Big Cats

Revered for their beauty and vitality, the five species of big cats include tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars, and snow leopards. Despite the cats’ reputation for ferocity, these majestic predators face more danger than they pose: All are endangered, due mainly to habitat loss, poaching, and dwindling populations of their prey. WCS conservationists with the Great Cats program are working on the ground to protect the big cats and safeguard their habitats from the Himalayas to the Horn of Africa

Featured Species

Amur Leopard

Leopards are highly adaptable cats, and all nine subspecies of leopard were once common throughout most of Africa and Asia. Today, however, the Amur leopard is considered the world’s rarest cat. Also known as the Far Eastern leopard, this cat’s range originally extended across northeastern China, the Korean peninsula, and the southern portion of Primorsky Krai, Russia. Now just 25 to 40 Amur leopards remain, occupying a sliver of habitat in Russia along its border with China. A few of these individuals sometimes wander into China.

Amur leopards have longer legs than other leopards, allowing them to walk in snow with greater ease. Males weigh between 110 and 120 pounds, and females between 65 and 75 pounds. Their body length extends about 5 feet. The spots, or rosettes, of Amur leopards are more widely spaced and have thicker black borders, making it a very beautiful cat. Their fur color changes from reddish yellow in summer to light yellow during winter. To help the cats stay warm, the length of their fur can also vary between one and three inches, depending on the time of year.
Female Amur leopards maintain home ranges that range in size from 15 to 38 square miles, while males can have territories as large as 155 square miles. They hunt mainly roe and sika deer, hares, badgers, mice, and other small animals.

Jaguar

Historically found as far north as the southwestern United States and as far south as southern Argentina, the jaguar is the largest land carnivore in most of its range. This powerful yet somewhat furtive animal has captured the human imagination for ages. In some cultures, it was believed that shamans could transform into jaguars. The ancient Mayans believed the big cat’s spotted coat represented the night sky and the people of the Amazon saw in the jaguar’s shiny, reflective eyes proof of its connection to the spiritual world. Jaguar

The jaguar is smaller than the lion and tiger, and is characterized by a powerful, compact body that exudes strength, and is built more for stealth and sudden capture than running. Jaguar diets vary across its range but the animal’s natural prey includes peccaries, large rodents (paca, agouti, capybara), armadillos, and deer. The jaguar’s massive head and muscular jaw provide its extraordinary biting power. Where the jaguar co-exists with domestic livestock, such as cattle and pigs, these animals sometimes become prey. This creates conflicts with humans and the endangered jaguars, which are targeted for retaliatory killing.
Jaguars need cover for hunting, adequate natural prey, and security from direct conflict with humans. These cats occupy a variety of habitats, from short dry forests, through mosaics of savanna and forest, to deep primary and secondary rainforest. At present, there are pockets of apparently stable jaguar populations scattered between Northern Mexico and Northern Argentina, with the largest single contiguous range for the iconic big cat centered around the Amazon Basin. Because human-jaguar co-existence, though possible, is challenging, the guarantee of long-term large wild areas is critical to ensure the species’ survival.

Cheetah

The cheetah is the fastest land mammal on Earth, capable of running 64 miles per hour. However, this cat cannot sustain high speeds for long. Cheetahs typically run in short bursts covering distances of up to 500 yards. Most chases last less than one minute, so the cheetah must quickly catch its prey before it escapes.
Cheetahs are designed for speed. Their large nostrils allow for increased intake of oxygen, and their oversized heart and lungs help power their bodies. The sleek cat uses the weight of its tail to balance its body through sharp turns, and its spine acts as a spring for the powerful hind legs. leopard

While other big cats hunt at night, the cheetah often hunts in the early morning and at dusk, suffocating its prey with a bite to the neck or the nose. Cheetahs are vulnerable to larger predators, such as spotted hyenas and lions, which can kill their cubs and steal their prey. Because of its small size, the cheetah usually avoids fighting, and if confronted (even by just a single hyena), it will often surrender a kill immediately rather than risk injury.
Cheetahs form unique social groups. Males belong to permanent groups of two or three individuals, known as coalitions. Females live alone, except when raising cubs. Male cheetahs stays together for life, and try to gain access to small territories that they defend from other males. Females, by contrast, can range across immense areas that encompass many male territories and overlap with those of other females

Lion

The most social of all the big cats, lions live in groups of up to 15 members called "prides". A number of related lionesses (mothers, sisters, cousins) form a pride with their cubs and a few unrelated males that have successfully fought for access. The females are the primary hunters; the adult males defend the pride’s territory from other males. Of the roughly 30,000 lions in Africa, only a small number live outside of designated national parks or hunting areas. Asiatic lions were once found throughout Asia, and as far West as Greece, but they are now on the verge of extinction, with only about 300 living in the dry teak Gir Forest in northwestern India.
Lions are carnivores that thrive in habitats that are rich in prey, including wildebeest and other antelopes, giraffe, buffalo, wild hogs, and zebra. They also eat carrion stolen from hyenas, cheetahs, and wild dogs. Lions require wide expanses to roam and huge hunting territories to support their hearty appetites. These cats breed year-round, and lionesses give birth to litters of three or four cubs about every two years. Cubs weigh around 2.5 pounds, and it takes them about two years to learn how to survive on their own

