On Sunday night, the Academy Awards will take place in Hollywood as the film industry gives out its annual Oscar awards. Sadly, while no films about wild cats were nominated, Panthera is joining in the award season. We’re giving away our own awards — “A-cat-emy Awards” — to some very deserving wild cats. Scroll below for our list of winners!
Lord of the stripes! The tiger won this award. With the largest male tigers weighing up to 660 lbs. (299 kg), tigers beat out lions to the title of largest cat on the planet. Tigers are so big that they’ve been known to hunt and eat brown bears!
No, honey, I didn't shrink the cat! Congratulations to the rusty-spotted cat for winning this award. It’s no easy feat being so small. Rusty-spotted cats weigh in at 2-4 lbs. (1-2 kg), or 1/146th the size of the average adult male tiger.
So fast, they’re gone with the wind! This one everyone knew all along — the cheetah won it. At top speeds of up to 75 mph (120 kph), cheetahs are the fastest living land mammal. They use their sleek, slender body and balance-aiding tail to help them hunt swift prey species like gazelles.
Those are some jaws! This one goes to the jaguar, which has the strongest bite of any wild cat relative to its size. This cat species’ bite has exceptional power to pierce the skulls of its prey, which includes the scaly, rough exterior of crocodilians like caimans.
There were many worthy candidates, but snow leopards came away with the crown! These wild cats dwell in towering mountain ranges like the Himalayas, with the ability to inhabit elevations of up to 19,000 ft (6,333 meters).
A “citizen kat” of many places! Historically, leopards have edged out pumas for this award! While the species is threatened by habitat loss, human-cat conflict and poaching, leopards inhabit roughly 62 countries across Africa and Asia — and they used to inhabit even more.
Pumas walked away with this award! According to a study from Panthera and Defenders of Wildlife, pumas maintain 543 interactions with 485 different living species, likely the most for any carnivore species on the planet.
Relative to size, clouded leopards have the longest teeth of any wild cat on Earth. These powerful canines can measure up to 1.5 inches (nearly 4 centimeters).
A feline social network! Lions easily came away with this honor. While cheetahs sometimes form coalitions, lions will form large family groups, sometimes with several males and several more females and their young. Called prides, this social organization is a special trait in the usually solitary wild cat world.
What an exciting night! Congratulations to all these worthwhile award winners. If your favorite wild cat missed out, don’t worry — all 40 species of wild cats are worth protecting. To help tigers, rusty-spotted cats, snow leopards and all wild cat species, please consider donating to Panthera.
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© Sebastian Kennerknecht
