While mutations in Taqpep can make a cheetah's spots become blotchy, the spots don't turn into stripes. And as Eizirik's work showed, domestic cats with a normal Taqpep gene can be either striped ...

The spots on this leopard are much easier to see. Some big cats have spots - this big cat has stripes. Tigers are stripy all over. Look at the beautiful, thick, black stripes on this tiger.

I think people naturally root for the underdog, so perhaps that’s why Pobe, a 7-year-old female cheetah quickly became my favourite big cat on Xudum ... spotty fur (her spots, even visible ...