10 Biggest Cats in the World, From Large to Extra-Extra Large

The biggest cats in the world weigh more than a human family of four. See how your favorite wild cat matches up to the competition.

10 Biggest Cats in the World

The lion is known as the king of the jungle, but they're not actually the biggest cat in the world. A few members of the feline family give the lion a run for its money.

Keep reading to see how your favorite wildcat matches up to the competition. It's way safer than trying to measure them yourself!

10. Eurasian Lynx

Weight: Up to 65 pounds

Length: Up to 4.5 feet

Height: Up to 28 inches

Bottom Line: Eurasian Lynx

The largest species of lynx isn't the biggest cat in the world, but it's plenty big enough to scare the socks off any house cat. It has distinctly pointed ears, a spotted coat and broad, furry footpads built to walk on snow.

The Eurasian lynx has one of the widest territory ranges among cat species, living everywhere from the northern slopes of the Himalayas to the forests of Europe and Russia. They're most widespread in Russia, with a population of around 30,000 to 50,000 animals.

9. Cheetah

Weight: Up to 160 pounds

Length: Up to 6.5 feet

Height: Up to 35 inches

Bottom Line: Cheetah

There are five subspecies of cheetah, and all are lithe, agile hunters with a need for speed. They're not long-distance runners, but they can beat Usain Bolt's sprinting record with ease. In just three seconds, they can hit speeds of up to 64 miles per hour, compared to Bolt's 27 miles per hour.

Part of the cheetah's speed is due to its lightweight build. It's much smaller than a lion or tiger but much faster as well. The cheetah has different hunting tactics, too. They never scavenge unless they're desperate. Instead, they hunt down large prey, devour it and abandon it when larger predators show up. They usually hunt in the middle of the day when other large cats are less active.

8. Snow Leopard

Weight: Up to 165 pounds

Length: Up to 7.5 feet

Height: Up to 24 inches

Bottom Line: Snow Leopard

Snow leopards are easy to distinguish from other large cats by their white-greyish fur. It's so thick that it gives them the appearance of being larger than they really are. They also have longer tails than most cats to help them balance on the rugged, snowy slopes that they prefer.

Interestingly, they're more closely related to tigers than leopards, and they can't roar like most large cats. They're also much better at long-distance travel than cheetahs, easily covering 25 miles in an evening.

7. Leopard

Weight: Up to 200 pounds

Length: Up to 8.5 feet

Height: Up to 28 inches

Bottom Line: Leopard

African leopard female pose in beautiful evening light.

The leopard is a step up in size and, in some ways, in athleticism too. Leopards can cover about 18 feet in one leap, which is about three times the length of their body. Remind us to keep our distance if we run into one in the wild because a leopard can hop from one end of a football field to another in a matter of seconds. Climbing a tree won't help you escape a leopard either since they're adept at climbing.

Leopards have spots called rosettes, and even black leopards have them — they're just difficult to see because their coat is so dark. Leopards are pretty solitary, but their territory is widespread, ranging from Sub-Saharan Africa to China.

6. Cougar

Weight: Up to 220 pounds

Length: Up to 9 feet

Height: Up to 30 inches

Bottom Line: Cougar

The cougar goes by many names, so if you've heard of a puma or mountain lion, a cougar is the same thing. Cougars have similar body types as house cats, only much larger. Imagine a 150-pound cat purring, and you'll have a good idea of what a cougar is like. Cougars traverse various ecosystems, from mountains to deserts. They're highly adaptable, living anywhere they can find shelter and prey.

Deer are their favorite prey, but they'll happily snack on livestock and domestic animals if that's what's available. Once their prey has been caught, they hide their meal and snack on it for days. While they're not the biggest cat in the world, they rest comfortably at the top of the food chain in the regions they inhabit, aside from occasionally competing with bears and wolves.

5. Jaguar

Weight: Up to 325 pounds

Length: Up to 8.5 feet

Height: Up to 30 inches

Bottom Line: Jaguar

The name jaguar comes from the indigenous word 'yaguar,' which means "one who kills with one leap." That's not intimidating at all. Jaguars used to be found everywhere from the southwest U.S. through South America. Now, there are only about 173,000 jaguars left, and most of them live in the Amazon rainforest and the Pantanal, a large tropical wetland.

