All big cats roar, right?

by Louise Hector

This beautiful lady and her lovely baby are my absolute favourite animals.  I will admit to welling up with sheer joy when we came across these two in the Masai Mara.

Everyone knows that the cheetah is the fastest land animal but my favourite fact is that, unlike other big cats, the cheetah can’t roar.  It doesn’t possess the two piece hyoid bone needed to roar.  Instead the cheetah chirps, purrs and growls.  A little bit like the humble house kitten.

As Darren has mentioned before the life of a cheetah cub is tough and the chances of him making it to adulthood aren’t great. Even with all of mum’s love, care and attention.  There are many reasons why cheetahs are so badly endangered – habitat loss, conflict loss, loss of prey, the fact that cubs are predated by larger carnivores such as hyena and lions.  It would be a tragedy if we were to lose this beautiful animal.

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Posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 8:54 pm. Filed under: Guest Editors, Mammals Tags: Africa, babies, big cats, cheetahs, cute, Kenya, Masai Mara, mothers and babies, savannah RSS 2.0 feed.

One Response to “All big cats roar, right?”

1. Tracy says:

   July 22, 2010 at 10:17 am

   Cheetahs are my absolute fave animals too and Darren’s pictures are incredible. I hope one day I can visit the Masai Mara and see them for myself.

   Beautiful, beautiful photos of these incredible, vulnerable animals.

   Tracy