Have you ever looked at a Cheetahs eyes and ever given the black marking around the eyes a second thought?
These distinctive markings are called black ‘tear stripes’. They run from the eyes to the mouth and are thought to protect the eyes from the sun’s glare. It is also believed to provide the same function as a rifle scope, allowing cheetahs to focus on their prey at a long distance range by minimising the glare of the sun.
Now let’s look at the eye markings on a lion…
Unlike the cheetah, as a rule, lions hunt mostly at night and rest during the day but are often active at dawn and dusk and on cooler days. Their eyes are remarkably adapted to hunting at night. They have a reflective coating on the back of their eyes to help reflect the moonlight, making their eyesight 8x better then humans. The white patch of fur below their eyes also helps to reflect more light into their eyes.
Eyes are amazing and so are our top predators!
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