Leopard
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is an
Old World mammal of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four 'big cats'
of the genus Panthera, along with the tiger, lion, and jaguar.
Leopards that are melanistic, either
all-black or very dark in coloration, are known colloquially as Black Panthers.
Once distributed across southern
Eurasia and Africa, from Korea to South Africa and Spain, it has disappeared
from much of its former range and now chiefly occurs in subsaharan Africa.
There are fragmented populations in
the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, Malaysia, and western China.
Despite the loss of range and
continued population declines, the cat remains a least concern species; its
numbers are greater than that of the other Panthera species, all of which face
more acute conservation concerns.
The species' success owes in part to
its opportunistic hunting behaviour and its adaptability to a variety of
habitats.
The leopard consumes virtually any
animal it can catch and ranges from rainforest to desert.
Its ecological role resembles that of
the similarly-sized cougar in the Americas.
Physically, the spotted cat most
closely resembles the jaguar, although it is of lighter build.
ABOUT THE LEOPARD
Leopards are graceful and powerful
big cats closely related to lions, tigers, and jaguars. They live in
sub-Saharan Africa, northeast Africa, Central Asia, India, and China. However,
many of their populations are endangered, especially outside of Africa.
Hunting Skills
The leopard is so strong and
comfortable in trees that it often hauls its kills into the branches. By
dragging the bodies of large animals aloft it hopes to keep them safe from
scavengers such as hyenas. Leopards can also hunt from trees, where their
spotted coats allow them to blend with the leaves until they spring with a
deadly pounce. These nocturnal predators also stalk antelope, deer, and pigs by
stealthy movements in the tall grass. When human settlements are present,
leopards often attack dogs and, occasionally, people.
Leopards are strong swimmers and very
much at home in the water, where they sometimes eat fish or crabs.
Breeding
Female leopards can give birth at any
time of the year. They usually have two grayish cubs with barely visible spots.
The mother hides her cubs and moves them from one safe location to the next
until they are old enough to begin playing and learning to hunt. Cubs live with
their mothers for about two years—otherwise, leopards are solitary animals.
Leopard Spots
Most leopards are light colored with
distinctive dark spots that are called rosettes, because they resemble the
shape of a rose. Black leopards, which appear to be almost solid in color
because their spots are hard to distinguish, are commonly called black
panthers.
Leopard facts
1. Most leopards are light coloured
and have dark spots on their fur. These spots are called “rosettes” because
their shape is similar to that of a rose. There are also black leopards, too,
whose spots are hard to see because their fur is so dark.
2. Leopards can be found in various
places around the world – they live in Sub-Saharan Africa, northeast Africa,
Central Asia, India and China.
3. Leopards are fast felines and can
run at up to 58km/h! They’re super springy, too, and can leap 6m forward
through the air – that’s the length of three adults lying head to toe!
4. Leopards are very solitary and
spend most of their time alone. They each have their own territory, and leave
scratches on trees, urine scent marks and poop to warn other leopards to stay
away! Males and females will cross territories, but only to mate.
5. These big cats have a varied diet
and enjoy different kinds of grub. They eat bugs, fish, antelope, monkeys, rodents;
deer…in fact, pretty much any prey that is available!
6. Leopards are skilled climbers, and
like to rest in the branches of trees during the day. They are strong beasts,
too, and can carry their heavy prey up into the trees so that pesky scavengers,
such as hyenas, don’t steal their meal!
7. Nocturnal animals, leopards are
active at night when they venture out in search for food. They spend their days
mostly resting, camouflaged in the trees or hiding in caves.
8. When it comes to hunting for food,
these big cats know they’re stuff! When a leopard spots a potential meal, it
approaches with legs bent and head low, so as not to be seen. It then stalks
its prey carefully and quietly, until its five to ten meters within range.
Then….pounce! The leopard dashes forward and takes down its victim with a bite
to the throat or neck. Small prey, such as small birds or mice, will receive a
fatal blow from the felines paw. Ouch!
9. Female leopards give birth any
time of the year – when they do, they usually give birth to two or three cubs.
Mothers stay with their cubs until they are about 2 years old (when they are
old enough to hunt and take care of themselves).
10. Leopards communicate with each
other through distinctive calls. For instance, when one male wants make another
aware of his presence, he’ll make a hoarse, raspy cough. They also growl when
angry and, like domestic cats, purr when happy and relaxed. Cute, eh?
Classification and Evolution
The Leopard is a medium-sized wildcat
that is natively found in a variety of different habitats across sub-Saharan
Africa and southern Asia. A member of the "Big Cat" family, the
Leopard is an agile and opportunistic hunter that has been able to exploit habitats
unused by other large felines as it spends a great deal of its time high in the
tree branches. There are seven different sub-species of Leopard which differ in
their appearance and geographic location, with the African Leopard being the
most common and widespread and the others being the rare Amur Leopard, the
Anatolian Leopard, the Barbary Leopard, the Sinai Leopard, the South Arabian
Leopard and the Zanzibar Leopard. Although the African Leopard populations are
stable throughout much of their natural range, the story is different for the
remaining sub-species that are often isolated and critically at risk (the
Zanzibar Leopard is actually now thought to be extinct).
