Lion - Burundi

The Ruvyironza River rises in the mountains of Southern Burundi and follows a northern course for about 110 kilometers before joining an upper branch of Tanzania’s Kagera River. The Ruvyironza River is considered the most remote source of the Nile River, the longest river in the world.

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Panthera leo - The male lion is larger than the female and has a coarse mane covering the head and neck. Lions rest or sleep for 20 hours or more each day. When they do hunt, it is often during the day and usually a task reserved for the females, who co-operate to bring down the heavier prey animals. Averaging about 15 individuals, lion prides require large amounts of food. Lions once ranged throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas, but are now considered a vulnerable species. Their populations have suffered a sharp decline.

Lion - Burundi

Lions differ from other felids; they form social groups called prides. A lion is classified as either resident or nomad. Females are usually resident and form the basic unit of a lion pride, but occasionally they do become nomads, leaving one pride and entering another. Male lions become nomads when they leave their maternal pride at maturity, about 2 to 3 years. As they grow older, males lions will either try to usurp a dominate male to take over his pride or form one of their own. 

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German East Africa, Deutsch-Ostafrika, was a collection of colonies controlled by Germany and included Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanganyika. Burundi was not as easy to pacify as Rwanda and Tanganyika. King Mwezi IV Gisabo managed to put up a stiff resistance to foreign domination. A treaty of friendship was negotiated in 1899 and Burundi was rolled into Germany’s African holdings. Belgium took control of the colony after World War I and ruled until Burundi became independent in 1962.

Leopard - Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has abundant water resources. There are seven rivers and significant ground water reserves, yet almost 70% of the rural population does not have access to clean water. The problem does not stem from a lack of water, but lies more in the inability to provide an infrastructure able to store and deliver safe water.

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Panthera pardus - Of the five cats in the genus Panthera, the leopard is ranked fourth in size. Although it ranks low in size, the leopard is far ahead of the other species within this family in setting essential standards necessary for excelling as a hunter. The leopard is fast and strong. It can attain speeds of 58 km/h and is the only Panthera species able to pull itself up a tree while carrying a heavy carcass. It will eat anything crossing its path, can adapt to a wide range of habitats, and is known for its high success rate in ambushing prey.

Cheetah - Sudan

The Nile River flows through Sudan before reaching Egypt and was the source in creating and sustaining the Egyptian and Kushite Kingdom. The Kingdom of Kush emerged along the confluences of the Blue and White Nile in 1070 BC. The kingdom rose to supplant Egypt as the leading power in the region and survived until 350 AD.

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Acinonyx jubatus - The cheetah, the true pursuit predator in the cat family, is superbly adapted for speeds reaching 112 km/h. It has a long and supple frame with high muscular shoulders and long slender legs. The tail is an important aid in helping to maintain balance during high speed sprints in pursuit of prey animals. The cheetah is fast, but can maintain the chase for less than 30 seconds. Despite being a prolific breeder in the wild, cheetahs have high cub mortality rates. This factor places the cheetah on the critically endangered list.

Serval - Togo

Leptailurus serval - The serval is found throughout most of Africa below the Sahara Desert. It is a medium-sized feline measuring between 59 to 92 centimeters. Though not related to the cheetah, the serval has long slender legs and a small head in relation to its body. The serval is one of the more efficient cats in capturing prey and is able to achieve an impressive 50% success rate when hunting. Its diet consists primarily of small reptiles, mammals, fish, frogs, insects, and birds.

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Ewe, an indigenous language of the Gbe group, is spoken by 4 million people in Ghana and Togo. It is a tonal language using pitch to change the meaning of words sounding similar to non-native speakers. Languages use pitch to provide emphasis and emotion, but tonal languages use pitch to turn similar sounds into new words. Tonal languages are common in Africa, East Asia, and Central America. It is estimated 70% of the world’s languages are tonal, with Mandarin having the most speakers.

