Wikijunior/Lo mond dels felins/Zo, vèni veire los gats!

En Africa, se ditz qu'un leon roars Hii inchi na ya nani? Ni yangu, yangu, yangu! (De qui es aqueste airal? Es mieu, mieu, mieu!). It is hard to listen to this ancient challenge without edging a little closer to the campfire. But what is behind that remarkable call? Plan segur, fins a cèrt gra, totes los felins son de gats, dins quin endrech que siá. Quand se vei un dels the neighborhood tabbies caçar un esquiròl, es coma veire un tigre miniatura que stalking deer dins los parts de Rhanthambore.

Una leona d'Africa que susvelha son territòri

Superpredadors

Los tigres e los leons son demest los predadors mai grands de la natura. A grizzly bear pòt èsser mai gròs qu'un tigre siberian, pasmens lo felin es fòrça mai rapid. Un lop pòt aver una percepcion mai afinada de las odors qu'un jaguar, pr'aquò lo jaguar pòt handle large de presas solet mentre que per exemple los lops caçan en packs. Cats have excellent night vision, sharp hearing and enormous physical strength. They sneak up on their prey; the camouflage patterns in their fur and their graceful, quiet movements fa que los felins son de plan mal notice.

There are cats for every job. Totes los continents franc d'Antarctica has its cat king. Africa es regentada pel leon, Àsia pel tigre (a mai se the Himalayas too high pels tigres has the snow leopard). En America del sud e del centre lo sobeiran de l'airal es sens cap de dobte lo jaguar. L'America del nòrd es lo territòri del puma. Australia ten pas cap de felin bèl, but it has many small cats that descend from tame cats but have since gone wild. Coma sos parents gigants, these cats have become king predators even if they are much the same as the pet cats that you have met.

L'òrdre natural es carefully balanced. There are a few big predadors. Under them are more medium sized cats que manjan de presas de talha mejana que van dempuèi los conilhs fins a las antelopas e los deer. Finally, there are many small cats (including loose pet cats) that eat the far more numerous small presas coma los insèctes, rodents, lizards, e d'aucèls. Lo secrèt de their success is the concept of the niche, a special job each cat holds that keeps it from competing amb los autres. A shopping mall with nothing but music stores would see a lot of fighting over customers. Like a shopping mall, a natural environment keeps order by having a varietat de plantas divèrsas, prey species, and hunters. The field mice that don't interest the tigre keep the wild cat happy, e lo guepard zooms after a small antelope e laissa lo buffalo pels leons, plan mai forçuts.

De carn al menú

Los felins caçan, qu'an besonh de carn per subreviure. Los animals que manjan d'èrba o de fuèlhas an d'estomacs particulars que allow bacteria time to break down complex plant sugars into the simpler sugars animals can digest. Cats have a very short digestive tract that quickly breaks down la carn e absorbís son energia e building materials. Cats cannot survive on a diet of grass, therefore they live from the meat they can get from other plant-eating animals. Aital es cossí fonciona la cadena alimentària.

Intelligéncia

Los felins figuran dins las espècias mai intelligentas de nòstra planeta. They are ranked just behind primates (monkeys e apes), los cetacèus (balenas e dalfins), los elefants, los pòrcs e las fòcas. Los leons emplegan d'estrategias de grop per tackle large and dangerous prey. Totes los felins son plan curioses e sabon aprendre rapidament. Large predators need to be extra smart in order to be successful as hunters. Mother cats spend fòrça temps (entre una e doas annadas) per ensenhar a sos offspring the many things que lor cal saber per tal de subreviure. You may also consider this time of their vida as their school time, where aprenon a deal with the world they live in.

Found Everywhere But Safe Nowhere

Cats are native to all continents manca Australia e Antartica. Unfortunately, many of these wonderful creatures face extinction or are critically endangered. Cats are often hunted for their fur or meat. They are also killed by people who want the animals that cats hunt all to themselves. Still, other people hunt cats for sport. Worse, the healthy environment that cats need to survive is not being treated with the respect it deserves.

Fortunately, more and more people now think of cats as companions to be admired rather than enemies to be destroyed. Learn more about these great cats and their remarkable world and share what you learn with your family and friends. After all, when we understand something, we can appreciate its value much better. Valuable things, including the marvelous cats, large and small, are worth protecting. To keep these superb predators in the world our children and grandchildren will live in, we must learn to make room for other living things to use Earth's limited resources.