Cheetah

Cheetah

 

 

Cheetah Facts

Cheetah - Acinonyx jubatus

Cheetah Description

Do you know that the black spots of the Cheetah are very unique for each of them? They have golden brown fur with black spots on them. Yet if you compare the design of the spots on various ones you will quickly see that they all have a pattern that is original. These are very fast animals and they move gracefully. You won’t be able to easily find them in their environment though as their coloring gives them great camouflage.

Cheetah Anatomy

There is no question that the Cheetah is one of the most powerful and elegant animals out there. The sheer speed of it is something that many people are impressed with. The body of this animal has an overall design that gives them every advantage when it comes to movement. This includes a long tail for balance and the ability to see for a very long range.

They have padded feet that offer them plenty of traction. There will be times when this helps them to get their prey with ease. As their prey is sliding around on the mud they are able to continue being balanced and in control of the situation.

Cheetah Evolution

We don’t know as much as we would like to when it comes to the evolution process for the Cheetah. They have been around the Earth for the past 26 million years in some form. Most of the fossil remains we have from them have been located in the various areas of Africa. Those that are from Asia date back 11 million years so they did migrate that direction in order to survive. Many experts believe that was during the Ice Age.

The fact that the evolution process seems to be very slow for these animals could be why so many of the subspecies haven’t survived. The biggest concern with this is that they don’t have a diverse genetic profile. That makes it hard for them to change and also hard to survive now with such low numbers of them remaining.

Cheetah Behavior

The Cheetah isn’t nearly as aggressive as other felines. However, they are dangerous and they are going to show aggressive when they feel threatened. The females are more likely to live alone. However, they do have smaller home ranges that overlap. It is possible that the mothers and daughters stay very close to each other even though they have their own habitat areas.

For the males though they spend their lives in groups. There may be only 2 or as many as 6 of them. The males stay with each other from birth until death in many instances. For the females they will leave their siblings at about 2 years of age. They will be alone except when a male comes to mate or they have young to care for.

Cheetah Habitat and Distribution

There aren’t very many Cheetah that are left in the wild. Those that do remain are in Africa and Asia. They do live in zoos all over the world due to the fact that people love to see them. They are a prime attraction at many of these places but they have a hard time adapting. They can be very dangerous to care for in captivity and are very strategic when it comes to their movements.

In the wild there are  plenty of places for the Cheetah to live. The fact that they do blend into the surroundings so well makes it hard to successfully always locate them. They may be spread out in the mountain terrain areas. Others are doing well along the plains or they hide in the very tall grassy areas.

Cheetah Diet and Feeding Habits

Some days a Cheetah is able to consume very large sums of meat. Then there are days when they don’t get anything at all. They have to find food at least every three days or they can get too weak to continue hunting. You will find they are very careful when they attack. They do trip their prey but they make sure they don’t get in the way. If they get hurt they won’t be able to find additional prey and then they will die.

When they do take down prey they will consume it extremely fast. This isn’t due to them being famished in most cases. Instead it has to do with the fact that they know there are other predators around the area. They don’t want to have to give up their kill to those animals. Yet if they emerge that is exactly what the Cheetah will do so that they don’t get hurt in a fight.

Cheetah Reproduction

Even though the Cheetah males are ready to mate at about a year old they don’t have very high sperm counts. As a result of this they don’t always impregnate the females. It is possible for the young from a mother to have more than one father. Some of the litters only offer one or two cubs. Others have four time that many and it can be hard for her to successfully care for all of them.

Only the strongest will survive though due to the fighting among them for her milk. They also fight over the meat she offers from her hunts. Almost all of the young though fall victim of the various predators. It is too complicated for the Cheetah mother to go find food and to also protect these cubs. They are very vulnerable when she is away.

Cheetah Predators

The young Cheetah has many predators to worry about. Among them are other felines including the leopards and lions. They also have to worry about hyenas and eagles. They will go after the very young ones so as these cubs get older they are less likely to become a victim of such predators.

Humans are also known to capture these young cubs when the mother is away. They will be sold as pets because many people love to keep them. They enjoy the idea of a pet that is so original. There are stories of the Cheetah being domesticated as far back as the Egyptians. Still, they are wild animals by nature and have been known to attack their human owners.

Life for the Cheetah becomes very hard when they don’t have much land to explore for food sources. That is what happens as humans continue to move into these areas. They erect homes and businesses in these areas. They also kill other animals that the Cheetah needs for food. There aren’t too many farmers or ranchers that are happy with the Cheetah being around their land.

One of the main reasons why this animal has such low numbers is due to the demand for their fur. The upper class used to wear them as a sign of status and so they were sold for huge sums of money. The more unique the pattern of the spots was the more money that the fur would be sold for.

The success of some conservation groups is credited with the fact that the Cheetah is still alive today. However, the slow rate of reproduction, shallow genetic pool, and threats to their natural environment make it very uncertain about how long they will be able to continue living.