Snow Leopard

A camera trap set up in the Sast Valley of Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor captured a snow leopard striking a curious pose. WCS researchers hope to help create a protected area in this remote region.; ©WCS
Snow Leopard Photo: The snow leopard is a mountain specialist, able to pursue and catch fleet-footed sheep, goats, and other prey down cliff faces and across rocky outcrops.; Julie Larsen Maher ©WCS

The snow leopard is well adapted to the harsh, mountainous habitats where it makes its home. This beautiful, elusive mammal has the thickest coat of any big cat, and its padded feet function like insulated boots. Snow leopards live a solitary existence and make their dens in rocky caverns or sheltered crevices. These carnivores prowl over steep terrain of cliffs, gullies, and rocky outcrops in search of their preferred prey: mountain goats and sheep, deer, marmots, and small mammals.
Snow leopards have large home ranges, spanning from 50 to more than 2,000 square miles in some areas. They live high on Asian mountain ranges extending from Russia to India. Despite the remoteness of its habitat, this spotted cat, weighing between 55 and 165 pounds, is increasingly susceptible to human-made threats. Only an estimated few thousand snow leopards remain in the wild.

Tiger

Tigers are in trouble, but Dr. Ullas Karanth and his team in India are finding smart ways to save them.

©WCS

Tiger Photo

Once ranging from the Caspian Sea to the Russian Far North, the world’s largest cat species now exists in only 7 percent of their historical range.

©John Goodrich

Wildlife Crimes Unit Slideshow

Tigers are fast disappearing in the wild, due in large part to increasing illegal wildlife trade across Asia. Our Wildlife Crimes Unit is working to support the arrest and prosecution of poachers and wildlife traders so that we can ensure a future for these cats in some of their last strongholds. Take a look at what WCS conservationists working throughout tiger territory have come across in their surveys and patrols.

©WCS

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: Police display confiscated tiger skin with other seized animal skins and body parts in Indonesia. The country is Southeast Asia’s largest exporter of wildlife, both legal and illegal.; ©WCS

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: Many of the wildlife pelts and other items that are poached in Indonesia are part of complex trade chains, which often terminate in illegal markets in China.; ©WCS

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: The Wildlife Crimes Unit provides technical assistance to Indonesian police conducting anti-poaching raids.; ©WCS Indonesia

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: This tiger was caught in a snare in northern Sumatra, a hotspot for the big cats in Indonesia, and therefore a draw for poachers.; ©WCS Indonesia

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: In addition to tigers, tons of turtles are also exported from Indonesia on a weekly basis, and about 1.5 million wild-caught birds are sold in a market every year in Java.; ©WCS Indonesia

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: Tiger bones in Sumatra are sold as souvenirs and talismans, and ground up or boiled down for use as ingredients in traditional medicines.; ©WCS Indonesia

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: Tiger pelts are considered a status symbol by some and many wealthy people consume tiger products for purported medicinal qualities.; ©WCS

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: WCS conservationists in India calculate tiger numbers by setting up remote camera traps that photograph the big cats in the wild.; ©Eleanor Briggs

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: The camera trap technique is also used in the Russian Far East, where this Siberian tiger was photographed.; ©WCS

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: Tiger scat contains a unique DNA signature that gives researchers another way to accurately identify and count individual animals.; ©S. Gopinth

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: In the protected areas of India’s Western Ghats region, where WCS has worked for over 20 years, tiger populations are holding steady.; ©Ullas Karanth

Tiger Rescue Operations Photo: Help the Wildlife Conservation Society save tigers in the wild by making a donation.; Julie Larsen Maher ©WCS

Solitary and beautiful, the tiger prowls alone and marks its territory carefully, patrolling each corner of its domain methodically every few weeks. Expert hunters who kill their prey with a bite to the throat or back of the neck, tigers are carnivores that eat large mammals like deer, pigs and buffalo. In order to satisfy their large appetites—and their offspring—these big cats must have access to wide swaths of land and large populations of prey.
Historically, hundreds of thousands of tigers roamed across Asia, but their numbers have plummeted dramatically. Today, tigers occupy only 7 percent of their historical range. The largest tiger population is now in India, but there are wild populations in numerous Asian countries. WCS is working throughout the continent to protect this astounding mammal, which can survive in diverse habitats that include tropical rainforests, mangrove swamps, grasslands, evergreen forests, and snowy, rocky terrain.,,,,,