Big cats in U.S. zoos

What makes a cat a "big cat"

In the strict sense, "big cat" means the five living species of the genus Panthera: the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard and snow leopard. The term is also used more loosely for any large cat, such as the cheetah and cougar, which belong to the other branch of the cat family, the Felinae, and differ physically from the Panthera species. The clouded leopard is a close relative rather than a true big cat: it belongs to Neofelis, the sister genus of Panthera, and at 11.5 to 23 kg (25 to 51 lb) it is smaller than any of them.

The defining Panthera trait is the roar. An elongated, specially adapted larynx and hyoid apparatus lets these cats produce a call that, in the lion's case, can carry 8 to 10 km (5 to 6 mi). The snow leopard is the exception: its vocal folds are too short, so it meows, grunts and makes a soft snorting sound called prusten instead. The cougar cannot roar either, but it is the largest cat in the Felinae able to purr.

How the species differ

Size spans a wide range. Adult snow leopards usually weigh 22 to 55 kg (49 to 121 lb), while male tigers weigh 100 to 306 kg (220 to 675 lb). The Amur tiger of the Russian Far East is generally considered the largest tiger population. The jaguar is the biggest cat in the Americas and the third largest in the world, with a bite strong enough to pierce turtle shells.

Social life varies too. Lions are unusually social for cats, living in prides of related females with one or a few males. Most other big cats are solitary: tigers defend home ranges from others of the same sex, and leopards associate only to mate. Cheetahs fall in between, with females raising cubs, some males forming coalitions and others living alone.

Telling lookalikes apart

Spotted cats are easy to confuse. A cheetah has around 2,000 solid black spots and a frame specialized for speed, reaching 93 to 104 km/h (58 to 65 mph). Leopards and jaguars both carry rosettes, but a jaguar's are darker and usually have small dots inside, and every leopard's pattern is unique. The clouded leopard is named for its large, cloud-like blotches and has the longest canines in proportion to body size of any living cat. "Black panthers" are dark-coated leopards or jaguars, not a species of their own.

Conservation picture

Every Panthera species is classed as threatened to some degree on the IUCN Red List. The tiger is Endangered; the lion, leopard and snow leopard are Vulnerable, as is the cheetah; and the jaguar is Near Threatened. Even the cougar, listed as Least Concern, has a decreasing population. The main threats are habitat destruction and poaching, and outside protected areas hunting is the dominant threat to large carnivores in Africa.

In the United States, the Captive Wildlife Safety Act makes it illegal to sell, buy or transport lions, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, clouded leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, cougars and their hybrids across state or national borders. To qualify for the act's exemption as a bona fide animal sanctuary, an organization cannot breed big cats or allow direct contact between them and the public. The Big Cat Public Safety Act of 2022 went further, banning most private ownership and breeding of the same species and ending public contact such as cub petting.