Deep in the Amazon jungles of South America, lush vegetation obscures the sky and exudes a pristine and mysterious atmosphere. A long-tailed tiger cat, leaping nimbly on high treetops. When it jumped onto a tall tree, it suddenly let go of its two front paws, grabbed the branch with only its hind feet, and hung upside down, as if swinging.
The long-tailed tiger cat prefers to live deep in tropical rainforests, distributed in Central and South America. The broad-leaved forests of the Mexican plateau, the tropical rainforests of the Amazon basin, and the cloud forests of the foothills of the Andes, with dense woods, are favorite places for long-tailed tiger cats.
Among cats, the long-tailed tiger cat is high-looking, light-headed, lives in trees all year round, is as agile as a monkey, and can imitate the call to attract prey and prey on it. Whether it is appearance or living habits, the long-tailed tiger cat is unique and has a personality.
The long-tailed tiger cat is a member of the cat family Tiger Cat, which is not large or small, with a handsome face and a slim body. The head is 43-80 cm long, the tail is 30-51 cm long, and the weight is 3-9 kg.
At first glance, you'll be attracted to the long-tailed tiger cat's beautifully streaked fur. The colors range from yellow-brown to gray-brown, with black rows and open wreaths, as if wearing a beautifully tailored tunic.
Look at its face again, delicate and delicate, with two distinct black lines on its forehead that extend to its eyes, and black line-like markings on its neck and throat.
On the whole cat's face, the most conspicuous and prominent is its large eyes, black and slippery, as if it will discharge. When it is quiet, the eyes are a little bigger, nothing special, but when it preys, a pair of large eyes will reveal the essence.
The tail is also very long, even longer than the body, and is also covered with black markings. With its short head, slim body, in the show, it is also a bit handsome.
At the same time, the long-tailed tiger cat also has slender and powerful limbs, and the soles of its feet are wide and flexible, which can firmly grasp the trunk of the tree, helping it to climb the tree flexibly and jump on the branches.
In short, the long-tailed tiger cat with big eyes and long legs has an excellent appearance, which makes many cat lovers fall for it, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a beautiful "model" in felines.
Living in the rainforest and spending all day in the treetops, the long-tailed tiger cat has a "magic weapon". Its flexible body, slender limbs, and long tail are its strengths.
There are also its wide soles, which have a very good grip and ensure the stability of climbing; and its hind limbs and ankle joints are also different, very flexible, and can be rotated 180° to facilitate its movement in the trees.
In addition, the long-tailed tiger cat has a spring-like spine and the explosive legs are extremely explosive, which can fly between the vine branches of the rainforest. You can jump freely in the tree like a monkey, or you can jump like a squirrel, with your hind paws hanging upside down from the tree.
According to "Nature", the long-tailed tiger cat can jump up to 6 meters vertically and up to 8 meters long jump. Moreover, some researchers have seen long-tailed tiger cats, hanging on a tree on one leg, their bodies dangling in the air, like swings.
I have to say that the long-tailed tiger cat is really handsome, climbing trees as flexible as a monkey, and has excellent jumping ability. No wonder the long-tailed tiger cat is praised as the "king of the jungles of South America."
In the lush rainforest, the long-tailed tiger cat's hunting ability is not very good, but it is not a good master. With its own skills, the long-tailed tiger cat lives comfortably in the rainforest.
A long-tailed tiger cat with four big legs, he likes to stay in the tree, eat and drink Lasa in the tree, and can live in the tree for a lifetime. However, in daily migration, the long-tailed tiger cat will still return to the ground and will also forage for food on the ground.
Usually hunting at night, during the day it seems particularly lazy and loose, will choose a quiet bush to sleep, often rest on the thick old tree vines, usually difficult for other large animals to approach, it can be seen that the long-tailed tiger cat is still quite smart.
Pay attention to the aspect of living, but do not pick in terms of eating, the recipe is relatively wide, mainly eat small mammals. Squirrels, birds, lizards, tree frogs, insects, etc. are all the belly meals of long-tailed tiger cats.
I like to eat meat, so I try to hunt and fill my stomach every day. Occasionally, vegetarian foods, such as plant leaves and fruits, are used to aid digestion.
The long-tailed tiger cat is very clever, and although it often plays alone, it will also have more naughty times. Deep in the Amazon jungle, ancient trees are tall and lush, and long-tailed tiger cats often jump and wander between the trees.
Among the talented cats, the long-tailed tiger cat's predatory ability is not strong, but it is not weak. The difference is that the long-tailed tiger cat often preys on trees.
There are different methods of predation of long-tailed tiger cats, sometimes more straight, or because they are hungry, long-tailed tiger cats will directly attack and grab the prey into the stomach.
With its superior jumping and tree climbing abilities, the long-tailed tiger cat will also hunt monkeys in the trees. Monkeys live in trees, just to avoid predators, did not expect to encounter long-tailed tiger cats, only desperately trying to escape. The experienced long-tailed tiger cat not only has the ability to bounce in the trees without losing to the monkeys, but also has a good hunting ability.
In addition, the long-tailed tiger cat will also set its sights on the birds, if it finds the target, it will lurk, and when the birds are not paying attention, sneak closer, and then hit it with one hit. If there happens to be eggs in the nest, the long-tailed tiger cat will not even let go of the eggs and eat them together in the stomach.
The clever long-tailed tiger cat also uses the "deceptive hunting method" - learning tongue. There are reports that a researcher once witnessed a long-tailed tiger cat imitating the sound of the cubs of the primate black and white marmoset in the rain forest of the Amazon River Basin, attracting the black and white flower marmoset to try to capture it, and almost succeeded.
Relatively speaking, the long-tailed tiger cat's predation method is not fierce enough, but it will use its own advantages and clever methods to hunt, which is quite clever.
A long-tailed tiger cat, under normal circumstances, can live to about 24 years old, which is considered to be a long life. But its beautiful fur poses danger to it. Human greed kills the long-tailed tiger cat to obtain its beautiful fur.
In the late 1980s, restrictions were finally placed on the trade in long-tailed tiger cat furs, but poaching still occurred.
The fertility rate of long-tailed tiger cats is very low, and they will talk about marriage when they are about two years old, and only one kitten will be born every year, and some even difficult to breed successfully. Coupled with the threat of humans, the long-tailed tiger cat population has declined and is sparsely distributed.
In addition, the survival of the long-tailed tiger cat is threatened by the development and decline of primary forests and the destruction of habitats. Even if the long-tailed tiger cat has superb climbing skills and exquisite imitation skills, it still cannot escape the fate of endangerment.
I hope that the rainforest is still lush, and the long-tailed tiger cat living in the rainforest can always run and jump freely in the forest.
Snow Spirit Valley Animal Lab/Production References: Nature, Friends of Science, Wildscreen, Life Science Network