bright red tones to sandy, the underparts and soles are white, and dark spots are scattered throughout the body.

Found in nature and black jaguar – animal, which is not considered a representative of a separate species, but is the result of a manifestation of melanism.

The jaguar is a bright representative of the fauna of the New World and lives in Central and South America. Due to fierce hunting, the animals were almost completely destroyed in Uruguay and El Salvador.

In the southern United States, its habitat has decreased by a third for the same reason. Jaguar - a resident of wet tropical jungle, can live in swampy areas and in areas overgrown with xerophytic shrubs.

It is also found in wooded mountainous areas, but at an altitude of no more than two kilometers, as well as on the coast of the ocean. Scientists have counted up to nine different jaguar species. Animal needs protection and it is believed that one of its subspecies was completely exterminated.

Pictured are black and spotted jaguars

The nature and lifestyle of the jaguar

This wild, graceful animal lives in places where pristine nature reigns and there is a variety of animal world. Jaguar prefers a solitary lifestyle.

Like all predators, it protects its territory from encroachment, which is quite extensive and can take from several tens to a hundred square kilometers. The size of personal plots depends on the type of landscape, conditions, the abundance of food that can be obtained from it, and also on the sex of the animal.

Protecting its possessions, the jaguar behaves intolerantly and shows extreme aggressiveness towards cougars - their relatives and representatives of the cat family.

But he is quite patient with individuals of his species, even showing friendliness when confronted in hunting areas. Getting food, jaguars often move from place to place, and after a few days they return back in order to again guard their prey in their former territory.

On animal hunting jaguar begins with the onset of twilight, being especially active immediately after sunset and in the predawn hours. This beast cannot run for long, but few can match it for short distances. Animal jaguar speed is about 90 km/h.

When pursuing its prey, it makes guttural jerky sounds resembling grunts. And in the night you can often hear its deafening, soul-chilling roar. Indians South America they seriously believe that the jaguar has special abilities: it has the ability to hypnotize victims, it can imitate the voices of animals and birds, luring and deceiving its prey.

Of course, these are only legends, but the spotted color of the animal allows it to merge with the surrounding landscapes and, remaining unnoticed, lure its victims into a trap. Often he lies in wait for his prey in dense tall grass. Or hiding on the banks of water bodies, waiting for the animals themselves to come to the watering place.

Attacking, this deadly huge cat rushes from the side or from the back, knocking down its prey with the force of its swift body. Such a blow is either fatal or causes serious injury. And even large and strong animals, such as, after a jaguar jump, die on the spot from a fracture of the spine.

Its jaws are so powerful, and its teeth are so sharp that it often bites through the skull of prey. Interestingly, the jaguar never pursues its victims if they detected the danger in time and rushed away to flee.

Also, the animal rarely attacks people, especially if it is not provoked. And recorded cases of cannibalism are usually associated with self-defense. There are also examples when a jaguar chased a person solely out of curiosity. Despite the extreme danger of the animal, many have a desire to keep jaguars in large private houses and on personal plots.

Any animal, and even a predator, is interesting for its habits, character and demeanor. But you can keep a jaguar only under the condition of strict observance of the conditions of keeping and feeding.

And it should be in a well-equipped enclosure with an iron door that opens with cables to secure animal. Buy a jaguar can be in nurseries, zoos and private individuals.

However, the matter is complicated by the fact that this species is listed in the Red Book and is considered rare. animals. Jaguar price can reach several tens of thousands.

Nutrition

animal jaguar as its victims, it can choose ungulate representatives of the fauna: and bakers, it can also attack caimans. Its food may be foxes and monkeys, as well as smaller animals: rodents, snakes and birds.

The predator begins its supper from the head of the killed victim, gradually reaching the back. When the size of the prey is too large, having satiated, the beast leaves its occupation, sometimes returning to finish the leftovers, but not always, almost never eating carrion.

If the animal settles on the territory of the ocean coast, then turtle meat can become its favorite delicacy and special delicacy, the shell of which the predator can easily bite through. The jaguar may attack livestock.

Unlike its relatives, representatives of the cat family, the jaguar is an excellent swimmer, often chasing its victims in the water. He is an excellent fish catcher, and does this in rivers and streams. And settling on the ocean coast, he searches for and digs out turtle eggs from the sand.

Reproduction and lifespan

Jaguars do not have a specific period for mating games. Seeking the location of females, animals sometimes gather in small groups, which is unnatural for jaguars, who prefer loneliness in normal conditions.

Pictured is a baby jaguar

At the time of choosing a partner, the ability to have offspring in which comes in the third year of life, males roar deafeningly and passionately. Despite the aggressiveness of this species, fights between rivals in the fight for the female usually do not happen. And after mating, the partners leave each other forever.

And after about a hundred days, in her lair, the mother gives life to several cubs. Their color is darker than that of their parents, and the spots on the skin are almost continuous.

Children spend about six months with their mother until they learn to hunt on their own. And having learned everything, they leave it forever. In captivity, the jaguar lives up to 25 years, but in freedom, animals die much earlier.

Although a rare subspecies of leopards can be found in the Far East of our country, as well as in northern China. This subspecies is called Far Eastern amur leopard. He is also known as Amur leopard.

This predator was listed in the Red Book. It belongs to a subspecies that is on the verge of extinction. The Far Eastern leopard population is in critical condition today.

At the same time, the fact that the Amur tiger - its famous "cousin" - has increased its population, gives hope for the preservation of this subspecies. There is an opinion that the Amur leopard, the photo of which is presented in this article, can be saved through the implementation of various environmental projects.

