Q 01/05

What is the highest reliably recorded running speed of a cheetah, the fastest land animal?

A) 93 km/h

B) 104 km/h

C) 114 km/h

D) 120 km/h

Answer · why

B) 104 km/h

The best reliably measured sprint is 104 km/h (65 mph); the often-quoted 114 km/h figure came from a faulty measurement.

Q 02/05

What is a group of lions called?

A) A pack

B) A coalition

C) A pride

D) A clan

Answer · why

C) A pride

An average one has about 15 members: several related females, their cubs and up to four adult males.

Q 03/05

The jaguar is the only living Panthera species native to which part of the world?

A) Africa

B) Europe

C) The Americas

D) Australia

Answer · why

C) The Americas

Its ancestors probably crossed from Eurasia over the Bering land bridge in the Early Pleistocene.

Q 04/05

Which of these cats has stripes rather than spots?

A) The tiger

B) The leopard

C) The jaguar

D) The cheetah

Answer · why

A) The tiger

Every tiger's stripe pattern is unique, and the stripes on the limbs and forehead run horizontally rather than vertically.

Q 05/05

What is a 'black panther'?

A) A separate species of big cat

B) A cougar with dark fur

C) A hybrid of a lion and a leopard

D) A melanistic leopard or jaguar

Answer · why

D) A melanistic leopard or jaguar

In leopards the black coat comes from a recessive gene; Gabon's coat of arms uses one.