Of lions, big and smaller cats

Just before I took this photo, in Namibia, the giraffes in the back ground were drinking...

...but it is the hour when lions drink and weaker animals retreat

Its mane(criniere) magnifies its size but  the lion is smaller than the tiger and the second largest of the "cats"

lions do participate to the hunting, but the lioness leads it

The jaguar ( or panther) can have a spotted fur like this one in Belize or be black. it can weigh 100kg and be 180cm long.



We knew it was there because we saw a dead eland in the tree but it took us 15 minutes to spot it camouflaged in the bush... caption



... yes, it is a leopard, smaller than the jaguar but very strong and capable of hoisting prey twice its weight on top of trees. There are more leopards than any other cats but they are very elusive .

It eats often on a tree...

...always ready to jump if necessay.



I was so lucky to be so close to this one in Namibia.



But to me, the most gracious of all cats is the Cheetah ( guepard) like this female in the Serengeti.

Born to run, it reaches 100km/h in 3 seconds. Faster than a Ferrari...

Cheetah does not stalk prey, it races it...

Higher than the leopard, it weighs only 2/3 of its weight because, like a bird it has hollow bones.

This jaguarundi, in Belize is one of the largest " small wild cat"...

... with the caracal, in the Serengeti, which can jump 2m high to catch a flying crane!

In California, my favorite is the bobcat ( lynx) which I was lucky to follow very closely for an hour just before sunset...

Resting on a rock before...

This last photo.