Description of the breed

This leopard has many distinctive features from other felines. IN summer period wool reaches 2.5 centimeters in length, and in winter it is replaced by 7 centimeters. In frosts, the Amur leopard has a light coat color with a reddish-yellow tint, while in summer more saturated and bright colors predominate.

The Far Eastern Amur leopard (photos of the animal are presented in this article) has long legs allowing him to walk freely in the snow. At the same time, the weight of males reaches 48 kg, although there are also larger representatives of the breed - 60 kg. Females weigh up to 43 kg.

habitation

At the beginning of the 20th century, the leopard was found in the south of the Sikhote-Alin, as well as in the southwestern part, although in last years he was not identified there. At present, the Amur leopard lives in the mountain forest regions of the southwestern part of Primorsky Krai, where it clearly prefers cedar-black-fir-broad-leaved forests. It is less willing to populate especially pyrogenic oak forests, the areas of which are increasing due to annual fires.

This representative of the Cat family chooses territories with steep slopes of hills, rugged terrain, watersheds and rocky outcrops. Its range has now been reduced to a critical size and covers only a mountain forest limited area of ​​​​15 thousand km² (in Primorye, from to the Razdolnaya River, as well as on the border with the DPRK and the PRC).

Historical distribution

Today, the distribution of the subspecies has shrunk to a small fraction of its historical original range. Initially, the Far Eastern leopard lived throughout the northeastern part of Manchuria, in the provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin, including, in addition, on the Korean Peninsula.

and reproduction

In the Amur leopard, puberty occurs at the age of 3 years. IN wild nature life expectancy is about 15 years, while in captivity it is 20 years. At the Amur leopard mating season falls in the spring. Litter includes 1-4 cubs. At the age of three months, they are weaned, while the cubs gain independence at 1.5 years, leaving their mother in order to then lead a solitary life.

social structure

The Amur leopard (pictures with his image are presented in this article) prefers a single night image life. But some males after mating can stay with their females, and also help in raising the cubs. It often happens that several males simultaneously pursue one female, and also fight for the opportunity to mate with her.

Nutrition

The basis of its diet is roe deer, raccoon dogs, hares, small boars, badgers, spotted deer.

Main Threats

The Far Eastern Amur leopard in the period from 1970 to 1983 lost more than 80% of its habitat. The main reasons turned out to be: fires, the timber industry, as well as the transformation of land for agriculture. But not all is lost. At the moment, there are liveable animals woodlands. It is possible to protect territories from the harmful influence of man, in addition, to increase the population.

Lack of loot

It should be noted that in China there are vast areas that are suitable habitat, while the level of food supply here is insufficient to maintain the population at the desired level. The volume of production may increase due to the regulation of the use of forests by the population, as well as the adoption of measures to protect ungulates. The Far Eastern leopard needs to repopulate its original habitat in order to survive.

Illegal trade and poaching

The Amur leopard is constantly hunted illegally because of its spotted and beautiful fur. In 1999, the investigation team conducted an experiment undercover: they were able to recreate the skin of a male and female Far Eastern leopard, after which they sold it for $500 and $1,000.

This experiment demonstrates that there are illegal markets for such products and they are located near animal habitats. Villages and Agriculture surrounded by forests where these animals live. This creates access to forests, and poaching is a more serious problem here than in regions remote from people. This circumstance applies to both leopards and other animals that are exterminated for the sake of money and food.

Conflict with a person

It should be noted that the Amur leopard (the photo of the animal is admired for its beauty) is especially vulnerable, since deer make up part of its diet. Man's contribution to the general decrease in the number of deer, associated with the value of his antlers, prevents the leopard from getting enough food.

Due to the decline in the deer population, leopards often enter reindeer farms in search of food. The owners of these lands often kill animals to protect their investments.

Inbreeding

The Amur leopard is also under the threat of extinction due to its small population, which makes it vulnerable to a variety of disasters, including diseases, forest fires, changes in mortality and birth rates, sex ratios, inbreeding depression. It should be noted that in nature observed and family ties, which means that this can lead to various genetic problems, including a decrease in fertility.

Similar matings are found in certain populations of large cats, although in small populations they do not allow outbreeding. Studies have shown that in an adult female, the average number of cubs has significantly decreased.

Unfortunately, at the present moment, the situation with the Amur leopard can be considered truly catastrophic - for example, over the past twenty years, its habitat area in our country has almost halved, while the number has decreased several dozen times. Due to this, the Amur leopard is protected today.

She attributed the animal to the first category as the rarest, which is on the verge of extinction, with a very limited range, whose main population is within our country. At the same time, the leopard was included in the Appendix of the First CITES Convention and in the Red Book of the Union for Conservation of Nature.

Far Eastern leopard considered the most a rare species big cats in the world. It is listed in the Red Book. To date, there are about 50 individuals. The Amur leopard lives in Russia and China.

On the territory of Russia, in the Primorsky Territory, approximately 30 Amur leopards live. The rest, a smaller part of the endangered species is in China. In Russia, this species of big cats is listed in the I category of the Red Book.

Far Eastern leopard photo, how much is left, where they live, the red book: the reasons for the decline in the population

There are many reasons for the decline in the Amur leopard population. One of them is the destruction by timber industry organizations, natural environment the habitats of these animals. When there was very little territory left for Amur leopards to live, they began to live near the roadways and often became victims of road accidents.

Poaching is another reason why the Amur leopard is listed in the Red Book. The valuable and beautiful fur of this animal was the reason for the cruel extermination for many years. To date, hunting for these animals is prohibited and punishable by criminal liability. The Russian authorities took Amur leopards under protection in order to save them from complete extinction.

