big cats

An amazing world-first achievement: Saba and Nairo, two captive-born cheetahs from the UK have been released into the wild in Africa. 

The two brothers, as IFLSCIENCE reports, were born at Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve in Kent, England, on July 15, 2017. Very quickly though, Saba "showed signs of illness and it was discovered that his liver wasn't functioning properly." To keep him alive, he had to be removed from the litter and hand-raised by Damian and Victoria Aspinall of The Aspinall Foundation. Under their watchful care, he made a full recovery. Of course, because of the way he grew up, he inevitably grew used to playing with humans and being fed, qualities which he would have to overcome if he were one day released into the wild.

"Saba rejoined his brother Nairo in December 2018 and despite their time apart the pair immediately formed a bond." And today, after honing their cheetah instincts for 12 months, the two of them have been released into the wild in Africa.

Read more about the story and check out pics of the adorable brothers below.

I know you wanna pet them! I know, I do too, but they are too dangerous. Or... are they? They definitely don't look like it. Not when they're itty bitty teeny weeny baby cubs. They look so floofy and cute and too pet-able. Just once in our lives, please, we would like to pet one of these ferocious cats. 

Of course, we don't mean to offend you, you majestic little felines. Just because you are smol and awwdorable, doesn't mean that you are also not the smallest, most fiercest kittens in the animal kingdom, and we have all the respect in the world for you. We also desperately wanna cuddle you. 

When things are hard, we all go looking for something to calm us down, to help us relax and breathe. That's how a lot of you guys probably ended up here, simply looking for some wholesome, calming pictures, and well, you're definitely in the right place for that.

Thank you to imgur user ARussianAndHisBike for carefully collecting 50 pictures of kitties in the hopes of making everyone calmer. "I like to look at pictures of cats whenever I am feeling angry or frustrated or concerned about a global pandemic to calm myself down," the post says, and we can definitely attest that looking through these cat pics has helped us to take a step back, inhale deeply, and bask in the calmness. 

If you're a cat lover like us, you have a soft spot in your heart not just for house cats but also for big cats. You'd pet them if you could, and you know it. And you wish you could spend more time around big cats like that and get to know them better, learn about each of them - what makes them special and different and what their personalities are like. 

Well, say thank you to tumblr user carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory for deciding to share their big cat knowledge with us and teaching us - unlucky big cat lovers who can't spend time with big cats - about what makes wild cats unique. Reading this has both educated us and made us want to cuddle a snow leopard even more. 

If you're anything like me, then as much as you love them big cats, you can't help but get them confused sometimes. There are dots, there are other dots, and the other kind of dots, then there are the dots that have more dots inside of them, and it's just- all very cute but very, very confusing. 

Tumblr to the rescue! A user who's field of expertise is big cats has decided to explain the differences between them in the easiest, cutest, silliest tumblr way possible, and we. are. thankful. Thank you, biggest-gaudiest-patronuses, you have made our big cat love a bit clearer. Now, we can appreciates these overgrown house cats more properly. 

Could there ever be anything better than tiny kitten beans? Today, we're attempting to answer that question. Huge fluffy mitten lynx beans. Well, paws. They're paws are so fluffy, there's barely any bean to be seen. If there's any rival to tiny kitty beans it's this. 

Honestly, we're not sure what we want more - to pet them or to have them pet us. Normally cats feets are too sharp for petting humans, but these paws are so fluffy, being petted by them sounds like a pretty good idea to us. But since we can't have that, we will have to settle for loving and appreciating these large cats' large fluffy paws from afar. 

We must warn you - the animal that you're about to see is the most elusive animal you've ever gazed upon. It is the big cat spider. It is only seen once every blue moon. Spread out across the tress in all its glory, limbs loose and perfectly camaflauged. These spider leopards and jaguars are animals of grace, and they are lethal... in their cuteness. 

Okay, fine, they're not real spiders. That's just our excuse to make the cutest collection of big cats hanging out in trees. Because wanting to climb up is not just a house cat thing. Then again, all big cats have a little house cat energy in them, and that only makes us love them more. 

