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How is a Cheetah different from Jaguar and Leopard ??

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From the fiercest to the swiftest, the 'Cats' are rightly the 'Lords of the jungle'. While Lions take pride in their loud and thunderous roar, a Cheetah's scary and fixated look makes even the lionhearted tremble.  And then there are the 'cousins' in the Cat family : Tiger, Leopard, Jaguar, Panther. But how to differentiate amongst these beasts? Not that you have to, during your out-of-luck-day, but probably the article will be of help to you, during your next visit to a zoo or a safari.

While Lions and Tigers are easily identifiable, one tend to confuse amongst Cheetah, Jaguar and Leopard. And it is quite usual for us to not able to distinguish between them. The major difference amongst these felines lies in their skin pattern and body structure. 

While Cheetahs have black solid spots running through the fur, Jaguars and Leopards have Rosettes pattern adorning the skin. Furthermore, Jaguars rosettes have spots in the centre; the structure that distinguishes them from their close cousins - Leopards. Refer the image below to visualize the difference. 
        
Difference between Leopard and Jaguar
     
The table provides a more descriptive detailing of the Big Cats.

Property
Leopard
Jaguar
Cheetah
Skin Coat
Light skin;
Rosettes without a spot in middle
Dark skin;
Rosettes with spots in middle
Light Tan/Yellow skin;
Black solid spots cover the fur
Legs
Short Legs
Longer than Leopard
Longer than  Leopard
Distinct feature
Most adaptive  
Broad Head
Long Tail and Small Head
Natural Habitat
Africa & Asia
Americas (majorly South America)
Africa & Asia
       
Nerd notes: 
  1. Cheetahs cannot roar, unlike the other felines
  2. Jaguars love to stay in water and even hunts fish, crocodiles
  3. Leopards like staying up a tree and are strongest climbers. It even takes its kill into the branches
  4. Cheetahs are now back in India after 70 years, as 8 felines flew in from Windhoek, Namibia to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on Sept 17, 2022
Thanks for reading. Hope you liked the blog! Please provide a word of encouragement, if you did :)
- Prakhar
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Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Comments

  1. A for apple5 November 2017 at 15:57

    Also, cheetah bhi peeta hai....others don't

    ReplyDelete
  2. Balaji19 October 2019 at 13:25

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous26 March 2020 at 21:25

    Lovely subject, lovely written

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prakhar Gupta20 June 2020 at 22:51

      Glad you liked it. Thanks for the nice words.

      Delete
  4. Archika11 July 2020 at 12:47

    Quite informative.. never knew these differences... Great job..

    ReplyDelete
  5. cracksole18 April 2022 at 15:04

    Nice post! This is a very nice blog that I will definitively come back to more times this year! Thanks for the informative post. download Windows KMS Activator Ultimate

    ReplyDelete

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