Far Eastern leopard photo, how much is left, where they live, the red book: interesting facts

An interesting fact is that the color of each of the Amur leopards is unique. It is thanks to this feature that specialists can distinguish each individual. These big cats have a beautiful physique, strong legs, a rounded head and long tail. They usually hunt small prey. The diet of Amur leopards includes wild boar cubs, birds, hares and insects.

The claws of these animals are brown in color, and they are white at the tips. In order for sharp claws not to become dull while walking, these cats have a special “sheath” where the claws are retracted. The Amur leopard is predominantly nocturnal. Hunts, as a rule, in the first half of the night. These big cats mature by the age of 3 and at this age they can acquire offspring.

Family felines (Felidae) for 35 million years now. wild representatives felines are absent only in Australia and Antarctica. There are 36-35 species in total, grouped into 4 genera.

The largest and smallest

The largest wild cat is the tiger: its weight reaches 270 kilograms, but this is not the limit. Hunters happened to kill tigers of 320 kg each. Lions in the wild rarely weigh more than 200 kg, their weight category 125-250 kg. The experience of zoos and circuses convinces: if a lion fights with a tiger, then the first remains defeated. If the animals are not separated in time, the tiger will bite the lion.

The largest tiger

... Amur. The smallest is the Sunda, he used to live on the island of Bali and now continues to live in Sumatra.

The biggest teeth

Of all predatory animals, the tiger has the largest teeth, its jaws are so powerful that they allow it to bite through the spine of any land animal.

The smallest

...black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), which weighs exactly 270 times less. It is smaller than a domestic cat, lives in Africa, the largest cat weighs about 2 kg.

miniature leopard
Marble cat lives in the same forests as the clouded leopard, is also colored and also long-tailed, but almost half as much. She hunts for small tree animals, frogs and lizards.

small cats

The size of cats depends on the climate

Populations wild cats depend on climate: small cats live in countries with warm climate, large - in cold conditions. The Sumatran tiger is the smallest of the species (it is 1 m shorter than its northern relative) lives in the warmest areas, the Amur tiger is the heaviest in the coldest.

sexual dimorphism

In many species of cats, the male and female differ significantly from each other in size. Male fish cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) 11-12 kg, female - 6-7 kg. Fish cats are medium cats.

How many wild cats live in nature

African lions
Twenty years ago there were 230,000 lions in Africa, but today there are only 23,000 of them. Many of them are carriers of AIDS and bone tuberculosis. The reason for the catastrophic reduction in livestock is their destruction by man. Lions attack livestock. IN central regions In Kenya, lion damage to livestock is estimated at $A500 per year. There is one cow or three sheep per lion per year. This problem could be solved by organizing a more effective night guard, but the population prefers to solve it with poisonous baits and shooting animals.

Asian lions

There are currently 300 Asiatic lions in Asia, which are 1 in the Gir Lion National Park, pcs. Gujarat, India on 125,000 ha.

Cheetahs were distributed throughout most of Africa, Central and Western Asia. Today there are less than 15,000. Main enemy cheetahs are wild dogs that live in areas adjacent to the Sahara region, less than 5,500 cheetahs remain in these areas.

striped skin

Tigers not only have striped fur, but also striped skin.

How many tigers are left

Back in 1930, approximately 100,000 tigers lived on Earth, 40,000 of them in India. Today, only about 5,000 tigers remain in the world. More recently, there were 8 subspecies of tigers. Caspian, Bali, Javanese tigers are completely destroyed. Today, only five subspecies remain: the Bengal tiger - about 4,000 individuals (2,000 in Indochina, the same number in India), the Sumatran tiger - 600-700 individuals, the Indochinese tiger - less than 1,500 individuals. More optimistic estimates double these figures. Thanks to measures taken the population of Amur tigers in the Russian Far East is 450-470 individuals, in the territory Khabarovsk Territory much less - 60-70 and no more than 20 individuals in China on the border with Russia. There are 50 tigers in Manchuria and Korea. In Java - from 6 to 14 tigers.

How many snow leopards are in Russia

Total on the territory former USSR There are about 2 thousand snow leopards, irbis.

The rarest wild cats

Spreading Iriomote cat (Felis iriomotensis) limited about. Iriomote, Ryukyu Islands, Japan. Their number does not exceed a hundred; a few more individuals live in Japanese zoos.

Cats live and sleep in water
In Turkey, in Lake Van, there are cats whose whole life is connected with water. They not only live in water, but even sleep in it.

If it rains

The tiger endures rain and roams its territory in bad weather. And leopards hide if it drips from the sky.

Jaguar fur with a black spot in the rosette

Not everyone can tell a jaguar from a leopard. These animals are very similar, and their spots are similar in shape and color, only the jaguar has larger ones, and some rosettes with a small black spot in the center.

The hind legs of a tiger are larger than the front ones.

Tiger - very strong cat, with a powerful, muscular body that allows him to successfully cope even with a large prey. Its hind legs are longer than its front legs. Due to this, he easily jumps on his prey. Its large claws and powerful, muscular shoulder girdle allows it to capture prey in such a way that it has no chance of escape.

cat nose

The cat's nose leaves an imprint by which it can be established that it belongs to one or another cat - it identifies it, like a fingerprint - a person.

Drink and swim a lot

During lunch, tigers are often located near water bodies, because. drink a lot with meals. And on hot days, they spend many hours swimming in ponds. Tigers swim well and do not hesitate to rush into the water for prey. Where the tiger is not disturbed, he may lie in the water. Tigers swim well: large rivers, even the Ganges, cross without difficulty.

