AboutRaphael Heng Expertise Anything about Big Cats, especially Tigers. You can also ask me any questions or doubts you have about the organisation Save China's Tigers as i am a volunteer there, How the tigers affect the ecosystem in Africa etc. Questions about any feline re-wilding projects could be ask here, eg: Asiatic lion re-wilding. I can answer questions in both Chinese and English, questions on interspecies conflict regarding felines can also be answered.
Experience I am a volunteer of the Charitable Organisation, Save China's Tigers. The Organisation aims to save the South China Tiger via re-wilding training in Africa and releasing captive trained tigers back into the China's wild.
Organizations Save China's Tigers
Publications Wikipedia.
Education/Credentials Student, currently studying about Animal biology, specifically on felines.
Question Hi,Raphael!
thanks for all,you are always very very polite and clear again.
I have again some doubts,but I think you can answer me in few seconds,because are only small doubts
1)I'd like to know if the fact that an animal bigger than another similar is slower depends from A)gravity effect(more important for bigger animals) and B)air attrition(more important too for bigger animals.
If it is not like that,can you tell me why bigger animal are slower?I understand they are weighter,but I think thay have bigger muscles too to move their body,in proportion...
2)You consider leopard the third faster big cat?I insiste because a lot of other experts consider tiger and lion faster than leopard...But i think they are wrong...
3)If a leopard is faster than lion and tiger,why sometimes leopard is killed by them? They would escape,isn't it?
4)Are any report of Puma runs 104km/h(65mph)?And if are not,what is puma's top speed ever reported?
5)If snow leopard is less athletical than Puma,why does he jump more in length(15m) and in proportion more vertical(6m)?
What can be the factors that make an animal jump better than another,but make him slower?
6)I have some doubts about jaguar's speed.How is it possible that can run as fast as leopard?I ever thought that jaguar is made more for power,leopard more for speed...I think jaguar is bullker than leopard,his legs are powerful but he is too big to run as leopard,at least a little bit slower...isn't it?
6)You told me you think a clouded leopard can jump a little bit less than a snow leopard in proportion,but more than 5m in length(15feet)and more than 3m(9feet) vertical...finally,do you think we can consider that a clouded leopard can jump about 3-4 vertical and maybe 7-8m in length? I think as you he can reach 3m or more vertical, but I think maybe 5m length is a little bit shorter...
7)why do you think a caracal(and I suppose a lynx) can reach just 56km/h(35mph)while clouded leopard can run so much more?I know they are very differen,but why do you think is there so big difference?
8)You told me a tiger can jump 10m horizzontal and 5m vertical...how much can jump horizzontal and vertical a Lion?How much a Jaguar?
9)Finally do you think is possible for some particular athletic lioness or tigress reach 80km/h?Isn't it possible for males at all?And do you think is faster a tiger or a lion(also a little difference)?
10)I'd like to ask you some questions about conflicts big cats/bears,But I thought that in this mail I just asked too much...can I ask you it in the next mail or have I to ask it to "interspecies conflict"?I hope I can ask you because you are clerer
Sorry again for the length of mail
thanks a lot again
Tommaso
Answer 1)Both air resistance and Gravity is against the larger animal, not only that but as i said when two animals are so physically and anatomically similar, the weight difference could result in the heavier animal being slower. The heavier animal doesn't neccessary have bigger muscles in propotion and even if it does have bigger muscles in propotion, it might not be at the legs to increase it speeds.
Let's say for example, a 300pound lioness and a 500pound lion. Let's say the extra 200lb muscle is not on the lion's back leg but mostly on the front part of its body, in this case, the lion indeed has larger muscle but it is not on his hindlegs, as a result because of its additional weight, it isn't as fast as a lioness.
The same could be said about big cats climbing trees, heavier cats are less likely to be able to climb trees.
2)I will not specifically say it is the 3rd fastest cat, but i would say it is one of the faster felines. As i mentioned, the fastest recorded speed for both lions and tigers is only 35mph, there are many cats that has similar speed to that.
I have seen websites saying that lions or tigers can reach speeds up to 50mph, but up till now there is no factual evidence to confirm this speculation. And more credible experts would tell you 35mph is their speed.
3)As i mentioned to you about how sometimes leopards hunt wildebeests, i told you about acceleration. The top speed of a leopard is faster than lion and tiger but the acceleration of the leopard may not be as fast as theirs.
Let's say if a tiger started sprinting to catch a leopard, when the leopard sees the tiger, it also starts to escape but at that time the Tiger could already be at its maximum velocity while the leopard has only started to run and is only accelerating when it is caught.
And it also depends on the situation the animal is at, a leopard could have just finished a tiring hunt and is exhausted when a tiger came, the leopard will not have enough energy to escape from its larger cousin in such circumstance.
There are many accounts of Lions killing Cheetahs too, that doesn't mean the cheetah is slower than the lion, does it?
4)I honestly do not know the recorded top speed of the Cougar, but many renown experts, credible websites and books mentioned that they run at speed of 43mph. 60mph is perhaps just the estimated top speed of a cougar by some experts
5)Different froms of energy are acting on the animal during sprinting and jumping. During sprinting, air resistance affects the animal more than Gravitational pull, in fact the gravity pull doesn't affect much on an animal when it is sprinting.
On the other hand, when you jump, especially vertically, gravitational potential energy is at its best and in such a case, the anima's mass/weight is very important, the lighter animal should be able to jump higher since gravitational potential energy affects light weighted animal less.
You have two questions 6...
6)Perhaps you may not know, but pound for pound there is still a big debate going on about whether a leopard or a jaguar is stronger. So i would say both of them are built for power and speed but yes, i agree with you that the jaguar is perhaps slightly slower than the leopard.
6)Yes, that's about what i estimated.
7)Well, i told you Cloud leopard can reach around 40mph, that is only about a difference of 5mph. Yes, they are indeed built differently and in my opinion the clouded leopard is built is more athletical than the caracal, although i wouldn't underestimate the caracal.
8)The recorded horizontal distance a lion jumped in one bound is 40 feet (12 m), as for vertical jump, i am not sure since i haven't seen any report for that feat but i am fairly certain it would be close to that of the tiger's.
I also do not have the official numbers for the distance that the jaguar can jump, both horizontally and vertically, but you can roughly estimate the distance from those of the lion and the tiger.
9)Well, 80km/h is roughly around 50mph, if that's the case, i certainly doubt any lioness or tigress can reach that speed. As i said before, the recorded top speed of a lioness and tigress is 35mph which is definitly far from 80km/h. So i don't really think there is a possibility for that to happen.
And if you are talking about both males, i would probably say equal. Lions have longer legs, but Tigers have stronger hindlegs, but if you want me to really come to a decision, i would say tiger because lions have mane which makes it less streamline compared to a tiger.
Being streamline is an effective way to reduce air resistance, that might be also the reason why male lions tend to hunt larger prey than lioness, because they cannot catch up to smaller and faster prey.
10)You can ask me about Big Cats vs Bears fight, but i must tell you something first, when you ask me a question on such a fight, i would consult my good friend, Christopher, a bear expert. This is to ensure you get the best answer you can possibly can.
Christopher is more knowledgable on bears than anyone else on allexperts(although he isnt available on all allexperts), i can assure you that.
I said this because me and Christopher once debated with Fady of the Interspecies conflict section before on the topic Lion vs Bear, and well.. i don't want to offend anyone so i will not tell you who gave up first, lol.
So if you have any bear/big cats conflict question, you can ask me.
