Heavy breathers 😊 Thanda Safari’s male Lions (coalition) were strolling past the Green Mamba this afternoon, breathing rather heavily. The ultra-wide-angle lens of my new iPhone Pro Max captures the scene very nicely 🦁
A beautiful night view of one of Thanda Safari’s water holes.
With the incredible rains in this season all our dams and pans are full and currently there is water in puddles all over the reserve. Together with the lush vegetation this provides ideal conditions for all fauna to flourish.
This picture was taken last night after the sun had set with my new iPhone 12 Pro Max!
… (_Felinae_ Subfamily) – I only have pictures of four of the 31 ‘small wild cat species’. Can you identify these four? Just leave a comment if you think you know all of them 🐈 This was the last of ten days of cats posts 😊
… are my favorite photographic targets in all their varieties.
This charts gives an overview over the 39 species of cats (38 in the wild) in the Felidae family and their scientific classification into two subfamilies and 14 genera.
Later today I will finish this ‘cats posts’ series with a little quiz 😊
Beside the five official members of the genus Panthera (Tiger, Lion, Jaguar, Leopard and Snow Leopard) there are five more cat species which do not quite fit into the ‘small cat definition’ as they are rather large and/or have very special features.
Today I present the last of the ‘large cat club’:
The Eurasian Lynx (Lynx.lynx) – After Pumas and Cheetahs they are the largest of the small cats and the largest cats living in the wild in Europe.
So here they are again: The members of the ’10 largest wild cat species club’: Tiger, Lion, Jaguar, Leopard, Puma, Cheetah, Snow Leopard, Eurasian Lynx, Sunda Clouded Leopard and Mainland Clouded Leopard.
I only have pictures for a few of the remaining 28 wild cat species, which I will post over the next few days.
But for tomorrow I have created an overview of the cat (Felidae) family tree, which I hope will be helpful to some of you.
Beside the five official members of the genus Panthera (Tiger, Lion, Jaguar, Leopard and Snow Leopard) there are five more cat species which do not quite fit into the ‘small cat definition’ as they are rather large and/or have very special features. I will introduce these over the next few days. Today it is the ‘All Americas’ representative of the ‘large cat club’:
The *Puma* (Puma.concolor)
Pumas have a huge distribution range all the way from Eastern Alaska all along the west ist of the Americas to Patagonia (and in Florida). Due to this huge distribution range these elusive cats are known locally by many names (Mountain Lion, Cougar, Painter, Catamount, Puma, Florida Panther and many more). They vary very much in size. In the North and South they are quite large (up to 90kg for a male) but closer to the equator they are in average much smaller (up to 50kg for a male).