The Big Cat Thread

Duck

Member
Poaching has been reduced by stricter laws but its unrealisitic to expect to totally eliminate it, especially if theres an economic incentive such as black market in hides, ivory etc.
Maybe humans can get it together maybe we can't. Im not sure.
 

neeko143

New member
I didn't say it will be totally eliminated. Obviously economic incentive is key in poaching. Take away that and you take away the impetus to shoot beautiful wild animals for the most part. Big corporations should be doing more to solve this problem. And they easily could. If they even spent 1/100th of their annual profit on education and work programs in the countries in which they operate... much of this problem would largely be done away with.

Well... that and an education system for practitioners and recipients of traditional Chinese medicine. Because it supports poaching in a large way.
 

bl1tz1n

New member
The cheetah was headed for extinction long before poaching and other human pressures became an issue. It's widely thought a natural disaster is the primary cause for the cheetah's plight. It'd be sad to see them go. But we're not to blame for everything that's going extinct and we can't save everything.

I'm tired of this save everything approach to conservation. Mostly because the ideal natural environment we're trying to create for these animals has never actually existed in the whole of human history. Particularly in Africa. Which is why mega fauna still exists in Africa. They evolved along side us.
 

soni

New member
Only extreme anti poaching laws saved the African elephant from extinction back in the 80s. game warden were ordered to kill poachers on sight, extrme measure but effective. The poachers weren't neccesarily bad people, they were just feeding their families but you can't feed your family if you're dead.
that plus the ban on ivory in North America and Europe really saved the elephant.
 

ChadT

Member
Zoologists and conservationists agree that loss of habitiat has been a big factor in the plight of the Cheetah. And poaching sure hasn't helped them any.
 
I don't know. It's hard to believe that the fastest animal on the planet would have trouble surviving if it weren't for loss of habitat and hunting. Both were happening before anyone started keeping track of cheetah numbers.
 
Well of course they're dangerous. They're a wild animal with sharp teeth and claws.. but their temperament is different than that of the other big cats. They lack the size and sheer strength of the other cats. Their bite strength is a fair bit different as well... tigers, lions, pumas and many other of the big cats will break a prey's neck... a cheetah in general can't manage that so the resort to suffocation and or severing the jugular artery. They will also generally not fight for down prey as the other big cats do - giving ground to a single hyena. Something you wont find the other big cats doing.

While they're tamer in temperament they'd still have not much problem putting the hurt on a human if cornered... but yeah I don't think cheetah attacks on humans happen all that often if ever.
 

linh

Member
This thread needs an influx of the cuter, less scary side of big cats. And I just happen to have pics I took yesterday of the new lion cubs at the Milwaukee County Zoo.
 

rauhaki2

New member
Nice! One thing that I think endears humans to cats it once their eye catches something... they are 110% focus. They could burn a hole through it with their stare... growing up with half a dozen cats at the house most times... I was always fascinated the way cats will stalk something and then prior to pouncing they get twitchy and on their haunches... then pounce! So in my head when I see big cats I think of that and it's spooky. Man the Bengal tigers I've seen in India were large beyond comparison - between 400-450 lbs!!!!. You are a snack. One stood on its hind legs to scratch a tree... humans are a joke by comparison physically.

Then what was interesting there were several clouded leopards one time in Darjeeling... I watched them play with one and other... 50lbs that could pounce and not make a single sound doing it. Very interesting.

As for cougars... one time in California we were climbing and my partner had just led the first pitch of a route... he was on belay and his eyes went saucer size... I looked down below me and about 15 feet below... a cougar nonchalantly strolled right underneath us. Silent as. I couldn't get over how relaxed he was and how massive his tail was... he just sort of floated underneath us. Let's say I was glad to be 15 feet off the deck at that point.
 

AsianDudet

New member
As big cats go it's not very big. It's a specialist. It competes for prey with bigger and stronger cats. Most aren't very good at raising a litter. Bigger and stronger cats like Lions kill cheetah on sight. Their gene pool is very limited and it's been so for the last 12000 years or so.

A loss of habitat due to human pressure may be hastening their demise. But it's not the cause.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Cheetah
 

pennycentury

New member
Cheetahs sit at around 12,000 give or take world wide... the Tiger give or take between 5-7,000. So about twice as many Cheetahs as there are Tigers it seems. Of course both are approximate and vary slightly depending the source. The tiger has more issues with regard to loss of habitat and tiger anything is much sought after by Chinese TCM practitioners. Tiger penis bone is insanely expensive. Go figure. Pathetic and stupid the whole TCM habit of taking anything remotely phallic even if it means hunting the animal wearing it into extinction.
 

darfuractionnow

New member
Lions would very rarely catch an adult cheetah. The cubs are what is in real danger there but that's natural selection. It keeps the cheetah's numbers in check, it wouldn't make them extinct. It's like the 90% or so of crocodile and aligator babies that get eaten or killed before they are large enough to defend themselves and yet without human interference they would be far from endangered.
 

CAustin

Member
A cheetah may be able to out pace a lion. But a lion has more stamina. It's very rare for an adult cheetah to win in a fight against other big cats. The cubs are especially at risk. Virtually everything will kill them. Including other cheetah. And if a female accidentally leaves a cub behind. It's on it's own. Cheetah don't seem to notice when a cub is missing. I read somewhere once they can't count.

Yes cheetah would still be endangered. That was my main point. The cheetah population crashed around 12000 years ago. Supposedly due to a natural disaster of some kind. This left isolated populations with very limited gene pools. Cheetah also have a low fertility level and the females tend to pick their mates and they tend to be very picky. The mortality rate amongst cubs is also very high.
 
I don't need to. It's the truth. Almost all new cheetah mothers lose their entire first litter and thereafter only succeed in raising 1 or 2 cubs out of a possible 6 cubs if they succeed at all. When a cub is near maturity the mother simply abandons it irrespective of how capable it is at actually surviving on it's own. Many cheetah do not make it in life past this sudden separation stage.
 

crimsonclan1

New member
The tiger storey is quite different though. Tigers don't have any breeding issues. Other than finding space to live in. Give tigers protected habitat and leave them too it and they thrive. Tigers are also far more adaptable. They've even been recorded living high in the Himalayas. Which nobody thought was possible just a few years ago.
 

beeyotch101

New member
Cheetahs are very succesful hunters. Cheetahs have a 50% success rate vs 20% for lions. So a Cheetah can certainly survive. Its not natural selection that has endangered them.
 
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