UPSC Prelims 2024 Q25: Lions, Cheetahs and Leopards — Explained
Consider the following statements:
1. Lions do not have a particular breeding season.
2. Unlike most other big cats, cheetahs do not roar.
3. Unlike male lions, male leopards do not proclaim their territory by scent marking.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: correct — Lions can breed at any time of the year. A lioness that is not pregnant or nursing comes into heat again and again through the year, so there is no fixed mating season. In the wild a lioness usually gives birth no more than once in about two years, but that comes from how long she spends raising cubs, not from the calendar.
- 2: correct — Only the four big cats of the genus Panthera can roar: the lion, tiger, leopard and jaguar. The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) cannot roar. It purrs, chirps, growls and makes bird-like calls instead. The usual explanation is the hyoid apparatus, the bones that support the voice box. In the roaring cats it is only partly turned to bone, while the cheetah's is fully bony, as in small cats that purr.
- 3: incorrect — Male leopards do mark their territory by scent. They spray urine, leave scrapes on the ground and claw tree trunks. They also advertise their presence with a rasping, sawing call. Lions mark territory in the same ways, so the contrast 'unlike male lions' is false.
How to eliminate
Statement 2 is the anchor. Most people know that cheetahs purr and chirp but do not roar, so it is very likely correct. That removes the one option without it and leaves three options containing 2. Next, test statement 3 against basic animal behaviour. Almost every territorial cat, including house cats, tigers and leopards, marks with urine and scratches. A claim that male leopards do NOT scent-mark, framed as 'unlike lions', is a strong, unusual negative and should make you suspicious. Dropping 3 leaves only '1 and 2'. You can reach the answer without being sure of statement 1, as long as you trust 2 and reject 3. Fact to remember: lions breed all year round.
Know more
Big cats: who roars, who purrs, how they mark
UPSC tests big-cat biology through behaviour that cuts across species. The key split is between the roaring cats of genus Panthera and the rest.
| Feature | Lion | Tiger | Leopard | Snow leopard | Cheetah |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Panthera | Panthera | Panthera | Panthera | Acinonyx |
| Roars? | Yes | Yes | Yes (rasping 'sawing' call) | No | No (purrs, chirps) |
| Social life | Prides (only social cat) | Solitary | Solitary | Solitary | Females solitary; males often in coalitions |
| Scent marking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (marking posts) |
| Breeding | Any time of year | Mostly year-round | Year-round in tropics | Seasonal (late winter) | Year-round |
Why some cats roar. The lion, tiger, leopard and jaguar have a partly bony hyoid apparatus and specialised vocal folds, and these let them roar. The cheetah has a fully bony hyoid, so it purrs like small cats. The snow leopard is a Panthera cat but still cannot roar, which is a common trap.
Scent marking. Spraying urine, scraping the ground and clawing trees are standard ways for territorial cats to send signals. Statements that claim one cat "does not" do something general to the whole family are usually false.
Indian context.
- The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) lives in the wild only in the Gir landscape of Gujarat. Its population was 891 in the 2025 census.
- The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952.
- Project Cheetah, launched on 17 September 2022, brought 8 cheetahs from Namibia and then 12 from South Africa (February 2023) to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
- Leopards are widespread across India and often come into conflict with people near farms and villages.
In the news
The facts tested are static. Big cats were in the news at the time, though: in January 2024 the Namibian cheetah Aasha gave birth to cubs at Kuno under Project Cheetah, which likely made cheetah biology a natural topic for the question.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Asiatic lion: Statement 1 is about how lions reproduce; India's only wild lions are Asiatic lions of the Gir landscape.
- Project Cheetah: Statement 2 is about the cheetah, a cat reintroduced to India under this programme after it was declared extinct in 1952.
- Snow leopard: The snow leopard is a useful comparison when judging claims about which big cats can or cannot roar.