Table Of ContentThe Wild Cat Book
Fiona Sunquist and Mel Sunquist
The Wild Cat Book
With photos by Terry Whittaker and others
the university of chicago press • chicago and london
fiona sunquist is a science writer, photographer, and for fifteen years was a
roving editor for International Wildlife Magazine.
mel sunquist is professor emeritus in the Department of Wildlife Ecology
and Conservation at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
terry whittaker is a UK-based photographer specializing in wildlife conservation and the environment.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2014 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2014.
Printed in China
23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-78026-9 (cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-14576-1 (e-book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226145761.001.0001
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Sunquist, Fiona, author.
The wild cat book / Fiona Sunquist and Mel Sunquist;
with photos by Terry Whittaker and others.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-226-78026-9 (cloth) — ISBN 978-0-226-14576-1 (e-book)
1. Felidae. I. Sunquist, Melvin E., author. II. Whittaker, Terry (Photographer), illustrator. III. Title.
QL737.C23S862 2014
599.75—dc23 2013048755
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Introduction 1
Panthera Lineage
Lion 5 Snow Leopard 41
Lions are the only social cat. They live in prides composed of The stocky, short-legged snow leopard hunts blue sheep and
related females. Pride members often join forces to hunt large ibex in some of the most rugged terrain on earth.
prey.
Leopard 49
Jaguar 17 The leopard combines the power and strength of the big cats
South America’s largest cat, the jaguar’s canines deliver the with the grace and versatility of the small cats.
most powerful bite of any big cat.
Clouded Leopard 61
Tiger 29 Named for the large cloud-shaped markings on their coat,
Largest of the living felids and the only striped cat, tigers are clouded leopards are powerfully built cats with dagger-like
built to grapple with prey several times their own weight. teeth.
Bay Cat Lineage
Bay Cat 69 Asiatic Golden Cat 77
The rare bay cat is found only on the island of Borneo. The Asiatic golden cat can be almost any color. Its fur varies
Thought to be extinct, it was rediscovered in 1992. from black to spotted, to bright red or gray.
Marbled Cat 73
With its long tail, large feet, and a blotched coat, the arboreal
marbled cat resembles a miniature clouded leopard.
Caracal Lineage
Serval 81 African Golden Cat 93
Specialized for sound-hunting, the tall serval has the longest The powerful-looking African golden cat is built like a small
feet of any cat. These remarkably successful hunters use their leopard. Recent DNA studies reveal these cats are closely re-
height and large ears to locate small rodents in the tall grass. lated to the serval and caracal.
Caracal 87
The caracal’s leaping abilities are legendary—these cats were
once used for sport hunting by Indian nobility. Like the chee-
tah and lion, the caracal’s range covers part of India.
v
Ocelot Lineage
Ocelot 99 Andean Cat 121
Ocelots are one of the most commonly seen cats in South The Andean cat lives at high altitudes in the Andes, where it
America. Their short, sleek fur is marked with dark spots and feeds almost exclusively on mountain viscachas.
rosettes, creating perfect camouflage.
Oncilla 125
Margay 103 The tiny, delicate-looking oncilla could be mistaken for a
Renowned for their climbing ability, margays are the most ag- smaller version of the margay. Like the ocelot and margay, the
ile and acrobatic of the cats. oncilla give birth to a single kitten.
Geoffroy’s Cat 109 Pampas Cat 129
About the size of a house cat, the Geoffroy’s cat is an adapt- Common in South America’s dry open grasslands and high
able, flexible predator. This cat has the unusual habit of leav- deserts, the pampas cat resembles a burly, long-haired house
ing its feces high in the branches of trees. cat.
Guiña 115
The guiña is the smallest cat in the Western Hemisphere,
found only in a small part of coastal Chile and Argentina.
Lynx Lineage
Eurasian Lynx 133 Canada Lynx 143
Twice the size of the other lynx, Eurasian lynx are forest cats. Tall and leggy, the Canada lynx is a specialized hare hunter.
Deer are their main prey. Large feet with toes that can be spread to form a snowshoe
help these cats travel over snow.
