the King of the Jungle

Although thought of as the Jungle king, Lions are found on the plains and savannas of Africa. Their great size and regal appearance certainly suggest that they might easily qualify as monarchs. If he is the king she rightly deserves the status of queen. Within the pride (group) it is the female who does most of the hunting although the great king can as well.

The lighter colored lions above are a slightly different breed than this and the one below. Notice the strikingly dark mane on the the male. As far as possible, zoos hope to obtain the black-maned as he just looks more fierce.

This group of cats is the Serval

The Serval is the largest of the lesser breeds of cats, which number about twenty. It does not have, as these pictures might instruct, have the most pleasing of temperaments. It is sometimes mated with domestic cats because of it's beautiful pattern, however, when it was tried with this one the result was not a good one. The Serval ate the house cat.

Certainly one of the most stately and beautiful cats in the world

This is the Leopard and they are absolutely gorgeous. They and the Tiger are solitary animals, hunting and living alone, unlike the Lion which is more communal.

The world's biggest cats...

This is a Liger cub, a large cub, and a cross between a Tiger and a Lion.

The eye of a white Bengal Tiger.

These White Bengals are not not to be confused with the naturally whiter Siberian Tiger which spends much of it's life in snow, thus needing the color.

Okay, look me right in the eyes.

Beautiful great cats

This is a white Bengal Tiger. The white ones are the result of genetics, just as some of us are blue-eyed and some brown. In the wild, however, white tigers are very rare. Possibly this could be because the mother, sensing the cubs are different and without the proper camouflage might starve, simply kills them. This is not unusual in nature.

This is a normal Bengal Tiger. The Bengals are almost all from India. Sadly they have been so heavily hunted that today there are more in captivity than in the wild.

This is Liger cub, a cross between a male Tiger and female Lion. In the wild they can never do this simply because thaty live on seperate continents.