The term "big cat" typically refers to the five species in the genus Panthera: the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. These animals are known for their distinctive features, such as their roars, retractable claws, and powerful jaws. All big cats except the snow leopard can roar. The ability to roar comes from an elongated and specially adapted larynx and hyoid apparatus. The lion's larynx is the longest, giving it the most robust roar. The roar in good conditions can be heard 8 or even 10 km away. All five extant members of the genus contain this elongated hyoid but owing to differences in the larynx the snow leopard cannot roar.
Their weight ranges from 22kg for the smallest snow leopards to tigers and lions exceeding 300 kilos. A weight of 450 is achivable for lions in captivity.
It is estimated that the ancestors of most big cats split away from the Felinae about 6.37 million years ago.The Felinae, on the other hand, comprises mostly small to medium-sized cats, including domestic cats, but also some larger cats such as the cougar and cheetah.
The cats from the genus Panthera evolved about 3.9 million years ago. The first major split occured 3.2 million years ago where snow leopards and tigers split. 3.6 million years ago the Jaguar split. 2 million years ago the lion and the leopard split creating the current living lineage.
Part 1: A Fine Morning
Hank is an average-height man with a long beard that reaches his chest and dull brown hair that falls to his shoulders. He wears a blue shirt and white trousers, and he wakes up in the morning to his 150 lions.
The house he lives in is located in Kenya and is quite isolated; it is built on a river, and the house is massive, almost a mansion. However, most of the space is empty, as the big cats roam the area. Only his bedroom has any furniture.
Hank stands there smiling, nearly surrounded by 200 big cats, all either sleeping or roaming around. The cats are all domesticated, or so Hank claims. Every once in a while, an inspector comes to check if he is still alive or if any of the non-native cats have escaped. The inspector this time is a new one; Mativo is his name. He is a man shorter than Hank, with sideburns but a bald head. He rows his small wooden kayak slowly and cautiously, overwhelmed by the number of big cats around him. He looks in all directions. Once he reaches the shore, he barely gets enough strength to stand up.
"Ah, you must be Mativo! Come here, please," said Hank, opening his arms and smiling. Mativo, although nervous, approached Hank, appearing as lifeless as cardboard due to fear. Several of the male lions circled him; they were so massive that they nearly reached his chest. Hank held him by the arm, but a lioness pounced on Mativo, causing him to scream.
"Hey, it's okay, just don't run; that's how they getcha."
The lioness stood on her hind legs and licked Mativo, her front paws wrapped around him. It was as if ten wrestlers had gripped him. The lioness's tongue felt like being scratched by sandpaper. Hank went between them, and the lioness dropped down.
Hank took massive chunks of meat and threw them onto the docks. The lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards circled and tore the meat, starting to claw at each other for it.
"Don't be rough now, boys and girls!" yelled Hank.
"You're crazy!" Mativo had his back against the wooden house, gripping it with his hands. "Hey, relax, they're really just big kittens. You treat them kindly, and they will treat you kindly."
"You're a crazy man!" Mativo's eyes were filled with dread. "They kill you!"
"No, they won't; we have trust."
"They're wild animals; you will become nothing but bones."
"Oh, come inside; you'll be safer."
Mativo reluctantly agreed. As Hank opened the door, Mativo almost fainted. The entire hall was filled with lions; there were at least 60. The place was so cramped that it was debatable if a pencil could fit through. Hank raised his arms and grunted, while Mativo shook, as all his instincts told him to run. Finally, Hank dragged him to the stairs. "Let's have a drink; what do you say?"
Above them, two male lions roared at each other and started swatting at one another. "Hey, hey, quit it, you two!"
Two lions began smelling Mativo's legs, while a third went behind him, placing its paws on his head.
"Old buddy, guess that drink will have to wait."
They barely squeezed through with lions constantly smelling them and some gently biting their thighs. As they got outside, Hank saw across the bridge two male lions with thick black manes viciously battling each other; they were both bleeding. "Hey!" Hank ran across the bridge, and as he crossed, a lioness jumped at him, causing them to roll in the dirt. He stroked her fur and just managed to squeeze out of her grip.