Water and jaguar (Panthera onca) not afraid - he loves to swim, and swims perfectly. Therefore, the inhabitants of rivers and lakes have to feed this predator: capybaras (capybaras), turtles, and fish get to it for lunch, and the jaguar hunts fish from the shore, throwing them out of the water with powerful blows of its paws. Even crocodiles, which are smaller, he hunts.

Jaguar in a boat
The jaguar swims well and swims across the Amazon. There was such a case: a jaguar attacked people in a boat. They jumped into the water, and the jaguar got into the boat and swam, looking around.

Cat-fisherman
Fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)- a relatively large cat weighing 12 kg, lives on the coast of the Indian Ocean. He climbs trees reluctantly. But it swims great. They say it even dives for fish like an otter.

And here sand cat (Felis margarita) able to live without water. They say she doesn't drink water. This is a small wild cat weighing 3.4 kg.

Cats learned to dive and swim

On the island of Miladummadulu, located in Indian Ocean, cats, having exterminated all small living creatures, were forced to learn how to swim and dive, and now they get their food in the ocean, deftly hunting for fish.

The skin is also striped
Tigers not only have striped fur, but also striped skin.

5cm layer of fat

In winter, Amur tigers have a five-centimeter layer of fat under the skin on their belly.

Cougar lives wide

The living space of a single cat is not as spread out as that of a cougar: from southern Alaska to the Mashellan Strait. This was the case at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Now the cougar is almost universally exterminated. The smallest cougars (about 30 kg) live in tropical forests South America - they are with short red-brown hair. The largest cougars 9110 kg) inhabit Rocky Mountains North America and are found in Tierra del Fuego.

Roaring and not roaring

lion roar ( panthera leo) can be heard at a distance of 5 miles. But the cheetah does not growl and does not meow - it barks, squeals and chirps, but it can purr. In a good mood, the leopard purrs, the clouded leopard and the cougar too. But they can also growl.

Lion hunting ground

... ranges from 8 to 150 square miles. This area is guarded by male lions. A pack of lions, consisting of six male lions, twelve adult lionesses and young lion cubs, can live within one site. Depending on the living conditions in a given area and the number of other animals, a flock can occupy an area of ​​​​up to 400 square kilometers, but where there is more than enough food, this area can be much smaller.

The cougar lives in an area up to 100 miles in circumference. Even if she is not disturbed, she roams within the site, not staying anywhere for a long time.

Black and smoky cats

Leopards (Pantera pardus) with black skin color (black panthers) are especially common on the island of Java. Clouded leopards live there, as well as in the mountain forests of Nepal, Sikkim, all of southern China and Indochina. They are painted very beautifully: a black marble pattern on a bright yellow background. Smoky leopards are singled out in a special genus, because in their anatomy they combine the features of both large and small cats.

Children are spotted - adults - no

The cougar's fur does not have any pattern, although its kittens are spotted. With the first molt, the spots disappear.

White and black leopards

Everyone knows about black panthers, but in the genus of leopards there are also albinos and the so-called flavists: they have little black paint, the spots are faded, ocher, at best chocolate. African leopards have small spots, while Asian leopards have larger ones. The background tone of the Caucasian and Central Asians is sandy-grayish, and that of the Far Eastern ones is reddish-yellow.

Lions' manesare black and light
The manes of lions are black and light, modest and wide - according to the various manes, scientists distinguish 10-12 subspecies among lions. The black mane of the Barbary and Somali lions, the Masai, Cape and Persian - the manes are dark brown, others are yellow. The most magnificent mane was that of the Barbary lion, now exterminated.

Why do cats have short jaws?

Like all cats, the tiger has short jaws, due to this, the gripping power and the depth of biting into the prey with teeth increase many times over.

Modern saber-toothed
skull clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) elongated, which distinguishes it from other cats. Its fangs are larger than those of other cats in proportion to body size. Sometimes it is referred to as modern "saber-toothed".

The male is twice as heavy as the female

The male lion is much larger than the female and 50 percent heavier in weight. It is easily recognizable by its massive mane. The huge weight of the lion gives crushing power to his blow. He easily scatters females when he takes prey from them. Many males live exclusively on food obtained by females, and almost never try to get anything themselves.

Lion muzzle

It's like a person's fingerprints. No two lions have the same muzzle (or even the same mustache).

Bone with a claw at the end of the tail
The lion has a long, thin and very strong tail. The most remarkable thing in it is a brush, and in it is a claw, or rather a spike, which has broken through the skin of the last vertebra.

Cat color vision

There is reason to believe that color vision in cats is a rarity in the animal world. Large predatory cats have round pupils. And in small ones (smoky leopard) - ovoid.

Night vision of tigers six times better than humans Because of the mechanism that reflects light back to the retina, tigers' night vision is six times better than humans.

Stare without blinking at the sun
The lion is called the king of animals because he can look at the sun without blinking. Many other cats can do this too.

vision of lions

Five times better than a human, a lion can hear prey from a mile away.

Sense of smell is weak

Leopards have excellent eyesight and hearing, but their sense of smell is poor.

When a tiger hunts, it approaches from the leeward side out of attention to the sense of smell of its victims; the sense of smell of the tiger itself is no good. In India, they say that the tiger is the smartest animal after the elephant. He seems to imitate the cry of a deer, luring him. But when he chases monkeys. He growls terribly, and they, frightened, weaken from fear and fall to the ground.

The most fluffy

The fur of the manul (Otocolobus manul) is as thick and long as any other cat.

There are no wild cats in Australia and Oceania.

