Learn All About Big Cats

You'll have a roaring good time learning facts and history of big cats in these documentaries
Published on November 30, 2023 by Beatrice Alvarez


Ever wanted to learn more about "Big Cats?" Yes, of course, because you think about them all the time. Not your beloved chonky house cats, but we're talking about the massive wild cats that are also apex predators: lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, snow leopards. They are amazingly strong. Some are solitary creatures that survive by depending only on themselves and their hunting prowess. Other big cats form social bonds and rule their territory as a team. Not to mention these cats are all gorgeous: there's a reason a lot of us wear clothing that mimics big cats' coats and markings. (Animal print is a neutral, for the fashionista record.)

Spend some time watching this collection of documentaries to learn more about these majestic cats and their habitats around world.



Big Cats 24/7


In Botswana’s wild Okavango Delta, the Big Cats 24/7 team of local and international filmmakers follows lions, leopards and cheetahs day and night. Using the latest filming technology they reveal the cats’ lives like never before.

This clip below explores life in a lion pride. It's stunning footage that brings you into the days and nights of lions.


Lion: The Rise and Fall of the Marsh Pride


Explore the story of the Marsh pride of lions as it battles for survival in Kenya’s Maasai Mara Reserve. In a world where lions and humans are increasingly at odds, the film charts the rise and fall of the pride. Featuring archival footage and testimony from those who have filmed the pride and lived alongside it, "Lion" is a powerful tale of shifting loyalties, complex family dynamics and more.

In this clip, filmmakers meet up with the pride and talk about some of the different personalities of the lionesses.


The Leopard Legacy


From NATURE:

Follow the story of a leopard mother as she raises her cubs near the Luangwa River, facing a constant battle to hunt successfully, defend her territory and protect her cubs against enemies.

In this clip below, a mother leopard protects her cubs from a male intruder. It's high drama.

You can watch The Leopard Legacy with Passport and make sure you bookmark NATURE's leopard fact sheet before your next big cat pop quiz.


Living with Snow Leopards–Tashi’s Story


Snow leopards are the only species within genus Panthera that do not roar. Native to mountain ranges in Central and South Asia, snow leopards are acutely adapted for cold weather. Learn all about snow leopards with NATURE's snow leopard fact sheet, then dive into this short film about the communities living alongside this rare cat.


From NATURE:

In the frigid Indian Himalayas, people manage to eke out a living alongside one of Asia’s most elusive cats: the snow leopard. Explore this fragile relationship through the eyes of Tashi, a local goat herder, and learn how his village has partnered with the Snow Leopard Trust to find ways to both live with and save one of the rarest cats on Earth.

Oh, and remember when Steve Backshall and his team travelled to Kyrgyzstan's Djangart valley to track snow leopards? That awesome episode of Expedition is streaming with Passport.



The Ghostly Origins of Big Cats

From Eons

All of today’s big cat species evolved less than 11 million years ago and yet their evolutionary history remains an almost total mystery. But scientists have recently discovered a major clue about the origins of the big cats, one that could provide a whole new starting place for solving this puzzle.



The Story of Cats


From NATURE:

In the two-part series The Story of Cats, discover how the first cats arose in the forests of Asia, how they spread across the continent, and later came to conquer Africa. We reveal how they evolved flexible limbs to climb, giant bodies to survive in the cold, and super senses to catch prey. Ultimately we discover how becoming social made the lion, king of the savannah.


In the second episode of The Story of Cats, learn how cats first crossed from Asia into North America and how they went on to become the top predators of the continent. Today there are 13 feline species in the Americas – from the mighty jaguar, to the urban mountain lion, to the curious ocelot and from the Canada lynx to the nimble margay.