Hank went in between the lions, flailing his arms and yelling. The more violent lion swung its paw at Hank, injuring his hand. Hank continued to yell and even pushed the lion, and the big cat moved away.
Hank crossed the bridge to Mativo, who was on the verge of unconsciousness. He was lying down as the lions licked his body and tore at his shirt, small scratches covering his chest. However, Hank's attention was elsewhere as he saw two boats approaching. They looked familiar to him; they were hunters.
The hunters reached the docks; their leader, a large man with a thick mustache. They were all appalled and disturbed by the amount of big cats.
Hank, said, "Nice to see you, old buddy."
The man spat on the dock. "What did I tell you about bringing tigers to Africa? If you don't get them out, I'm going to shoot them."
Hank made a face of annoyance. "Let me just patch up this wound, and we'll talk." Hank went inside while the hunters began to take their rifles. In the water next to the leader's boat was a tiger swimming. It started smelling the motor, then it began climbing onto the boat. They took an oar but were hesitant to whack it. Before they knew it, the tiger was on that boat.
It sat there, and the men were cursing and yelling at the tiger and each other. One of them put the oar to the tiger, trying to push it off. The tiger began approaching him. The man pushed the oar to the tiger's chest a bit more, and then they realised that they were sinking.
The boat was was filled with water in mere seconds. The men started panicking, and the tiger was sitting at the sinking boat with no care in the world.
Meanwhile, inside the wooden mansion, Hank, barely managing to squeeze through to get the bandages, encountered another problem. The lions circled him and pushed him to the wall. He couldn't reach the scissors to cut the remainder of the bandage.
Hank decided it was best to let the lions do that. So he put the rest of the bandage in a lioness's mouth, held the other end, and the lioness pulled, severing the unwanted part of the bandage.
Hank took a new shirt as he went out. But a leopard at the stairs grabbed the shirt. It playfully clawed at it and bit it. Hank pulled it back hard to no avail. He pulled again, but the leopard was not planning on letting go.
Meanwhile, the men were in the water; the tiger playfully put its paws on one of their heads. The man instinctively punched the tiger. It roared and clawed his face.
The men who got out of the water were pounced on by lions.
As Hank got out with both shirts torn, he saw three men with bloody faces going to the second boat with the rest of the hunters. One man's scalp was hanging from his face, the other's face was unrecognizable, and the third's ears were missing. "Hey, where are you going? Let's go inside and have a drink."
The men sped off on their boat. At the same time, Mativo went to the boat the second the lions weren't on him and he paddled with all his might. Hank smiled and almost laughed. He turned to the lions, "Come on, let's go, guys. We've got our main guests arriving soon."
It took Hank nearly 25 minutes to get all the cats out. He had to break up several fights and ended up with many cuts on his forearms.
The wooden mansion was now empty. He smiled at the emptiness and the quietness, but he realized there was a younger lion laying down. His mane was just beginning to form. Hank knelt down to him. "Aw, are you scared of your uncles fighting? Oh, don't worry, they're gone now." The lion let out a small roar. "Awww," it roared again. "Aww, you big boy! Who's a big boy?" He ruffled his head as the lion laid down and playfully clawed his leg, gently biting it.
Part 2:Visitors
Medaline and Robert were husband and wife, both reporters. They had to take a long and exhausting trip to Kenya, and once they got there, they took an overcrowded, old, rusty, smelly bus. The bugs were relentless. Once they got off the bus, they had to walk another 20 minutes to the isolated house. Their feet hurt, and the back of their necks was almost scorched from the heat. They even felt as if their hats were on fire.
They relaxed, though, once they saw the river and stopped to wash their faces. They crossed the bridge and yelled hello, but no one seemed to be there. They opened the door and saw the wide empty space with no furniture; just the wooden stairs and the roof, which was half uncovered.
"If it rained here, it would sink this entire place," said Medaline.
"That would be swell. God, I'm thirsty." Robert took a bottle of water and drank the remaining bit, which was less than half. "I'm not drinking from that river."
