Whether in the wild as on our East Africa trip, or captive in animal parks, majestic "big cats" have always fascinated me.

The term “big cats” is often used to describe the four largest wild cats: lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars – the only wild cats that roar. However, there is an expanded definition of big cats that includes the cheetah, snow leopard, cougar (mountain lion/puma), clouded leopard and Sunda clouded leopard. While the smaller bobcat and caracal are not in this group, I've included them here.

*Also the Amur Leopard seen here is one the rarest species of cats on Earth.