Oncilla

We just learned about the Geoffroy's Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Oncilla, also called the northern tiger cat, little spotted cat, and tigrillo.

These are small spotted cats who live in South America.
They are like the margay and ocelot, but smaller.
Oncillas grow to be about 2 feet long with a 16 inch tail, and they weigh about 6 pounds.

Their fur is brown with rosette spots on their body.
One of the only differences between the oncilla and the ocelot is that the Oncilla has a smaller mouth and fewer teeth.

Just like some of the other South American small cats, the Oncilla is a great climber and mostly stays awake at night to hunt.


(from: wikipedia - oncilla)


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Geoffroy's Cat

We just learned about the Kodkod.

Another kind of wild cat is Geoffroy's Cat.

This cat lives in South and Central America, and is about the size of a house cat.
They are brownish yellow with black spots all over their bodies.
Some cats are all black like a panther.

They are about 2 feet long, and weigh from 4 to 11 pounds.
Most of these cats live in the woods and like to hide.
When they are hungry they hunt for food at night.
Sometimes they like to stand up on their hind legs and look around, using their tail to help thems tand up.
They can climb trees but they usually don't.





(from: wikipedia - geoffroy's cat)


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Kodkod

We just learned about the Margay.

Another small wild cat is the Kodkod, also called the güiña or leopardus guigna.

This is the smallest cat in the Americas, and lives mostly in Chile or Argentina.
It is less than 2 feet long, and weighs about 5 pounds.

Their fur can be brownish yellow or grey-brown.
They have spots on their body, and a ringed tail.
Some kodkods have almost totally black fur like a panther.

These cats live in the rainforests, climb trees and hunt birds, lizards and mice.
There are less than 10,000 of these cats left because the forests they live in are being cut down.


(from: wikipedia - kodkod)


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Margay

We just learned about the Andean Mountain Cat.

Another type of small wild cat is the Margay.

The Margay lives in Central and South America, mostly in the forests.
They like to be alone, and they stay awake at night to hunt.

These cats look a lot like an ocelot, except they have bigger eyes and longer tails and legs.
They weigh about 9 pounds and are about 3 feet long.
Their fur is brown with spots and stripes on it, and a banded tail with a black tip.

The Margay is one of the best climbers out there, and some people even call them the tree ocelot since they can climb so well.
They can jump up to 12 feet from tree to tree, and are so good in trees that they can spend their whole life in the trees chasing monkeys and birds.
Most cats can't climb down a tree with their head facing down, but the margay has special ankles that let it grab the tree and climb up or down.





(from: wikipedia - margay)


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Andean Mountain Cat

We just learned about the Pampas Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Andean Mountain Cat.

This is a small cat that lives in the Andes mountains, and is endangered with less than 2,500 left in the world.

It lives up in the mountains, up above 5,900 feet!
They are about 3 feet long, one foot tall and weigh about 12 pounds.
Their fur is grey with some spots, and they have dark rings on their tails.

These cats look a lot like the Pampas Cat, and a lot of people mistake them.
There are a lot of very small differences that people can use to tell them apart, but they really have to know the differences!



(from: wikipedia - andean mountain cat)


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Pampas Cat

We just learned about the Ocelot.

Another type of wild cat is the Pampas Cat also called the pantanal cat, colocolo, and Leopardus Colocolo.

This cat is only a little bigger than a house cat, and has a big bushy tail.

It is only a little over 2 feet long.
The Pampas Cats has a lot of different looks, and can be red, grey or brown, with stripes or spots on it.
They only live in parts of South America,

(from: wikipedia - pampas cat)


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Ocelot

We just learned about the Lynx.

Another type of wild cat is the Ocelot.

This is a smaller type of cat, only about 30 pounds and 2 feet tall.
It has spots and stripes on it's body, and rounded ears.

These cats are usually awake at night, and stay by themselves.
They are very good at climbing, jumping and swimming.

Ocelots live mostly in South America and Mexico, in forests and near lots of water.
Because they are so small, these cats have sometimes been kept as pets.





(from: wikipedia - ocelot)


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Lynx

We just learned about the Bobcat.

Another Lynx.

A lynx is another type of cat that looks a lot like the Bobcat, and sometimes people will even call the Bobcat a lynx.
There are 3 types of lynxes, the Canada Lynx, Iberian Lynx, and Eurasian Lynx.

Lynxes have a short tail, tufts of black hair on the tips of their ears, big padded paws like snowshoes for walking on snow, and big long whiskeres on their faces.

The Canada Lynx lives in North America, mostly where it is cold.
Their fur is either grey-white or kind of yellowish.
They are about 3 feet long, 2 feet tall and weigh about 40 pounds.
Their fur gets longer in the winter when it gets cold out, sometimes long enough to drag in the snow as they walk.

The Iberian Lynx lives in the south part of Europe where it is warm.
There are only a few hundred of this type of Lynx left in the world.
They have short hair, that is brown and they have spots.
These cats are a little smaller than the Canada Lynx.

The Eurasian Lynx lives in Northern Europe, Russia and Asia.
These cats only live where it is very cold.
They have brown or red fur, and they are the biggest of the types of lynx.
They can be over 4 feet long, over 3 feet tall, and weigh over 45 pounds.

Canada Lynx:



Iberian Lynx:



Eurasian Lynx:




(from: wikipedia - lynx)


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Bobcat

We just learned about the Jaguarundi.

Another type of wild cat is the Bobcat.