Smilodon Populator - Argentina

The South American pampa stretches from the Andean foothills to the Atlantic coast. Once an ancient seabed, it is about 750,000 square kilometers in size. The western pampa is covered in shingle and sand, and the eastern half, by deposits of estuary silt washed down from the highlands during periods of massive floods.

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Smilodon populator - Having evolved in North America, Smilodon populator migrated to South America during the late Pleistocene epoch. This was the largest cat of the sabertooth species and weighed an average of 250 kilos, making it one of the largest felids; the tiger, at 300 kilos, currently ranks as the biggest cat. High shoulders and a sloped back gave it the appearance of a modern hyena. These cats became extinct about 10,000 years ago, a time period coinciding with the decline of the large herbivores throughout the Americas.

Cats of the Americas

There are currently seven species of large bodied cats in existence: the lion, leopard, tiger, jaguar, snow leopard, puma, and the cheetah. These seven cat species have had their original range limited by human encroachment and now face an uncertain future in their ability to survive.

The extinctions of the late Tertiary period eliminated three major groups of felids: metailurines, homotherines, and smilodontines. During the Pleistocene period an additional five species of the Felini tribe were lost to extinction. The total lost is about thirty species and represents four fifths of the larger cats known and identified over the last 10 to 12 million years. Extinctions are a normal process in the overall biological process and many factors can contribute to the demise of a species. Typical causes are loss of habitat, loss of food sources, or a severe and sudden change in climatic cycles, denying the animal sufficient time for an evolutionary adjustment. The loss of thirty species of felines over such a short period is a considerable tragedy and should be cause for providing a better understanding and strict protection for the seven species still in existence.

The felines depicted are the American cheetah, classified as Miracinonyx trumani, Barbourofelis fricki, and the American saber-toothed lion, classified as Smilodon fatalis.ture in their ability to survive.

Jaguar - Paraguay

Guarani is a language spoken by the Guarani people, the native inhabitants of Paraguay. After Quechua, it is the second most widely spoken non-European language in the Americas. In 1992, Guarani was recognized by Paraguay as an official language, the only indigenous language in the Americas to achieve such status.

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Panthera onca - The jaguar can be found from Northern Mexico to Paraguay. Its coloration ranges from light yellow to reddish-brown, each variety having the characteristic dark spots. The jaguar is not as graceful or agile as the leopard, but it can climb trees to lie in wait for potential prey. Jaguars are also excellent swimmers and do not hesitate entering rivers or streams. With the exception of the mating season, jaguars are solitary animals. The jaguar has suffered sever habitat loss and is now limited to less than 50% of its historic range.

Puma - Montana

The Missouri River forms at the confluence of the Jefferson and Madison Rivers near Three Forks, Montana. It then flows for 3,768 kilometers before joining the Mississippi River near St. Louis. The Missouri River is the largest river in North America and flows through or along the borders of seven American states.

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Felix concolor - The puma, also known as the mountain lion or cougar, ranges from British Columbia to Patagonia. Its body, exclusive of the long tail, can measure up to 1.95 meters in length and stands 60 to 90 centimeters at the shoulders. The puma is the fourth largest cat, but is not classified as a “big cat” because it cannot roar. It is a solitary animal searching for food at night or during twilight hours. The original distribution of the puma has shrunk considerably over the years as a result of human encroachment.

Bengal Tiger - Bangladesh

Bangladesh lies on a flat river delta where the Ganges, Jamuna, Padma, and Meghna Rivers meet. The river sediments help to replenish the soil and the heavy monsoons nurture the fertile fields, but there are no natural protective barriers against the destructive cyclones passing through the area on a consistent basis.

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Panthera tigris - The Bengal tiger is the largest member of the cat family and has the largest living population of the 10 tiger subspecies. The tiger's range extended from Eastern Turkey to Indochina, but has been sharply  reduced, placing the tiger on the critically endangered list. Most members of felidae are solitary animals and the tiger is no exception. The basic social group is limited to mother and cubs. Males will grant sub-males temporary passage through their territory and females will share overlaps in their territory with other females.

