Lions and tigers and jaguars, oh my! Who can resist these overgrown kitties? My son suggested this topic months ago, and one day made me sit down to look for big cats on the Net. The first site we found (Big Cats Online) completely won him over. "Mom, you have to do big cats." So, for my family and yours, here is the best of the big cats that roam the Net.
This big cat site comes in two flavors: one for Netscape and the other for Internet Explorer. Make your choice from the opening screen. Once you are in, Big Cats Online offers an extensive introduction to wild cats. Not only the familiar leopard, lion, tiger, jaguar and cheetah, but also the smaller, lesser known cats such as the margay and the caracal. This outstanding Web site is easy to navigate and is divided into the following subjects: Evolution, Species, Conservation, Links and Glossary. Be sure to visit Cats in the Wild, an online magazine covering the lifestyle and behavior of wild cats. Big Cats Online is not only a terrific resource for school reports, but also a fun place to lose yourself for an hour. My nine-year-old son loved it. "It just goes on and on. Everywhere I click, there are more pictures."
This site suffers from too many scrollable frames. But once your eyes have acclimated, you'll discover the list of cats (from A to Z naturally) running down the left margin. Click on a cat to view its vital statistics, and you're only one more click away from viewing addditional Web resources for your selected cat. The interface is distracting, but you'll find a lot of information here.
Cheetah comes from a Hindi word meaning spotted one. It is an animal truly built for speed. Its fastest recorded speed is about 71 and nothing surpasses a cheetah in short sprints. It can accelerate to 45 m.p.h. in two seconds. This Web site has fascinating facts with charts and animations to illustrate its points, but I wish it had more photographs
The Felidae family consists of 18 genera and 36 species. The main group Felinae includes the puma, the ocelot, the serval and many smaller wild cats as well as the domestic cat . The other main genera are Lynx which include the bobcat, and Panthera which includes the jaguar, the leopard, the tiger and the lion. The first cats appeared 26 million years ago, and by about 10 million years ago modern cats had evolved. Come visit this feline family tree, part of the larger CyberZoo site.
"Congratulations, zoo keeper. Your zoo is about to receive its first-ever Siberian tiger. He's being moved to your zoo by the Siberian Tiger Species Survival Plan, a group of zookeepers trying to save the big cats by breeding them in zoos. There aren't many of these special animals left in the wild—only about 400—and your mission is to make sure this one thrives in his new zoo home." This interactive story is an example of what makes the Net great. Come play zoo keeper and help prepare your zoo for the arrival of your Siberian tiger.
The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
Cat Tales | International Snow Leopard TrustWild about Cats |
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