Lionesses are attracted to males with dark and lush manes.

... more than lions with light and short. Dark mane color is commonly seen in lions with high blood levels of the main male sex hormone testosterone. Under its action, the development of male genital organs and secondary sexual characteristics is enhanced. Therefore, it is not surprising that lionesses prefer males with a darker mane, while other lions are afraid of them.

Fingers and claws

All cats retract their claws, with the exception of the cheetah, which moves by touching the ground with its claws. Interestingly, young cheetahs have claws up to four months old. As with all cats, they can be drawn into the fingers. With age, they lose this ability. Tigers have five toes on their front paws and four on their hind paws. All tiger fingers have claws 80 to 100 mm long.

Walking in the snow

Various predators of our forests are differently adapted to winter deep snow. So, for example, the wolf is poorly adapted to running in the snow, which is explained by the small supporting surface of its paws. Weight load per 1 sq. cm, it is 89-103 g. In a lynx, these figures are 34-39 g, and in a wolverine - 20-35 g, in a tiger - 155 per 1 sq. km. cm.

cat climber

Snow Leopard, or snow leopard (Uncia uncia) - a resident of the Altai, Pamir, Tien Shan, highland Mongolia, Tibet, Himalayas), lives at an altitude of 2-3 thousand meters above sea level. In summer, following the mountain ungulates, the leopard rises even higher - up to six thousand meters. He watches for hours somewhere on a rock or under a rock of rams or goats.

The largest predator living in Madagascar

is a fossa - an animal weighing from 5 to 10 kg, vaguely resembling a cat.

The fastest of mammals

This cheetah Acinonyx jubatus, which develops a speed of 96 km (60 miles) per hour over short distances, there are data about 105-115 km per hour. And according to unofficial data, some hunters with stopwatches in their hands measured the running speed of a cheetah and say: 140 kilometers per hour. Of other wild cats, the lion reaches a speed of 75-80. The usual speed of a lion in the first minutes of hunting is 50 kilometers per hour.

The longest cat
also a cheetah. After the South American maned wolf, the cheetah is the longest-legged predatory animal. He gives the impression of a dog with a cat's head.

The tigers defeated the lions

The tiger fights better because he has more experience in martial arts, the lion living in the pride is used to relying on his comrades. For this reason, lions were driven out of Asia not only by people, but also by tigers.

Sleep the most African lions
The Swiss zoologist P. Hodiger traveled around countries and continents for several years, finding out how much they sleep different animals. It turned out that African lions sleep the most. When transistor transmitters were tied around the necks of lions in Tanzania, it turned out that one lion slept 20 hours a day. For three weeks he walked, hunting and having fun, only 90 km.

Sleeping in the trees
Where there are many elephants and rhinos, so that these thick-skinned ones do not disturb the peace, lions sleep on trees, stretched out on boughs and hanging their paws down.

Jaguars can sleep in trees, hiding in the foliage so that you won't notice them. True, they forget to remove their tail, and it hangs from a branch, warning other animals of the danger.

Sleeping in the trees

Where there are many elephants and rhinos, so that these thick-skinned ones do not disturb the peace, lions sleep on trees, stretched out on boughs and hanging their paws down.

Jaguars can sleep in trees, hiding in the foliage so that you won't notice them. True, they forget to remove their tail, and it hangs from a branch, warning other animals of the danger.

Tiger Power

The power of the tiger is great. wild bull guar, which one tiger killed, he dragged almost 12 meters along the ground. 13 people could not move the carcass of this bull. Another tiger bit a horse and dragged it along the ground for 500 m. rare cases when young elephants strayed from the herd, the tigers win in a difficult battle. A case is described when two tigers attacked an adult elephant and killed him.
But when the tiger is hungry, he eats rodents, frogs, and even berries.

Speed ​​and jumps

A lioness can reach a speed of 35 miles per hour for a short distance, the length of the jump can be up to 30 feet.

African leopards (Panthera pardus) can jump up trees up to 5.5 meters high.

Puma (Puma concolor) jumps 5-6 m in height, and from a height down - sometimes 14 m.

The dexterous lynx itself is a caracal

Caracal (Caracal caracal) is able to catch birds on the fly. Creeps up to a flock sitting on the ground and jumps high above it. Birds take off screaming, and the beast claws them in the air with its claws. This is an average Asian cat weighing 18 kg. The coat of the caracal is monophonic, red, and the cubs are spotted.

The lynx prowls tens of kilometers

When there is a lot of prey, and the main prey of the northern lynx ( lynx lynx) - hares, then the hunter remains in her usual place. If there are few hares, the lynx leaves for tens of kilometers. If the attack of the lynx is unsuccessful, then it pursues the prey for a day or two.

Servals don't like to climb.

Servals (Leptailurus serval) can climb trees, but do not like it. Only from wild dogs they seek shelter above ground: in acacia branches or baobabs.

The loudest

Roar lion heard at a distance of several miles, it is not a roar, but the thunder of heaven. More often, however, lions roar at half strength, which is also impressive. However, the most amazing feature of lion talk is ventriloquism. Lions are able to publish strange noises, which seem to go not through the throat, but from the belly. In this way, the old lion leads the hunt, giving ventriloquial instructions to his subordinates.

Doesn't growl
Jaguar is the only cat that doesn't growl.

Purring and growling
clouded leopards they can purr like small cats, but they can also growl.

Clean Leopards

Leopards, like domestic cats, burrows, and tiger and lion- No.

