Jaguars eat fi sh and crocodiles.


Tigers prefer deer and water buff alo. Lions stalk zebras and cape buff alo. Leopards hunt deer and monkeys. T ese big cats are at the top of their


s hunt deer a d m ys.


ecosystems’ food chains. T ey keep the number of plant-eating animals down. T ey pick off sick members of a herd. Without big cats, their ecosystems would be out of balance.


Who’s Who Among Big Cats


How to tell these big cats apart? Look at their fur:


Leopards have yellow coats with dark spots called rosettes. The edges of each rosette are smooth and circular.


Jaguars have rosettes, too, but they have irregularly shaped borders and a black dot in the center.


A leopard climbs a tree.


Tigers are the only big cats with stripes. Their fur is mostly orange with vertical, black stripes.


Lions have light-brown or tawny fur. Their tails are tipped with a tuft of black hair at the end. Males have long, shaggy manes.


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