Tigers

The tiger, Panthera tigris, is the largest species in the Felidae genus; the genus contains 39 species. The tiger’s historic range once stretched from Anatolia to the Amur River in Eastern Russia and from the lower Himalayas to the islands of Indonesia. There are now fewer than 5,000 animals remaining in the wild and struggling to survive in isolated and scattered pockets. Their catastrophic decline has been attributed to habitat loss and poaching. Two subspecies of tigers are recognized: Panthera tigris tigris, six different varieties found on the Asian mainland and Panthera tigris sondaica, the Sumatran tiger found in the Sunda Islands of Indonesia.  Two other members of the sondaica group, the Bali and Javan tiger, fell into extinction during the 1950’s and 1970’s respectively. The animals depicted are, from top left to right,  the Caspian, Indo-Chinese, Siberian, and Sumatran Tiger.

Snow Leopard - Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyztan has several outstanding geographical features: the average altitude for Kyrgyzstan is 2,750 meters, the highest of any country in the world, the Tian Shan Mountain range covers 80% of the country, Kyrgyzstan is further away from an open sea than any other country, and none of its rivers drain into an ocean or sea.

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Panthera uncia - During the warm summer months, the snow leopard roams throughout the higher alpine meadows amid the snow and glaciers lying above the tree line. During the winter, it follows the migratory routes of prey animals moving into the lower forests or scrub regions. Unless breeding or in the case of a female being accompanied by cubs, the snow leopard is a solitary animal. It is well adapted for cold regions: a short stocky body, dense fur to protect it from the cold, and wide paws for traveling over deep snowy terrain.

Clouded Leopard - Malaysia

The Strait of Malacca is a narrow passageway extending for 805 kilometers between the island of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. It connects the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and is considered one of the most vital shipping routes. Approximately 1/4 of the world’s commerce passes through the Strait of Malacca.

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Leo nebulosa - The clouded leopard is a small cat, but has upper canines proportionately larger than those of any other cat. It prefers hunting in trees by catching small mammals and birds. Dedicating itself to an arboreal lifestyle has made the clouded leopard a skillful climber, the best within the cat family. Despite being distributed through a wide path across Central Asia, the population of the clouded leopard has declined sharply in recent years as a direct result of hunting, deforestation, and human encroachment.

European Jaguar - Italy

Italy is the only country on the European mainland featuring active volcanoes; Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and Mount Stromboli being the most famous. Mount Vesuvius buried the Roman city of Pompeii in 79 AD. Mount Etna, located on the island of Sicily, is the tallest of the Italian volcanoes; it stands at almost 3,400 meters. 

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Panthera gombaszoegensis - Fossil remains of the European jaguar were found in Olivola, Italy and dated as the earliest Panthera species in Europe. The Panthera genus includes lions, jaguars, leopards, and tigers. These cats, with the exception of the snow leopard, have anatomical features allowing them to roar. Most animals have triangular vocal chords, but those of the Panthera genus are squared and flattened. This produces a louder sound with a minimal amount of air having to pass over the vocal chords.

European Lynx - Slovenia

Lynx lynx - The European lynx is the largest of the four lynx species. It is known for its short stubby tail, long ear tufts, and their heavily padded paws. Coloration changes with the seasons; short brownish coats in summer are replaced by longer greyish coats in winter. The Kocevski forest of Slovenia had once been a common habitat of the lynx, but by the 20th century, the animal was no longer in residence. A program to reintroduce the cat has restored a limited and stable population.

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The Postojna Cave, located near Postojna, Slovenia, was formed by the Pivka River and covers an area of about 24,000 meters. The cave features a rich assortment of stygobites and stygophiles. Stygobites are plants living in ground water systems such as aquifers; stygophiles are animals sharing those living conditions. The Postojna Cave is home to the olm, a blind and pale salamander. This salamander differs from most amphibians; it lives under water for its entire life cycle.