Iberian Lynx 139
The Iberian lynx is the world’s most endangered cat—only Bobcat 147
about 250 cats remain in Spain and Portugal. The short-tailed bobcat is the most abundant and widespread
wild cat in North America.
Puma Lineage
Cheetah 153 Jaguarundi 175
The fastest mammal on Earth, the cheetah can reach a speed Related to the cheetah and puma, the odd-looking jaguarundi
of 70 miles per hour in a few seconds. communicates with chirps and whistles. Unlike most cats, jag-
uarundi hunt mostly during the day.
Puma 165
The adaptable puma is often thought off as a “big cat,” but it
has recently been found to be more closely related to the chee-
tah and jaguarundi.
Leopard Cat Lineage
Pallas’s Cat 181 Flat-Headed Cat 197
Found in Mongolia and China, the squat, short-legged Pallas’s Flat-headed cats resemble fishing cats; they are excellent
cat has a face that resembles a Pekingese dog. swimmers and share the fishing cat’s preference for fish and
frogs.
Fishing Cat 187
The only species named for its habitat of eating fish, the fish- Rusty-Spotted Cat 201
ing cat is an excellent swimmer. The aptly named “hummingbird” of the cat family, the tiny,
quick rusty-spotted cat is Asia’s smallest felid.
Leopard Cat 193
The small, lightly built, long-legged leopard cat is Asia’s most
common small felid.
Domestic Cat Lineage
Domestic Cat 207 Wildcats 225
Domestic cats are believed to have moved in with humans The wildcats of Europe, Asia, and Africa are currently subdi-
some 10,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, being initially at- vided into five subspecies. The domestic cat is sometimes con-
tracted to the rats and mice that fed on stored grain. sidered a sixth.
Black-Footed Cat 219 Sand Cat 233
The tiny black-footed cat of southern Africa gets its name from One of the few cats that digs burrows, sand cats are found
the black hair on the soles of its feet. Males and females com- among the rocky outcrops and sand dunes of the Sahara and
municate via a very loud “meow,” which has been compared the Middle East.
to the roar of the tiger.
Jungle Cat 239
Adaptable enough to live near villages, the jungle cat is Asia’s
equivalent of the jackal.
Acknowledgments 243
Bibliography 245
Additional Readings 259
Illustration Credits 261
Index 263
Pallas’s cat (Otocolobus manul).
Introduction
God made the cat to give humankind the pleasure of caressing the tiger. —Anon.
When we returned from a long trip to In- and respected them as symbols of strength,
dia, our then-four-year-old daughter was courage, and royalty.
greatly relieved to be back home. As we Today the image of the crouched tiger or
walked into the house, she flung herself on leopard is etched in our consciousness as a
her favorite cat and exclaimed, “I need to symbol of power and of wild places. Keen and
touch a purr!” intensely familiar, we know the voice, rec-
If you have ever lived with a cat, you know ognize the silhouette. In dark places it stirs
exactly what she meant. Soft and caressable, a dimly remembered feeling and makes us
house cats are comforting companions in catch our breath in awe. This admiration, re-
the purring body of a wild beast. Their lithe, spect, and fear are part of our collective an-
light-footed movements remind us that they cestral memory.
are just a whisker away from their wild rela- Our lives have become more distant from
tives, and their do-as-they-like attitudes make the wild, but we remain entranced by the
us want to woo them. We feel honored when perfect beauty of cats. Personally, as we have
they respond, perhaps because we sense they learned more about these alluring creatures,
are by nature solitary creatures that have be- our interest has intensified and expanded to
come social with us. include their welfare and survival. We hope
In wild cats we see the beauty of our house this book stirs interest in both and reminds
cats writ large. For thousands of years, our people of the pure pleasure of “touching a
ancestors and wild cats lived in daily contact. purr”!
Stealthy, powerful, and intelligent, cats shad- While wild cats vary in size from the tiny
owed early human hunters, competing with 4-pound (2 kg) black-footed cat to the 550-
them for prey. In turn, we scavenged their pound (250 kg) Bengal tiger, they are nev-
kills but lived in fear of their covert stalk and ertheless instantly recognizable as cats. All
deadly canine teeth. We made them our totems cat species share many physical similarities,
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