Page 37 - Annonce Dergi | İzmir Özel Saint-Joseph Fransız Lisesi

Panthers

Did you know that black panthers didn’t exist? These being the leopard, the snow leopard, the
Melanism is a mutation that causes the melanin tiger, the lion and the jaguar.
to go into overdrive which is dominant in one cap
and recessive in the other. Most black panthers Firstly, leopards are by far the best climbers of
are just jaguars with a dark tint. Black panther big cats and to avoid their food being stolen they
isn’t really an animal, it’s a description: It’s a carry their preys up to trees. Even managing to
panther that’s black. And since black panther prey on baby rhinos and giraffes, leopards are
just describes a mutation there are more colours very athletic. They can also jump off trees to catch
possible than just black. Leucism is like a bleached food. They are the most versatile of big cats.
version of the original, resulting in white panthers.
While erythrism can cause in a pink panther in real Next, snow leopards are named after leopards
life. However, this is not limited to just jaguars, a but their DNA sequence shows they are mostly
lion or a tiger that’s black are black panthers too. related to tigers. The snow leopard is native to
At this point you’re probably asking, “What even the mountains of Central and South Asia. They’ve
is a panther?”. The answer is complicated. The been nicknamed “ghost of the mountains”
simplest one is that panther is just another word due to their distance from humanity. Although
for big cat. But it is not really according to size. considering that poaching and illegal trade are
For example a cougar or a puma is about: the major threats they face, it is understandable.
60-63 kg
70-90 cm Then, the tiger is the biggest living cat in the world
(Max. weight 100 kg) and an adult male tiger can weigh up to 300 kg.
The reason of their orange colour is because the
And a male snow leopard is approximately: prey animals it hunts can’t see it, which is also
40-50 kg why their stripes go skin deep. They also have
70 cm the highest number of human kills since they live
(Max. weight 55 kg) extremely close to humans.

Only one of them is a big cat, and it’s not the Then we have probably the most famous big cat
cougar. And the cat bigger than a big cat is of all, the lion. They are the only ones who live
somehow not a big cat. Now you’re probably in groups which are called lion prides. For this
questioning what “big cat” even means. Let me reason, they are able to hunt even bigger animals,
explain. sometimes even an elephant. But going for a high
risk prey means they also get hurt frequently.
Panther is what we call an animal in the subfamily
Panthera. There are technically five members. Lastly, we have the jaguar. They have the stongest

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