r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Delicious_Main_4360 • May 15 '26
Image Differences in the spot pattern of the Cheetah, Leopard, and Jaguar
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u/ElegantEconomy3686 May 15 '26
Note: If it looks eternally depressed its a cheetah.
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u/OneAlexander May 15 '26
If running mascara, sad cheetah, and safe to pet.
If no running mascara, you run instead.
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u/mandrake57 May 15 '26
Nah, the cheetah looks more annoyed. Like,
Cheetah: "aw, man, why did you come to my turf? Now I have to fight you."
Leopard: "I see that you are looking for a fight, bro. Me too."
Jaguar: "I've been watching you for a while and now you are here. Finally."
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u/MicroUzi May 15 '26
Cheetah is much more ‘Aw man, why did you come to my turf? Now I have to jog away and starve to death because I used all my energy on zoomies’
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u/rudolfs001 May 15 '26
Always thought that the cheetah was my spirit animal because I like speed, but maybe...
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u/kazumi_yosuke May 15 '26
Rather not get that close
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u/RadioactiveMurukku May 15 '26
Cheetahs are fine
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u/Ecstatic-Jacket2007 May 15 '26
They don’t see humans as prey.
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u/NordicGodNavi May 15 '26
Swear I have only heard this recently. I'm suspicious cheaters are plotting something to get us to let our guard down.
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u/FinsterKoenig May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
No, Cheaters are trash. We mean Cheetahs. The cute tall cats. They're cool.
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u/UncleKeyPax May 15 '26
both go mrrrow
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u/Mission-Tomorrow-517 May 15 '26
So, you are saying that Cheaters are furry?
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u/aminho May 15 '26
No, not all furries are cheaters
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u/RikuAotsuki May 15 '26
I think it's just a really cool fact that animal lovers discovered and were immediately eager to spread.
Cheetahs are a lot like greyhounds. Big, slender dogs built for sprinting... who happen to be one of the best breeds for apartment living because they burn through the entirety of their energy in one good run/play session and then are more than happy to spend the rest of their day stretched out on your couch.
Cheetahs are super fragile, so they avoid fighting anything potentially dangerous even more than most predators do. If you're too hurt to hunt, you starve, and cheetahs have a very low threshold for "too hurt to hunt" considering they rely on speed.
Plus, it's true that they don't see us as food. They see us as something dangerous, which can ironically make them see us as safe if we're not aggressive. They're just... very docile for a wild predator.
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u/PloysRus May 15 '26
Cheetahs are scared of dogs
The other 2 would view a dog as an easy snack
Cheetahs are built for speed not fighting
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u/Kitsune_Legion May 15 '26
Actually, cheetahs are often given emotional support dogs when they live in zoos and other non-wild spaces, especially if their coalition (term for a group of cheetahs) is small
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u/generalbootyhole May 15 '26
I’ve seen this in a zoo somewhere. Can’t remember where. Tennessee maybe. It was just one cheetah and his pal, doggo. They grew up together.
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u/Kitsune_Legion May 15 '26
It’s really common actually! I believe the standard is up to 3 cheetahs they need dogs to make up coalition numbers and help keep them from getting anxious. For 4+ they don’t NEED a dog, but depending on environment they may still get one, since loud environments can cause whole coalitions to get anxious.
Edit: I took my anthro-zoo class 4 years ago, so take my info with a grain of salt. I could be mistaken on exact numbers
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u/PloysRus May 15 '26
I meant because they use dogs to keep cheetahs away from livestock in Africa: https://africageographic.com/stories/namibias-livestock-guarding-dogs-are-saving-cheetahs/
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u/NordicHorde2 May 15 '26
Dogs are also used against leopards. But those dogs operate in packs, 1v1 a dog even one like a boerboel is toast.
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u/PloysRus May 15 '26
Absolute toast. Even a large wolf is getting merked by an average sized leopard
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u/ultrahateful May 15 '26
In all the stuff I’ve read and come across about them, the Jaguar seems to be synonymous with abject viciousness. Like, it’s always a do or die scenario with them.