How do cheetahs live
Cheetahs often come together in small groups. These are females with grown up young cheetahs, sometimes several adult males also hunt together. In the "male" company, they also accept females. Sometimes this beast lives and forages alone. But associations of only female cheetahs have not been seen anywhere.

Sometimes tigers get together

If, due to some circumstances, it becomes very difficult for one tiger to get food, then several tigers can unite for hunting. But tigresses usually settle separately and carefully mark their territory. Usually the hunting possessions of females do not border on each other and, moreover, do not intersect. However, the holdings of a male tiger may border or even include the holdings of several females. The markings of tigresses help males find them if they are ready to mate. Maintaining and maintaining a territory within its boundaries is essential to the survival of tigers. While the tiger walks around its territory, it can learn about good places for hunting, breeding, etc.

If sometimes you happen to see several tigers together, then most likely it is a tigress with her cubs, who remain with their mother until they can get their own food.

Internal structure subordinate

Within flocks, herds, etc. there is a complex internal structure subordinated to individuals or groups according to "ranks". Lions are the only cats that live in packs (prides). Several animals live in the holiday: a male (usually one adult. But sometimes two or three), females, cubs, young lions. Sometimes the number of animals reaches 30, but more often there are about 18. The pride is led by an old lion - the head of the family. Observed and prides, consisting of only lionesses.

Lions' domain
The pride's possessions are tens of square kilometers of thickets and open spaces. People, as a rule, do not interfere with lions.

The tails of wild cats almost never rise above the back.

How singles live

Outcast males sometimes huddle together where they have more opportunities to survive. The pride of male bachelors is short-lived. Driven by instincts, males go to prides where lionesses live, and there they try to fight for leadership. In the heat of battle, success accompanies the strongest and most dexterous, and the once friendly flock of males soon breaks up.

How much do lions eat

A pride of four lions kills a large antelope or zebra once a week. One lion per year destroys about fifteen large animals with an average weight of one hundred and ten kilograms. He shares his prey with his relatives in a flock.

Eat meat from 3 weeks of age
Three-week-old "kittens" of the cheetah, in addition to milk, already eat meat.

How lions hunt
While one of the lions scares, diverting attention. His comrades are in ambush. Creeping in the grass in a plastunsky way. The bloody role is usually assigned by lionesses to young lions. The old lion leads the hunt. The condescending role of lions towards jackals is surprising: while the lioness eats from the middle, the jackals pull the end of the victim. But lions strangle hyenas at an opportunity, because hyenas attack decrepit lions.

Male lion cubs are trained to hunt late

Male lion cubs are taught to hunt later than lionesses, sometimes young lions begin to learn only in the fifth year of life. Therefore, it is important that males remain in their native pride as long as possible, but they are usually expelled when they are still young.

Leopards drag prey up a tree

There is one essential feature that distinguishes leopards from other big cats: it is the habit of dragging prey up a tree. Thus, their food remains intact and will not get to predators that are at war with and compete with leopards - lions and hyenas.

Hunting not like a cat

The hunting style of the cheetah is not of the cat type. First, he looks out for his victims from a high hill, having outlined a victim, creeps up, and 20-100 meters from the target he rushes in pursuit. Immediately developing amazing acceleration. He will catch up - he hits with the front alps, knocks down the prey and immediately bites into the throat. If the cheetah does not catch up with the game in the first hundred meters of the race, it no longer pursues it.

Hunting

Every fourth hunt is successful
Every fourth attack of lions ends, as a rule, with the complete victory of predators. When the huntresses greedily pounce on their prey, a male lion appears. It is possible that a flock of hyenas may be nearby. Usually, lions, cracking down on a large killed animal, generously allows others to feast on prey.

Wild cats instantly kill their prey by biting its spine. in the region of the cervical vertebrae. The chance of landing such an accurate and effective bite is one in a million.

Strategy - pursuit

Tigers hunt alone. The hunting strategy of the tiger is reduced to the pursuit of the victim in the most impenetrable thickets, where he has no chance of salvation. That's when he pounces on her. When a tiger attacks, it attacks its prey from the side or from behind. The tiger strangles its prey by biting its throat. He won't hurt a kid, but he hates dogs

If leopard not hungry, he will not hurt even a kid. The leopard harbors enmity towards dogs and strangles them as soon as it succeeds. There was a case when a leopard led a dog right from under the table on the veranda in front of people.

Leopard vs monkeys
Leopards kill thousands of baboons every year, and when leopards are completely wiped out, baboons have become a serious problem in many areas. They attack sheep and even people.

10 cm fangs

At leopard fangs the size of a finca blade, 10 cm. And very sharp.

The leopard does not use trails
The leopard has no definite routes, it appears unexpectedly. When meeting with a trespasser, the leopard enters the fray.

Large crocodiles attack lions
Crocodiles attack lions on hot days when they come to drink water: they grab and drag them into the water.

Tiger attacks people from behind

Typically, tigers avoid human contact. However, in India, people who go to places where tigers live wear a mask depicting a human face on the back of their heads. The fact is that tigers always pounce on the victim from behind. In such a mask, staying in the forest is relatively safe. The tiger does not pursue people in such masks: after all, he does not see the "back", does not find it, and therefore does not attack.

How tigers talk
The tiger growls during a fight or lets out a victorious growl after a successful hunt. When meeting a person or rival, the tiger hisses or purrs menacingly. When attacked, it snorts like a domestic cat. During love meetings, the tiger purrs gently, sometimes turning into a meow.

tenacious cat

A tiger hit by a shot in the heart continues to live for another 10-20 seconds. Killed by a fatal shot, the tiger remains on its feet for some time.

