The New Childrens Encyclopedia

■ Length 5½–8¼ ft (1.7–2.5 m)

■ Weight 330–550 lb

(150–250 kg)

■ Location Sub-Saharan Africa

and South Asia

Lions are the only big cats

to live in groups, called

prides. There may be up to

10 lionesses and their cubs

in a pride, with two or three

male lions. Lionesses often

work together to hunt and kill

prey for the pride.

Lion

Panthera leo

■ Length 4¼–6½ ft (150–200 cm)
■ Weight 44–130 lb (20–60 kg)
■ Location North America, eastern Europe, and Asia

All domestic dogs have evolved from the gray
wolf, the largest member of the dog family.
Gray wolves hunt in packs to kill large animals.
Each pack has a territory where it lives and
hunts, and wolves will howl to stop other
packs from straying into
their patch.

Gray wolf
Canis lupus

■ Length 9¼ ft (2.8 m)

■ Weight 575 lb (260 kg)

■ Location Southern and

eastern Asia

Tigers ambush their prey,

which includes deer and

cattle. They silently prowl in

tall grasses, camouflaged by

their stripes. With a sudden

pounce, the tiger leaps onto

its prey, bringing it down

and killing it by breaking its

neck or biting its throat,

suffocating it.

Tiger

Panthera tigris

■ Length 5¼–6¾ ft (1.5–2 m)

■ Weight 155–350 lb (70–160 kg)

■ Location Central China

Giant pandas are easily

recognized, but rarely seen:

there are thought to be fewer

than 1,600 left in the wild.

They are also known as

bamboo bears, after

their main source

of food.

Giant panda

Ailuropoda melanoleuca

Least weasel

Mustela nivalis

■ Length 20–25 in (50–64 cm)

■ Weight 6½–13 lb (3–6 kg)

■ Location Southern and

south eastern Asia

Red pandas are not pandas, nor any other

type of bear. They are more closely related

to raccoons. However, like giant pandas,

they mostly eat bamboo. Red pandas are rare

and solitary (they live alone). They are known

for being shy, and spend most of the time

hidden up in trees, where they find food, hide

from predators, and even sunbathe in the

winter. It can get very cold in the pandas’

natural habitat—temperate mountain forests.

Red panda

Ailurus fulgens

■ Length 35 in (90 cm)

■ Weight 75 lb (34 kg)

■ Location Europe and eastern Asia

Badgers live in groups in setts—underground

dens and tunnels they dig out

with their strong claws.

Badgers are nocturnal

(active at night), but

have poor eyesight, so

hunt mainly by smell.

Their main diet is

earthworms.

Eurasian badger

Meles meles

■ Length 3¼–4¼ ft (1–1.3 m)
■ Weight 55–165 lb (25–75 kg)
■ Location Central, southern, and eastern Asia

The endangered snow leopard has a thick tail
that’s around the same length as its body. This
gives the cat balance when climbing mountain
slopes and hunting for prey, such as
wild sheep.

Snow leopard
Panthera uncia

■ Height 10 ft (3 m)

■ Weight 1,700 lb (780 kg)

■ Location Northern North America, northern and

eastern Europe, and northern Asia

Brown bears feed on forest fodder:

nuts, berries, and small

animals, such as river

salmon. The bears can

become aggressive

when protecting

their cubs.

Brown bear

Ursus arctos

■ Length 9½ in (24 cm)

■ Weight 9 oz (250 g)

■ Location North America, Europe, and

northern, central, and eastern Asia

Weasels eat mostly mice and voles.

They can track their prey through thick

grass and under snow, and are small

enough to squeeze into mouse

burrows. Weasels are usually brown

and white, but those that live

in the far north turn

completely white in the

winter, so they are

camouflaged in snow.

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LIVING WORLD

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KILLER CARNIVORES