Do lions and other big cats hate getting wet as much as small cats?
In general, cats from hot areas where there’s water seem to love it. These include tigers, lions, jaguars, ocelots and jacarundi. One cat, the fishing cat, lives along rivers and in swamps from northern India to southeast Asia. The fishing cat catches fish by scooping them out of the water. It has partially webbed feet and even dives for fish! On the other hand, snow leopards do not like water. Other cats from cold areas, such as lynx, bobcats and cougars, might not hate water, but they don’t go out of their way for a dip, either. Toni Ruth, who studies cougars for the Hornocker Wildlife Institute, tells me that when cougars want to cross a stream, they will find a shallow spot, just like you would. They will swim across small lakes, but not big ones. So this all leads to a theory from Catherine Ulibarri, a veterinary professor here at WSU. She says that water destroys how fur insulates an animal against cold. So if that’s no big deal, there’s no strong dislike of water. If it is a big
Lions hate water, tigers love it. That’s all I know. Though there are some lions that regularly swim when seasonal floods come to catch their prey because the lions aren’t slowed down so much by the water as the things they are chasing. But they still hate it. They avoid it like the plague if there’s not the possibility of a meal in it for them.