Tiger telepathy

When tiger walks through the jungle, birds, deer and monkeys scream in alarm when they see him. Even a person, not yet seeing a tiger, not expecting its appearance, feels a special strange anxiety - perhaps this is telepathy. The raging emotions of the beast subconsciously excite a person.

Theft
lions they hunt large animals: zebras, gazelles, wildebeest, and do not disdain theft, taking prey from other predators, mainly hyenas and cheetahs.

In addition to the cheetah, all large cats eat not only fresh meat, but also carrion, often in old age.

Lion's Meal
The meal of the pride lions lasts 4 hours. The lion eats first, although the prey was brought by the lionesses. After the meal, the lion goes to the watering place, and he drinks for 20 minutes. A lion in a zoo eats 15 pounds of meat every day; in the wild, lions eat twice a week.

Most tiger attacks end successfully

The striped skin of the tiger serves as good camouflage in the forests and bushes, and thanks to soft pads on its paws, it moves almost silently. Most of his attacks end successfully.

Live canned jaguar
When hunting turtles by the sea, the jaguar throws them belly up one after another. Sai turtles cannot roll over and crawl away, but they do not die, they do not deteriorate. Then the jaguar comes and claws out of the shell those who are tired of lying upside down and sticking their heads out.

Tiger Meal

Tiger (Panthera tigris) On average, he eats 7-9 kg of meat per day. A tigress with cubs quickly deals even with a large animal. A female with 2 cubs has to kill one large animal every 5 or 6 days to feed herself. A tiger needs about 2.5-3 tons of meat per year, almost twice as much as a lion needs. Taking into account the skin and guests, the total weight of the tiger's victims is 4.5 tons. An Indian tiger eats a sambar deer in two days, and a buffalo in three or four days. Having sated, it covers its prey with branches, and settles down to rest nearby.

Polite companions
Later, when the cubs grow up, their father comes to visit the family. Sometimes it happens during lunch. J. Schaller once saw an adult tiger, two tigresses and four cubs, who ate one bull quite friendly, without quarrels. On another occasion, a tigress and four cubs were "dining" when an adult tiger appeared. He was hungry and greedily looked at the prey. However, he politely waited on the sidelines until the kids were full. Only then did he start eating.

Watch out for the porcupine

tigers and leopards, when hungry, they attack porcupines. They do not always manage to dodge and grab the prickly one by the head, the porcupine quills go deep into the muscles of the predator in case of an unsuccessful hunt. Fragments of needles as thick as a pencil and a quarter of a meter long were found in the body of tigers - up to fifty pieces.

The lion approaches from the side of the wind
Not a single hunter approaches the game from the side from which the wind blows. And the lion does just that. His task is to scare the victim, divert her attention from the ambush.

Cannibals
Lions, tigers and other big cats can be cannibals. Tigers seem to attack humans more often than other cats, and the reasons for this behavior are still unclear. Perhaps it is provoked by the size of a person, corresponding to the size of animals that tigers usually attack; in addition, an old or wounded tiger easily pounces on a person. Only 3 percent of the entire tiger population can be cannibals. More people have died in Africa from crocodiles than from lions.

Attracted by frog croaking

Once a tiger attacked a man carrying a bag of frogs. It is said that the tigro was attracted by the croaking of the frogs.

Lynx in enmity with wolves

In winter, wolves attack the lynx in a pack, drag it to the ground and bite it to death. If the lynx meets a lone wolf, it will bite it.

Loving cats

Mammal mating record holders are lions and tigers. Tigers can mate up to 50 times a day for five or six days, with each act lasting from 5 to 15 minutes. However, they are inferior to Australian crickets (Ornebius aperta) - male crickets can copulate 50-58 times within 3-4 hours with the same female.

Gentle at any time
At leopards male and female, not only at the time of breeding, but also at other times, live nearby and are very gentle with each other: they love to play and frolic.

Milk is three times more nutritious than cow's milk

Leopard's milk is fat, three times more nutritious than cow's.

Lioness gives birth alone

When the time for breeding comes, the lion leads the girlfriend away from the pride. Then they return to the pride. After 100-108 days, the lioness leaves the pride - to give birth. She arranges a lair in the thick of thorny bushes or in a mountain crevice. After the birth of 3, less often 5-6 cubs, she lives with him in solitude, and at the age of one and a half months brings her offspring into the pride.

Inbreeding has led to serious degradation of South China tigers
A high incidence of disease and "mental weakness" threaten the existence and development of this endangered animal species - such is the sad situation, Chinese experts say. The South China tigers now living in China are the offspring of six "grandfathers" and "grandmothers" caught in the wild in 1956. As a result of consanguineous mating and a "carefree life", tigers developed such signs of degeneration as an underdeveloped physique, physical weakness, reduced immunity, and other ailments.

One female raises tiger cubs

Tigers pair up only for a short period of time. One female raises tiger cubs. In the offspring there are two - four tiger cubs weighing from 800 to 1750 grams. The first two months they spend in the shelter that the mother finds before they are born. Then the babies begin to gradually switch to the prey brought by the tigress, but they suck their mother's milk for up to six months and spend the first three years of their lives together with the tigress, completely dependent on her. That is why females can bring offspring only once every three to four years.

Pride females do not have cubs at the same time

Lions breed at any time of the year, however, females of one pack (pride) prefer to have cubs at the same time (to make it easier to protect them from other predators and male lions of another pride). They even feed them, not dividing them into friends and foes. If one female dies, the rest take care of the cubs of the deceased.

Cheetah Moms

Cheetah moms are so exhausted taking care of their playful offspring that they sometimes fall asleep, sneaking for prey.