"You already said that."
"Well, okay, how about something original? I think we were scammed again. I mean, come on, Med; how can you be so gullible?"
"You never said a word against this."
"Well, yeah, because I expected this to be quick so I could go hunting on safari."
"It will be quick. I'm sure that Hank fellow will come soon. I really think we may have a newly discovered feline species."
"And you think that guy has any evidence?"
Medaline rubbed he templates, "Please let's not argue."
"This is serious Med you can't be this trustworthy of strangers."
"Robert."
"No you listen."
As the couple was arguing, they were unaware that on top of the roof was a leopard eyeing them curiosly from above, and near it, seven more.
Medaline went to check the rooms, which she thought were odd; they were almost completely empty except the bedroom, which had a bed, a desk, and a locker. She leaned on the window, scanning the room while lions were walking outside.
One stopped, looked at her, and sniffed the glass. She was unaware.
The leopards began climbing down silently, and the tigers and jaguars had circled the back.
"Let's just go out and splash some water; my lips are dry as a shell," said Robert. "Yeah, okay." Medaline came out of the room. The two walked to the door. Robert opened it, jumped back; there was a tiger swimming.
He slowly walked forward. On his left, he saw lions, and they began walking toward him. He turned to his right, and there were more lions. He closed the door. As they turned, behind them; the stairs were littered with leopards.
Horrified, they moved, only motivated by fear. They went into the bedroom and closed the door. They pushed the bed to the door to barricade it, but the door was smashed open by a male lion. They both screamed. The room was being filled with lions. Robert frantically looked for any object he could use, but there was nothing.
Out of pure desperation he jumped through the window, shattering the glass. Medaline covered her mouth and screamed; she hid inside the locker and yelled for Robert's name. Robert crawled, his blood staining the docks. He limped as the lions were behind him. Robert saw a barrel filled to the top with water; he went in feet-first and held his breath.
The locker was tight, and there was no air. A male lion sniffed the locker, went on its hind legs, pressed its claws on the metal, and sniffed even more. Medaline's heart throbbed in her chest; her eyes widened, almost bulging out of her head. All she could see was a black mane, and she felt the shaking of the locker. It was an excruciating feeling; her claustrophobia kicked in in the dark locker, and then in front of her, she saw the lion's eye, then fang. The shaking of the locker—every shake felt like 50 shakes—and then the locker fell down. Two lions went on top of it. It felt like the locker was going to break.
Robert was holding his breath for a full minute, and he couldn't do it anymore; he got up for a breath, but to his shock, three lions stared back at him. He took a breath and went into the water; he could only hold his breath for 15 seconds before he came up again. The lions were sipping water and looking at him curiously. He went in again, holding out for breath desperately. Squirming, he held his chest, unable to hold on, and felt a release. The lions had toppled the barrel.
In the distance, Robert saw a faded blue figure; it was Hank.
He was clapping and whistling. "What's the matter, hunter? You can't fight your trophies on their terms?" He was laughing, but Robert couldn't hear or see him. It didn't matter to Hank; he was thrilled by it, but soon he got annoyed. Two black-mained lions started fighting.
"Hey! Play nice, you two!" Hank went to them angrily and accidentally stepped on the tail of one of the lions.
The lion roared and swiped at Hank with its paw. Hank stared at the cat and held his stomach. He quickly looked down and saw his intestines spilling and being cut in half. Hank gasped, bleeding from the mouth, and collapsed.
Robert saw all the cats sprint across the bridge; he didn't know what was going on, but he crawled barely back inside the house. "Medaline! Medaline!"
"R-Robert?"
"W-where are you?"
"I'm in here; are you alright?"
Robert barely summoned the strength to flip the locker. Medaline got out, took his arm, and struggled to drag him across the window. Robert slumped down to the docks, almost unconscious. Medaline continued to pull at him hard and was able to drag him into one of the boats.
She tugged at the motor and pulled harder before it started working. She untied the rope to the dock and began to move the boat away from the dock and into the streaming river. As she turned back, she saw all the big cats across the wooden bridge, circled around and fighting over something.