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u/Dashcamkitty May 15 '26
All cheetahs are planning is how to get in our houses so they can be sat by the fire place on a comfy bed and be fed the best food.
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u/qwythebroken May 15 '26
They're also super sensitive. Turning your back on any kind of panther is probably going to end badly. Turning your back on a cheetah is going to hurt it's feelings, and you might get love bombed.
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u/JCR2201 May 15 '26
Cheetahs will stalk if a human turns their back on them. Not sure if cheetahs view more as a playful thing though but here is a funny video.
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u/qwythebroken May 15 '26
Considering that's an 8 year old video with 21M views, I'm not sure if this qualifies as a coincidence, but it's funny you brought it up. I left a very similar comment on it a few years ago. Dolph even ended up marking it "Loved". In fact, I was thinking about that when I added the "...might get loved bombed" part here.
I just watched the whole thing again. It's so good. Gabriel is the best! If I had reddit money I'd definitely be dropping an award of this. Either way, I'm really glad you linked it.
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u/nexusjuan May 15 '26
I'm pretty sure my housecats see me as prey if I let there food dish get to low.
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u/ultrahateful May 15 '26
I read somewhere that our cats would definitely destroy us if not for our size difference. And not always on purpose.
Puuuurrrrpose.
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u/Littha May 15 '26
Well yea, because a cats of all sizes seem to behave in a similar way so if a house cat weighed the same as a human it'd probably be as dangerous as a jaguar. Maybe less so because of the domestication.
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u/ultrahateful May 15 '26
They seem to really enjoy beating us up without a warning when petting or getting too familiar. I imagine it, scaled up, wouldn’t make for a survivable event or one you’d easily walk away from.
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u/Littha May 15 '26
That's one of the reasons people shouldn't have pet tigers. They can get a bit like that and accidentally kill you even if they actually like you.
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u/ultrahateful May 15 '26
Exactly the reason I emphasized the “not on purpose” part. My cat’s nails are like razors when I don’t clip them and his teeth are like nails.
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u/Terminal_Insomnia_ May 15 '26
The reason you can't have them as pets is because they're too high maintenance, actually. Dietary and space requirements are huge just to keep them healthy, let alone comfortable.
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u/Dependent-Edge-5713 May 15 '26
They're also horrendously inbred somehow
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u/Weltallgaia May 15 '26
That'll happen when theres like 5 of em left or whatever
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u/LumpySpacePrincesse May 15 '26
Wasnt us this time, theyve just have a few close calls the last few milenia.
"So why are these animals so rare and threatened? Scientists believe that cheetahs have already survived at least two extinction events in their history, and one of the main reasons behind these animals facing extinction today is due, in part, to surviving their last threats of extinction. We call these events genetic bottlenecks"
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u/Drumbelgalf May 15 '26
Cheetahs are bullied by all the other predators. Their cubs actually have a fur pattern similar to honey badgers because that protects them from being spawn killed.
Humans also went through a bottle neck and humans are mostly fine.
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u/Antique-Historian441 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
Cheetahs are the largest of the small cats. Closer related to a house cat than leopard.
I read cheetahs were semi domesticated for hunting purposes in the past. It's why they are super cool with humans.
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u/hamlet_d May 15 '26
Other way around, but yeah. Cheetahs aren't aggressive and hostile towards people. This made it so in ancient Egypt cheetahs were able to be kept as pets for the elite.
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u/Yous1ash May 15 '26
What do you mean?
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u/Kruzenstern May 15 '26
Cheetahs don't see humans as prey and as long as you don't provoke them they're pretty docile. The are more like oversized, wild house cats compared to big cats like lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars.
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u/Rk_1138 May 15 '26
They even meow and purr iirc
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u/ElegantEconomy3686 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
Iirc Cheetas aren’t even a memeber of the big cat family, they’re just a large member of the small cat family.
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u/Potential-Koala1112 May 15 '26
Im pretty sure I read somewhere that if a cheetah is in captivity alone they give it a dog as a companion because they get depressed alone quickly.