Lions kill their cubs

One of the mysteries of the behavior of lions was that males for some reason killed their cubs. Now this mystery has been solved. The fact is that the attack of males is caused by their jealousy of young lion cubs. Male lions do not tolerate extra rivals in their flock, which is why they seek to get rid of them. There is another explanation for such cruel and incomprehensible behavior. The male in this way encourages the female to give birth to new cubs. And they have a better chance of survival than the old cubs. Yes, they will get more food.

Can eat babies

father from leopard unimportant: on occasion, he is not averse to eating cubs. The female therefore secretly builds a lair from him.

Meat for a rainy day
Leopard cubs weigh 20-80 kg and are unusually voracious. They hide the meat on a tall tree.

Father takes care of the cubs
Male- cheetah takes care of the female and offspring and brings them food. If a female cheetah dies, the father does not abandon the cubs.

Leopards are born in a hollow

Clouded leopard gives birth to offspring in the hollow of a tree, there are 1-5 cubs in the litter, each weighing 150-280 grams.

Leopard from the vulture's nest

Often snow leopards make their lair in vulture nests in low trees. There, their offspring are born.

Pulls fur from belly
Mother snow leopard (Uncia uncia) warms the lair by tearing the wool from its belly. Also makes jungle cat (Felis chaus). Other cats do not.

Loss of genetic diversity
cheetahs no more than 20,000 are left in nature, cheetah cubs living in reserves do not live up to a year in 70% of cases, and in zoos, in the safest conditions, up to 30% of kittens die. The reason was the loss of the genetic diversity of the species. Virtually all living cheetahs are genetically almost identical. The most probable cause of this phenomenon is some old (10-12 thousand years ago) catastrophe, after which one or two pairs of these animals survived. Thus, all cheetahs are very close relatives who do not receive “fresh blood”, and therefore have the same set of traits received from both father and mother. They have completely lost the ability to adapt.

The jaguar is not related to the leopard

The American jaguar (Panthera onca) looks like a leopard. It has a length of up to 1.8 meters, excluding the tail, its weight is from 36 to 158 kg. Indeed, both animals are close relatives. It even turned out that females, a cross between a leopard and a jaguar, are capable of procreation.

Leopards love to ride from the mountains

Leopards love to play and wallow in the snow. Having frolicked, they slide off the cliff on their backs, and below they quickly turn over and fall into a snowdrift on all four paws.

Cougars run after butterflies
Puma loves to have fun: frolicking, jumping after butterflies, somersaulting, catching his tail, if there is no one to play with. If in the desert she meets a man, then she herself never attacks - she runs up, jumping up and digging the ground with her paw, as if inviting a person to play.

Lion life span

...13 years old, known lion "Nero", who lived 29 years in a West German zoo. Average life span of a tiger: 16-18 years. In zoos, tigers live an average of twenty to twenty-five years. In general, tigers can live 40-50 years.

Cloning the Tasmanian tiger

Scientists at the Australian Museum managed to obtain the genetic material of the Tasmanian tiger, which disappeared more than half a century ago - the most large predator living on this continent. The last individual of this animal died in the Gobart Zoo 66 years ago, but in May 1999, scientists managed to accidentally find a test tube with a Tasmanian tiger embryo in one of the archives. Now the researchers have to clone the animal, for which it is necessary to find a "surrogate" mother and implant her with DNA cells. They claim that around 2010 they will be able to revive this animal.

For the first time, scientists have managed to obtain relatively accurate data on how many Amur leopards live in the world. This was reported to RG by the chief public relations specialist of the Leopard Land National Park, Maria Okulova.

Previously, Russian scientists operated with data obtained on the territory of only our country. According to the latest monitoring, in the south Far East inhabited by about 70 Red Book predators. According to experts, the growth of the population and the proximity of the border with China gave reason to believe that some of the cats moved outside of Russia, but until recently, data on the number of leopards in the neighboring state were unknown.

The situation changed in the summer of 2015, when employees of Beijing Normal University arrived in Vladivostok. In China, only they study the populations of the Far Eastern leopard and Amur tiger. Photomonitoring rare cats China has been conducting since July 2012 on an area of ​​six thousand square kilometers. For three years of work, Chinese scientists have received a lot of data, which they shared with their Russian colleagues.

Comparison of images of leopards revealed many coincidences of individuals, which indicates the active movement of predators across the border. After analyzing the photo monitoring data on the territory of the two countries for 2014, scientists have established that the global population of the Far Eastern leopard is at least 80 individuals, said Maria Okulova.

According to the minister natural resources and ecology of the Russian Federation by Sergey Donskoy, the appearance of the Far Eastern leopard in China is the result of many years of work by Russian specialists.

Now we hope that our Chinese colleagues will support our initiative, and with the help of two states we will be able to bring the population of this cat in the wild to a stable level, protecting it from the threat of extinction,” Donskoy said.

Leaders national park"Land of the Leopard" and Beijing Normal University signed a long-term cooperation agreement. First of all, the document involves the exchange of data on the number of rare cats near the border of the two countries.

Help "RG"

The Far Eastern leopard is the rarest of the big cats on the planet. Leopard hunting has been banned since 1956, the predator is listed in the Red Book International Union nature conservation, the Red Book of Russia, as well as a number of other security documents.

A large-scale study of the population of the Far Eastern leopard in Russia is carried out using photo monitoring on an area of ​​​​3 thousand square kilometers with the support of the Russian presidential administration, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, the Russian geographical society, ANO "Far Eastern Leopards", the Russian Academy of Sciences, WWF, WCS and other non-governmental environmental organizations.