John Ball Zoological Garden

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Junior Zoo Keepers

Big Cats or Little Cats?

Big cats roar. (Think of lions.)
Little cats purr. (Think of your pet cat.)

Little cats can't roar because the bones are very tightly connected in their throats and can't vibrate very much letting the cats only make a small sound. Big cats have cords in their voice boxes that vibrate more, making bigger sounds.

John Ball Zoo has four different cats:

African lions,
mountain lions,
snow leopards,
and Siberian tigers.

Do you know which are big and which are little?
Have you been to the Zoo and heard any of them roar?

Big or Little? Spots or Stripes?

Can you guess which of these cats are considered big or little? (Remember big cats roar and little ones don't.) What marking do each of these have?

Mark the words that describe the animal. [Answers]

Snow Leopard	big	little	spots	stripes	solid	color
African Lion	big	little	spots	stripes	solid	color
Siberian Tiger	big	little	spots	stripes	solid	color
Mountain Lion	big	little	spots	stripes	solid	color

How many Siberian tigers were born at the Zoo in 1999?
Do you know where they live now?
Siberian tigers are the _______ cats on Earth.
1. largest
2. smallest
3. fastest

[Answers]