 

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Cougar

Cougar

 

Cougar Facts

Cougar - Puma concolor

 

Cougar Description

Many people think that the Cougar is a big cat but it is one of the smaller ones. The fact that is the second largest in that category though is why it is often misclassified by those not familiar with the various types of felines out there. The Cougar is a great looking animal with a body that is very lean. The shoulders are well defined and extremely powerful.

They have small heads and small ears. They have a very long tail that has a black tip on it. This tail is for balance and it can measure up to three feet for the adults. They are a light brown or light tan color. Some of them also have areas of silver, black, or gray on them. They have a huge variation in weight with the heaviest ones being 265 pounds. Typically they are on the smaller size and that can be as low as 115 pounds.

Cougar Anatomy

The small head of the Cougar is where they have powerful jaws. There are also rows of sharp teeth with the canines being pointed. They are built for speed with up to 40 miles per hour for short distances. They are able to rely on their smell and vision to help them find prey. They have the amazing ability to leap up to 45 feet in the air and 16 feet forward so they have the agility on their side that so many other animals lack.

Cougar Evolution

It is believed that the evolution process has something to do with the speed and agility of the Cougar. Were they once very large animals that had teeth several feet long? Many people believe the earlier version was very similar to that of the Saber Toothed Tiger. However, we simply don’t have enough information about the Cougar to give that theory credibility.

The fossil remains that we do have indicate that they were in Asia about 11 million years ago. These are highly adaptable animals and have been for millions of years. That is part of the reason why so many experts want to find out much more about the evolution process of the Cougar.

Cougar Behavior

This is an animal that enjoys being alone and being able to venture around its habitat. They don’t like company of each other with the exception of when they are mating. The females also are accepting of their young and do seem to enjoy caring for them and interaction. A great deal of the information we have about Cougar communications comes from observing the mothers with the young.

These felines don’t roar but they do use hissing, growling, and deep purring for communicating. They also have a piercing screaming sound that is generally offered during mating for the males and females to be able to find each other.

The Cougar is very aggressive when it comes to their territory and they will fight with each other to protect it. They will also attack humans that venture too far into that habitat. They don’t always attack as many of them will retreat when humans are around. Some believe the females are more likely to attack as they are trying to protect their young.

Cougar Habitat and Distribution

The fact that the body of the Cougar allows for them to live in a variety of habitats is influential for the rate of survival for them. There are more Cougars in the wild than other felines – about 50,000 of them. It is hard to get an accurate count though due to where they are spread out. You will find Cougars living in the mountains as well as on the plains. You will find them living in desert regions and in the forests. They also survive in swamp areas.

Where they live is determined by availability of food rather than the type of terrain or the temperatures. The fact that humans continue to take over the natural habitat of the Cougar means they are starting to be identified in regions where they never were in the past. That does make many humans uneasy. They never thought they would have to worry about such animals around them but the risk is always there with the Cougar.

Cougar Feeding Habits

For the Cougar a diet of only meat will do, and they will consume up to 10 pounds of it a day. They search for hoofed animals including deer and elk. In some regions they will also feed on big horned sheep. When these are hard to find they will also feed on rodents and birds. Since the Cougar can take down food supplies much bigger than themselves they will have food for several days at a time. They will hide the remains of it so that other predators aren’t able to benefit from it.

Problems with the Cougar consuming cattle, horses, and even domestic dogs has infuriated many. They don’t feel save around such locations with the Cougar there. Yet in many of these scenarios the humans have moved into territory where these animals used to freely hunt. In other areas though the Cougar has become a nuisance recently as they aren’t able to find food where they used to roam. They are moving into new areas in order to survive.

Cougar Reproduction

Several times per year a female can enter an estrus cycle. She will give of very strong smells and that brings the males to her. A female may mate with several males during the window of  7 to 10 days so there is a very good chance she will conceive. It also means that some of the young may have different fathers.

The females wait about 90 days before the young are born. At that time they will be in a den so that they can be well protected. They are very small at birth and won’t open their eyes for about 10 days. They drink milk that the mother’s body offers for the first three months of life. She may have up to six kittens to care for and has to leave them unattended so she can find herself food.

By the time they are six months of age they have emerged from the den. These Cougar kittens are very playful but they are also learning a great deal. They have to help with hunting when they are about six months of age. They need to be strong enough and skilled enough to hunt alone by the time they are two years old and have to leave their mother.

Cougar Predators

For the young the risk of predators is there when the mother is out getting food. She will do all she can to protect them from predators in her presence though. Sadly, only a small portion of the young will make it to adulthood. The adults have no predators in the wild but they continue to have more and more problems with humans.

The fact that the Cougar does require a very large home range – up to 100 miles, means that the actions of humans moving into such areas can be very difficult for them. They do adapt to changes but that often means they start to be in areas where humans are more and more often. That has led to hunting them and poisoning them in many areas.

The Cougar population has increased in some areas and people aren’t happy with that. They don’t want to have more of these aggressive animals to content with. The fact that they overlook though is that the Cougar has a natural instinct to survive. Humans have the choice of where they will live and where they will venture.

 

Cougar Related Articles

Cheetah 

 

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