Big Cats Habitats Answer Key

Name Date

Part 1. Your teacher will show you images of each big cat. Observe the images and draw each big cat in the column labeled Big Cat Sketch. As you sketch, think about the unique features that distinguish these big cats from one another. Take notes on each cat’s unique features. You can use the back of this worksheet to record your notes.

Part 2. Identify the continent and region that make up the species range of each big cat. Write the name of the continent in the column labeled Continent. Your choices are: Africa, Asia, North America, and South America.

Part 3. Identify the habitat where each of these big cats lives and write it in the column labeled Habitat Type. Your choices are: savanna, mangrove swamp, tropical rain forest, forests of all types, or boreal forest.

Big Cat Habitat Example Big Cat Continent Habitat Name Description Habitat Sketch Type Location

African Lion a type of tropical Maasai Mara Drawings will vary. Africa savanna grassland with National Park, scattered trees Kenya

Bengal coastal wetland Sundarbans, Drawings will vary. Asia mangrove Tiger dominated by Ganges River swamp mangrove trees, Delta, India which have roots that can survive in salty water

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Big Cat Habitat Example Big Cat Continent Habitat Name Description Habitat Sketch Type Location

Jaguar area of tall Amazon Drawings will vary. South tropical evergreen trees Basin, Brazil America rain forest and a high amount of rainfall, often near the Equator

Leopard a type of tropical Maasai Mara Drawings will vary Africa savanna grassland with National Park, scattered trees Kenya

Mountain ecosystem filled Idaho and Drawings will vary. North forests of Lion with trees and Utah, western America many types underbrush United States

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Big Cat Habitat Example Big Cat Continent Habitat Name Description Habitat Sketch Type Location

Ocelot area of tall Amazon Drawings will vary. South tropical evergreen trees Basin, Brazil America rain forest and a high amount

of rainfall, often

near the Equator

Siberian land covered by northeastern Drawings will vary Asia boreal Tiger evergreen trees Russia forest in cool, northern

latitudes

Part 4. Answer the following questions. 1. Do any of the big cats’ species ranges overlap? Which ones? ______The ranges of the African lion ______and leopard overlap, as do the ranges of the ocelot, mountain lion, and jaguar. 2. Which big cats live in similar habitats? Why do you think they do? ______Jaguars and ocelots share ______similar habitats, as do African lions and leopards. Big cats that have common ranges and ______habitats may also share common physical characteristics, behaviors, and adaptations that ______enable them to survive in their respective environments. 3. The Bengal and Siberian tigers are subspecies of the same species, panthera tigris. How many different subspecies of tigers are listed in the chart? Describe two ways different subspecies of tigers are different. Describe how different subspecies of tigers are similar. ______Two species (subspecies) of tiger are listed. Siberian tigers and Bengal tigers have different ______ranges, habitats, and are found on different continents. Both tiger species have similar ______physical characteristics and ecological roles they play in their respective habitats. 4. What are two ways that mountain lions are different from African lions? ______Although mountain ______and African lions are both called “lions,” they are very different in terms of their physical ______characteristics, species ranges, and habitats. © 2011 National Geographic Society © 2011