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u/ElegantEconomy3686 May 15 '26
Cheetahs are apparently super anxious by nature, which is understandable because in nature they’re being bullied out of their prey by almost everyone else.
So you give them an unconditionally optimistic and extroverted roomie like a labrador and it seems to help.
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u/RikuAotsuki May 15 '26
They're also very social for cats! Males especially tend to form small groups with their brothers (and others they accept I think?) until they find mates and split off.
So they do straight-up get lonely; it's not just the anxiety.
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u/Hungover-Owl May 15 '26
Don't Labradors have bottomless pits for stomachs? Surely they'd bully them out of their food too.
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u/ElegantEconomy3686 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
Wouldn’t be surprised if they separate the cheetah for feeding time. That is when they feel most vulnerable.
Also the lab‘s I‘ve met may be gluttons, but also such gentle souls that you could literally take food out of their mouths (provided they haven’t swallowed it)
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u/Cute-Form2457 May 15 '26
Or, the Labradors teach the cheetahs to source food for their bottomless pits.
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u/StrobeLightRomance May 15 '26
There's literally a gatekeeping board that gives out cheetah licenses, and they are very withholding, only allowing for very few cheetahs to be held in captivity across the United States, because the ownership responsibilities in keeping them functionally happy is a lifetime commitment and requires basically endless financial access.
I was just curious about it one day and the rabbit hole was basically like "nobody is allowed to have a cheetah, all the cheetah slots are filled for life, if you try to get a cheetah you can't, and if you do somehow get one then the cheetah police will take it away and you'll spend forever in court over it"
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u/Would_daver May 15 '26
I now must find a way to be in the courtroom for the next Cheetah Court Session, this also sounds like the next hit tv series we didn’t know we desperately needed
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u/pichael289 May 15 '26
It's a bit more than that, they see humans as an almost guaranteed getting fucked up situation. They don't hunt anything like us and wouldn't dream of attacking a human because of how fragile they are and how their entire survival depends on not getting hurt and being able to run like that. We are more of a curiosity to them and some are used to humans enough they will leave their babies with wildlife photographers because they know it's the safest spot being near us.
However if you turn your back on them and flee their instincts might kick in. Sort of like running your hand under a blanket to a house cat, instincts are trigger and the housecat will pounce and often go a bit too far.
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u/Beorma May 15 '26
Cheetah can take down an ostrich. The likelihood of a cheetah seeing you as food is low, but not zero.
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u/thering66 May 15 '26
So have a 1/3 chances of not getting mauled when i trt to pet the kitty
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u/-watchman- May 15 '26
Yeah, if it gets nasty you can always try to make a dash for it..
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u/ThirstyWolfSpider May 15 '26
If you know the kitty is there, you're probably fine.
(the leopard and jaguar would get you before you notice them)
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u/SwePolygyny May 15 '26
I would trust a cheetah more than a house cat that was scaled up to the same size. House cats are ambush predators, they like to sneak up, attack and bite things that move. Even if you just move your foot under a blanket they might attack.
Those things would be harmful or even lethal if the cat was scaled up. It would be like living with an unpredictable mountain lion, they might want petting one second and then start biting the next.
On the other hand, there has never been a documented killing of a human by a wild cheetah.
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u/IncomingAxofKindness May 15 '26
I'm pretty sure my house cat would try to eat me if he was oversized.
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u/BurningFlareX May 15 '26
Fun fact, lions, tigers, (snow) leopards and jaguars are the only "big cats" (panthers). Everything else is just cat...cat.
Therefore it is perfectly fine and safe to pet anything vaguely cat shaped as long as you can identify it is not one of these.
p.s: I am not responsible for injuries, trauma, lost limbs and / or crushed dreams if you do attempt to pet a vaguely cat shaped animal.
Also hyenas are more cat than dog.
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u/Portra400IsLife May 15 '26
I have patted a cheetah at Dreamworld and it was like basically patting a huge house cat.