Despite their shrinking territory, jaguars are intimidating predators. They're easily within the top five largest cats in the world, especially in the Pantanal region. This is because they prey on larger animals there, including giant, alligator-like caiman, so they need the extra muscle. To distinguish between leopards and jaguars, look closely at their spots. They have smaller spots within larger circles, while leopards do not. Cats usually have a reputation for disliking water, but not the jaguar. Jaguars love swimming and confidently cross large rivers to capture prey.

4. Lion

Male lion (panthera leo) resting on a rock

Weight: Up to 600 pounds

Length: Up to 10 feet

Height: Up to 43 inches

Bottom Line: Lion

Most lions live in Africa, aside from a small population of Asiatic lions in western India. All lions are massive, but male lions are the largest. As cubs, all lions have rosettes and spots, but they fade into a uniform sandy color with age. Male lions also grow thick manes, which lengthen and darken with each passing year. The larger the mane, the more dominant the lion. It also helps protect their neck during fights.

Lions are extremely adaptable. In times of drought, they can survive with little drinking water, getting their H2O purely from their prey and available plant material. Not all of their hunts are successful, but when they do make a catch, they have a feast. They can eat up to a quarter of their own body weight in one sitting. They also strategically hunt during storms when the dark skies and wind make it harder for prey to notice them coming.

3. Bengal Tiger

Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) on a tree, wildlife shot

Weight: Up to 860 pounds

Length: Up to 12 feet

Height: Up to 43 inches

Bottom Line: Bengal Tiger

Bengal tiger jumping through long green grass

Bengal tigers are one of the biggest members of the cat family. Even smaller females can weigh 300 pounds. Bengal tigers and Siberian tigers are similar, but Bengals are the slightly smaller of the two. They're typically a bright yellow to orange color and reside in East Asia.

It's tough to say how large the biggest Bengal tiger ever was since overhunting and lack of prey have reduced their numbers, but even smaller specimens are ginormous. They have virtually no natural predators and can eat as much as 88 pounds of meat in one sitting. Sadly, there are fewer than 3,000 Bengal tigers living in the wild today.

2. Siberian Tiger

Tiger looks out from behind the trees into the camera. Tiger snow in wild winter nature

Weight: Up to 1,000 pounds

Length: Up to 12 feet

Height: Up to 43 inches

Bottom Line: Siberian Tiger

Both Bengal tigers and Siberian tigers are huge, but the Siberian tiger holds the record for the largest recorded tiger specimen. Siberian tigers are lighter in color, their coats are thicker, and they're native to Russia. They're the only species of tiger that can thrive at high altitudes and in snowy conditions, but encroachment on their natural habitats has reduced their numbers to dangerously low levels.

Siberian tigers can easily way half as much as a grand piano, and they're the largest naturally occurring cat species on Earth. Since they live in such cold climates, keeping their energy up is a must. They spend most of their time hunting, even though only one out of every 10 hunts is successful. They need to eat at least 20 pounds of meat per day to maintain their body weight and strength, so prey scarcity is a major concern. Siberian tiger numbers have made a comeback since the 1930s when their numbers fell as low as 20, but they're still endangered.

1. Liger

Weight: Up to 1,600 pounds

Length: Up to 12 feet

Height: Up to 65 inches

Bottom Line: Liger

Image of a liger on nature background. Wild Animals.

Ligers don't exist in the wild. They're a hybrid of the lion and the tiger. While the two species could theoretically interbreed in the wild, their natural territories don't overlap, making a naturally occurring cross unlikely. Ligers combine a male lion and a female tiger, while tigons combine a male tiger with a female lion. Tigons are typically much smaller than ligers.

Ligers tend to look more like a lion than a tiger. Males usually have short mains, and both genders often have faint tiger stripes. They enjoy swimming like tigers but are more social like lions. A hybrid between the two largest cats in the world becomes even larger because female lions are the ones who carry the gene to stop growth.

A male Liger named Hercules took the throne as the current largest living cat on Earth in 2013, ringing in at 922 pounds. As fascinating as these creatures are, crossbreeding lions and tigers is an ethical issue. Conservation scientists argue that efforts by zoos should concentrate on wildlife conservation if they want to honor impressively large cats.