Cheetahs - fierce and adorable all at once. There's something about them that overrides any sense of logic and makes you want to hug them. And you know what? Since they're one of the friendliest and most affectionate big cats, if you become a good enough friend of one, you might just be able to do it. 

And since today is the international cheetah day, and we love these adorable big kitties so, so much, we couldn't not celebrate it with you. So we've brought you the most wholesome cheetah pics and memes that we've seen that truly represent these big-hearted animals the way they deserve. 

Combine the magic of snow with the majesty of the tiger, and you get some of the most wholesome, chill pictures on the web. Because you know how chill these tigers must have been to sit there for so long and just let the snow cover them, turning themselves from stunning orange and black beauties to the most magical, majestic looking white tigers.

These pictures are the exact type of chill that we need to start our week off with. Cold but snuggly and infinitely powerful and beautiful. So, let this white blanket envelop you and imagine being as chill about it as these lovely big kitties. 

One of our favorite things in the animal kingdom is the obvious, heartwarming love between mothers and their tiny little babies. And the bigger they are, the more adorable we find them. There's a tendency to think of big cats as dangerous and heartless, but we know better than that, we know that they are just as loving as any cat once you earn their trust and love. 

Cheetahs are no different. They are known to be one of the most affectionate big cats when it comes to their relationships with humans. But when it comes to their babies, their little cheetos, their love and adoration is clear as day, and it's so adorable and wholesome, it makes our hearts flutter. 

There's a reason that all of us cat lovers also have a special place in our hearts for big cats, and it is that all big cats are basically regular cats... enlarged. They have the same faces - just bigger, they are just as silly - just bigger, and they have the same habits... just bigger. 

And so, their bleps are also... bigger. And though in this case, bigger is not necessarily better, it is definitely just as cute. Regular cat bleps are some of our favorite all time cat pictures, but they're, of course, not the only animals who can do the blep. Foxes are already strong blepping competition, and now, the big cats are officially entering the race too. You be the judge deciding who you think is the master of the blep. 

In their hearts, we know that all kittens feel like the fiercest, most powerful lions. When they yell at us for food, it's not just yelling, it's roaring for the servants to bring them their prey. When they fight a fly, it is actually them hunting for their next meal as they would in the wild as big cats.

And much as we don't like them having battles with our curtains, we do really love that they have these fierce instincts, and when we look at the real fierce big cats, we are reminded of our little kittens. All little kittens are our baby lions, and we love hearing all of them roar. Just not at three in the morning, please, I'm trying to sleep. 

Istanbul's Aslan Park is home to two big cats who have become best friends. A white lion called Pamuk and a Bengal tiger called Toby who are both only 18 months old have taken over our hearts with their adorable friendship. When they were just  four months old, the zookeepers attempted to separate the cubs, but the cubs had other plans. 

Daily News reports that Gökmen Aydın, the general par manager, said: "We wanted to separate them as both belong to different species. Then we realize uneasiness in animals. We started to think about the cause. When they got together later, we saw that they want to stay with each other. They became friends within four months," and we just can't help but awww.

Pamuk and Toby sleep most day, like all cats do, but they play together a lot and absolutely hate being separated for any reason whatsoever. "They sometimes sleep while hugging each other," added Aydın, and okay, que some more awws right about now. We wish them a long friendship even as they grow older and as much happiness as they have in general. Their story brought us immense happiness for sure. 

Check out pictures of Pamuk and Toby together below! And if you're interested in more happy friendships between species, take a look at this Pitbull and rescued fox cub who are total BFFs.

There's a reason that one of the ultimate prizes for any cat owner is having their cat stretch and turn and yawn and allow us to rub its soft fluffy squishy belly. It's one of the ultimate indicators of trust that cats have. It shows you just how comfortable they are with you. So, we all have the biggest soft spot for cat bellies. 

Combine that with the soft spot that we have for big wild cats being adorable and boom ultimate cuteness. So, as a special treat, today, we've collected a bunch of pictures of big cats showing off their big bellies. Cubs and adults alike, sometimes you just gotta let loose and let your belly hang free. We only wish we could reach into the screen and give those bellies some love.