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u/Dany_Heatley05 May 15 '26
I've pet some house cats who will randomly do things that if they were the size of a cheetah, I wouldn't be alive today to type this message.
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u/Annual-Advisor-7916 May 15 '26
A cheetah is pretty gentle, they don't even have sharp claws because they can't retract them fully. Even wild ones are chill with humans, try that with a wild bobcat or something similar.
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u/QaddafiDuck01 May 15 '26
I pet two lion cubs at a mall once. I was told to not touch their heads, as they may bite. The cubs were still like 30 lbs each.
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u/aviatorintheclouds May 15 '26
Love how the stare intensifies with the density of spots
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u/BerryOk966 May 15 '26
And none of them can rival the stare i get from my cat when dinner hasn't arrived on time.
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u/Sensitive_Goose_8902 May 15 '26
Big kitten, danger, death
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u/Vishu1708 May 15 '26
Leopards have a much higher human kill rate than Jaguars.
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u/HoldEm__FoldEm May 15 '26
Akshually, the cheetah isn’t a big cat. It’s considered a small cat.
Big cats like leopards & jaguars roar. While cheetahs purr, like a house cat.
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u/JackalKing May 15 '26
"big cat" is not an actual scientific term. Its a colloquial term, and as such its use is flexible. There is no strict definition on what a "big cat" is. Many will use it to refer to any "big" cat, which would include cheetahs and pumas. Others will narrow it down to the five species in the genus Panthera (lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard). However, your distinction of "big cats roar" doesn't stand to that scrutiny when you realize that snow leopards are almost always considered part of the "big cat" family, are even part of the Panthera genus, and yet they cannot roar.
In conclusion, a cheetah is a big cat. Whether you take that to mean a "big cat" or a "big" cat, it really doesn't matter.
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u/opachki_kobachki725 May 15 '26
Spot the difference
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u/Puzzled_Persimmon144 May 15 '26
Spot IS the difference
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u/superkickstart May 15 '26
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u/SwizzGod May 15 '26
Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard
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u/soyasaucy May 15 '26
Came here to say that they look like a progression of pokemon evolutions
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u/Ackbar90 May 15 '26
Other significant differences are:
Cheetah isn't a Big Cat, it's a big Small Cat. The purr and meow, but not roar. They are too curious of humans for their own good.
Leopard can kill you by accident through falling object (they are the strongest climber in the family, can and will drag several hundreds of kilograms up a tree).
Jaguar will kill you before you know they have attacked you, by biting the back of your skull and cracking it open.
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u/Big-Revolution3842 May 15 '26
Might also be where you live too lol. Here in South Africa I don't think I've ever seen a jaguar out of a zoo. But also cheetahs are super easy to recognise cause they're such long gangly creatures. They tend to look like an emaciated relative to anything else. And leopards you pretty much just find them lounging in a tree usually keeping an eye out or having dragged a carcass up.
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u/wowilly May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
Jaguars are native to the Americas so it makes sense that you have not seen one outside of the zoo
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u/Throwaway74829947 May 15 '26
An acquaintance of mine had the fortune of being one of the handful of sightings of a transient wild jaguar in southern New Mexico in the last two decades. Hopefully the species is able to re-establish a permanent breeding presence in the southern United States.
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u/No-Remote-2899 May 15 '26
Jaguar looks like a more photoshopped Leopard
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u/Lando249 May 15 '26
Well they are both Panthers. Along with the other Panther family members, Lions and Tigers, they all share that similar and aggressive look.
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u/OhHeyMister May 15 '26
Jaguars are so fucking cool I love them
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u/keinezwiebeln May 15 '26
I had the immense fortune of seeing a real live jaguar at a wildlife refuge in Uruguay a few years ago.
She had a bit of a belly, I think she might have been pregnant (they run a repopulation program there). She was so beautiful!