This cat is usually a little over 4 feet long, and about 2 feet tall.
They weigh about 40 pounds, and they have a short little tail.
Because their tail is short, or "bobbed" they got the name of Bobcat.

A Bobcat's fur is usually grey or brown, with black lines on it's body.
The tips of their ears have short black tufts and are black tipped and pointed.

For a cat, their faces look extra wide because the sides of their faces have fur sticking out.

Bobcats live in North America, in Mexico, the United States and Canada.
They can live anywhere from the swamps, to deserts, forests or mountains.






(from: wikipedia - bobcat)


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Jaguarundi

We just learned about the Cougar.

Another type of wild cat is the Jaguarundi, also called the eyra.

This is a wild cat, but it is just a little bigger than most normal house cat pets!
It is usually about 2 1/2 feet long, and weighs about 20 pounds.

These jaguarundi have fur that can be black or brown or even red.

They live in South America and parts of Mexico, and are usually very shy.
For food they will eat birds, mice or snakes, and they live in the grasslands.




(from: wikipedia - jaguarundi)


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Cougar

We just learned about the Cheetah.

Another type of wild cat is the Cougar, also called the puma, mountain lion, red tiger, catamount or Puma concolor.
There are a lot of other names that this cat has been called through the years.
So many, that it holds the world record for the animal with the most names, with over 40 names just in English!

Cougars are the fourth largest type of cat in the world, after the lion, tiger and jaguar.
They are about 3 feet tall, 8 feet long and weigh over 200 pounds.

These cats can not roar, but they have a type of screeching scream that can be heard very far away.
Their fur is usually just a light brown like a lion, but can sometimes be a little reddish or greyish.
They were named mountain lions, because their fur looks a lot like a lion's fur but they live in the mountains.

Cougars are very fast and can run up to 50 miles per hour.
They have big strong legs which helps them climb up into trees and mountains.

Even though they are called mountain lions, these cats can live anywhere from mountains to forests to deserts.
They usually live alone, except for baby mountain lions who live with their mothers for a few years.





(from: wikipedia - cougar)


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Cheetah

We just learned about the Clouded Leopard.

We learned a long time ago about how the Cheetah can run 75 miles per hour and has marks on its face to help block the sun.

The Cheetah is also called the acinonyx jubatus, and there are four different types of cheetahs in the world.

- The Southeast African cheetah lives in the countries in the southeast part of Africa like South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, and is the one most people think of when talking about cheetahs. There are only about 5,000 of these cheetahs left in the world.
Some of these Cheetahs have long black stripes going down their back, and these are called "King Cheetahs". They are still Southeast African cheetahs, but they are different colored, kind of like the black panther.

- The Asiatic cheetah lives in the country of Iran, and there are only about 50 of them left in the world. Its fur is shorter than the African cheetahs.

- The Northeast African cheetah lives in countries in the Northeast part of Africa like Ethiopia, and there are about 950 left of them in the world. It looks a lot like the southeast African cheetah, but has darker fur and no spots on its back feet.

- The Northwest African cheetah lives in the Sahara desert, and looks very different from the other cheetahs. It has lighter fur almost white, and very few spots on its back and legs. There are only about 250 of them left in the world.

The cheetahs are amazing fast animals, but there are so few left of them in the world because of people hunting them.
Cheetahs only have a few babies per year, and sometimes they don't have babies at all so bringing back this wild cat takes a long time.
Lots of zoos and parks are trying to bring back cheetahs but it is a lot of work and takes years to try and save this cat from going extinct!

Southeast African Cheetah:




Southeast African King Cheetah:

Asiatic Cheetah:

Northeast African Cheetah:

Northwest African Cheetah:

(from: wikipedia - cheetah)


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Clouded Leopard

We just learned about the Snow Leopard.

Another type of cat is the Clouded Leopard.

This cat lives in the himalayan mountains in Asia near China.
There are not many of these cats left, with only about 10,000 of them around.
The clouded leopard and sunda clouded leopard are actually two different types of cats, but are very difficult to tell apart other than where they live, as the sunda lives in Borneo and Sumatra.

These cats have dark grey fur, with black and dark blotched spots on them.
They have black ears and some stripes on their face and shoulders.

The clouded leopards are much smaller than other leopards, weighing only about 50 pounds, and being less than 4 feet long.

Because these cats live in the mountains, they are great climbers.
They can even climb down a tree head first, hanging on with their back paws wrapped around the tree.
These cats are also great jumpers, and can easily jump over 4 feet high.






(from: wikipedia - clouded leopard)


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Snow Leopard

We just learned about the Black Panther.

Another type of big cat is the Snow Leopard, also called Panthera Uncia.

This is a big cat living in the mountains in Asia, mostly in China.
There are not a lot of these cats left, less than 10,000 in the world.
They live up in the mountains at elevations around 10,000 feet above sea level.

A snow leopard's fur is white and grey with black spots on its head and neck, with rosettes on its fur.
It has a bushy tail, a white belly, and eyes that are green or grey.

Because the snow leopard lives in cold places, it has longer fur than other leopards, and short ears that don't get too cold.
When it sleeps it can use its bushy tail as a coat, and it has big nostrils to help bring in a lot of fresh air to keep it warm.
These cats have very big paws to help it walk on snow like snow shoes, with fur on the bottom to help them keep their grip on rocks.

They are about 2 feet tall, 5 feet long, with a 3 foot tail and they weigh about 120 pounds.
Snow leopards can grunt and meow, but they can not roar like other big cats because of a difference in their throat.





(from: wikipedia - snow leopard)


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