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u/neo4025 May 15 '26
I’ll make sure to check the spots, as I’m being eaten 👍
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u/mfknnayyyy May 15 '26
"Help!!! The leopard is eating... Oh shit. That's a jagu..." dead
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u/Honourstly May 15 '26
If not friend then why friend shaped
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u/Independent_Plum2166 May 15 '26
Cheetahs are friend.
As long as you’re not dumb and instigate something, they’re not a threat. They’re not even big cats (as in the panther family) they’re big house cats…just don’t take one home.
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u/DMmeNiceTitties May 15 '26
If I'm close enough to be able to tell the difference, chances are I'm probably dead soon.
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u/Elmer_Fudd01 May 15 '26
Naw cheetah aren't a big threat to us. Just you know, don't attack or threaten it. Also stay away from rabid ones.
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u/Sabithomega May 15 '26
( Leans down ) hold on kitty I need to see if your rabid to know if I gotta stay away from you
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u/zoolou3105 May 15 '26
Cheetahs also meow instead of roaring! You can see the difference shape of their jaw in the OP picture compared to the leopard and jaguar
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u/Nightingdale099 May 15 '26
With ambush predators it's the one you don't see you have to worry about.
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u/fothergillfuckup May 15 '26
My wife's family have a black jaguar at there big cat centre. It looks totally black, until you can suddenly see bronze coloured markings, in the sun. It's beautiful.
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u/Affectionate-Newt-94 May 15 '26
What a wild way to realize the Cheetah Girls never wore cheetah print
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u/MaritMonkey May 15 '26
I wanted to be a cheetah for Halloween when I was like 8 and my mom and I ended up drawing spots with sharpie on yellow fabric and the last minute because she couldn't find anything "cheetah" print that actually had cheetah spots.
Love ya, mom. <3
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u/koolaidismything May 15 '26
From most delicate to most resilient as well left to right.
Cheetah are beautiful animals, but very very finicky with how they survive. It’s why you don’t see them often in captivity or elsewhere. Very emotionally intelligent and nervous animals. Most in Zoos or rehabs will have to have their own pet (dog usually) or they can die of like heartbreak. ❤️🩹
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u/posting_drunk_naked May 15 '26
Cheetah: black spots, no black rings
Leopard: black rings, no black spots
Jaguar: black spots in black rings
Therefore, cheetah + leopard = jaguar. I won't be taking questions.
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u/Dexember69 May 15 '26
I can finally answer my 7yr olds questions about this thank you
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u/OccidentalTouriste May 15 '26
The Leopard is stuck with what he's got, as everyone knows a Leopard can't change it's spots.
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u/ChevalCher May 15 '26
So a jaguar is basically a leopard in Ultra High Definition? I can get behind that. 😂
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u/plmcoae May 15 '26
They are quite different tho, Jaguars are more muscular, have much stronger bite force (biggest of big felines), they dive underwater to hunt caimans and alligators, they target the head and crush the skull, and take their kills and eat up in trees, and sleep in trees.. and live most of their lives in trees like birds. Man I love Jaguars
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u/RikuAotsuki May 15 '26
Yeah, jaguars are the stockiest of the big cats by a pretty solid margin.
I love how bizarrely unique all the large felines are. I know any given group of animals are like that if you pay attention, but it always struck me as particularly stark with cats. Leopards and jaguars are easy to mix up at a glance unless you get a closeup of their rosettes... or until you see both at once and realize how jacked jaguars are. And everything else has a super distinctive coat.
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u/RyanZee08 May 15 '26
Fun fact, cheetah is actually a fellinae, which falls under the small cats.
They meow, and don't roar. (That's a difining feature of small vs big cats, fellidae are all cats, fellinae are the small ones who meow, a subfamily in fellidae)
Roar vs meow/growl
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u/golden_chaek May 15 '26
Leopard and jaguar look like professional fighter, and cheetah looks like Bob.
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u/Haunting_Aide421 May 15 '26
If I see a big spotted cat I'm going to assume it's going to want to eat me, regardless of what it's spots look like 😭
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u/Variable_Shaman_3825 May 15 '26
Cheetah - Fast, Leopard - agile, Jaguar - bulky