Leopard Anatomy and Appearance
The Leopard has a long and slender
body that is supported by short, stocky legs and a long tail that is used to
aid balance whilst in the trees. Leopards can vary greatly in their coloration
and markings depending on their surrounding habitat, with those found on open
grasslands having a light yellow background coat where those that are found in
forests tend to be darker in color and with more markings. The dark, ring-like
patterns that cover the Leopard's coat are called rosettes, but these turn to
solid spots on the face and limbs (and rings on the tail) and provide the
Leopard with camouflage into the surrounding environment. Leopards are
incredibly strong and muscular and are able to pull themselves up trees using
their legs and retractable claws. Like a number of other large feline species,
the Leopard is able to draw their claws into folds of skin on their paws to
ensure that they are not blunted whilst the animal is walking about. Their keen
hearing and sight coupled with their long and very sensitive whiskers, means
that Leopards are also incredibly well adapted for hunting under the cover of
night.
Leopard Distribution and Habitat
Leopards are not only the widest
ranging of all Big Cats but are actually one of the most adaptable and are
found in a variety of different habitats. Commonly found throughout sub-Saharan
Africa and southern Asia, there are also small and isolated populations of
Leopard inhabiting remote geographic locations in the Far East, Northern Africa
and Arabia. The Leopard can be found inhabiting numerous different areas
providing that there is a good source of cover and an ample supply of food
including tropical rainforests, tree-lined savannah, barren deserts and
mountain highlands. One of the reasons why they are thought to be still
surviving successfully throughout much of their natural range is that Leopards
have adapted to the growing presence of people and are known to both live and
hunt in areas close to urban activity. However, in some parts of their natural
range populations are threatened by loss of their natural habitats to both
deforestation and growing settlements.
Leopard Behavior and Lifestyle
The Leopard is a solitary and
nocturnal hunter that hunts both on the ground and in the trees. They are
excellent climbers and spend the vast majority of the daytime hours resting in
the shade of the branches in the trees or under a sheltered rock. They are
quite unique amongst large felines as Leopards rely heavily on being able to
get close enough to their prey before ambushing it, rather than expelling vast
amounts of energy in a high-speed chase. Once caught and killed, the prey is
then dragged to safety either into dense vegetation a couple of hundred meters
away or up a tree trunk and into the branches. Leopards are highly solitary
animals that mark their territory using scent markings and by producing rough,
rasping calls that are said to sound like the sawing through coarse wood. Home
range sizes vary depending on the habitat and the food available but those of
male Leopards are significantly larger than those of their female counterparts,
which often overlap the ranges of a number of both males and other females
(sometimes by up to 40%).
Leopard Reproduction and Life Cycles
Throughout their natural range,
Leopards have no distinctive breeding season with females instead being able to
reproduce every couple of months. After a gestation period that lasts for
around three months, the female Leopard gives birth to between 2 and 6 cubs
that are born blind and weigh just half a kilo. Leopard cubs are incredibly
vulnerable in the wild and so remain hidden in dense vegetation until they are
able to follow their mother around at between 6 and 8 weeks of age, camouflaged
by their dark, woolly fur and blurry spots. Weaned at around three months old,
Leopard cubs will remain with their mother for another 18 months until she is
ready to mate again and encourages her young to independently establish their
own territories. Although male Leopards are almost entirely solitary except
when mating, female Leopards may not stray too far from their mother and often
establish a home range that overlaps hers. Leopards tend to live for between
ten and fifteen years in the wild, depending on the habitat and the food supply
available.
Leopard Diet and Prey
The Leopard is a silent and
opportunistic hunter that only hunts and kills other animals in order to
survive. The Leopards primarily hunts medium sized mammals such as Deer and
Warthogs, that are often ambushed from the branches above or dense vegetation
just meters away. The Leopard however, also eats a wide variety of small prey
including birds, reptiles and rodents even hunting Dung Beetles when larger
animals are scarce. By eating much smaller (and a wider variety) of prey
Leopards are able to avoid intense competition for food from other large carnivores
like Tigers and Hyenas, with which they share parts of their natural range.
They are also very stealthy creatures that drag their kill into dense
vegetation or up into the trees for safety from scavengers close-by. Leopards
are incredibly strong and are capable of taking prey much heavier than
themselves such as Antelopes, which are then remarkably hauled into the safety
of the branches to either be eaten immediately or cached.
Leopard Predators and Threats
Due to the fact that the Leopard is a
stealthy and apex predator throughout its natural environment, generally the
biggest threat to adult Leopards is other Leopards, along with the occasional
Lion or Tiger that can get close enough. Young Leopard cubs however, are much
more vulnerable and the fact that they have numerous natural predators leads
them to remain hidden in dense vegetation for their first couple of months.
Although, it is during the times when their mother is off hunting that Leopard
cubs are most at threat from Hyenas, Jackals, Lions, Tigers, Snakes and Birds
of Prey. Despite their adaptability to differing surroundings, Leopard
populations in parts of their natural range are declining due to both habitat
loss to the timber industry and agriculture, and hunting by Humans as trophies
and for their meat and fur.
Leopard Interesting Facts and
Features
Originally thought to be a hybrid of
the Lion and the Jaguar, the Leopard has been the subject of much genetic
confusion and wasn't really distinguished properly until just over 100 years
ago. Some of the confusion is thought to come from the Black Panther which is a
Leopard that has a completely black coat of fur, with occasional faint
markings. Known as melanism, the genetic mutation that causes large amounts of
a dark pigment to occur in the skin and fur is exhibited by a number of
mammalian species. Black Panthers tend to occur most in dense forests with
larger populations being found in southern Asia than in Africa, and are born
into a litter that also contains yellow cubs. Black Panthers are actually
fairly common and amazingly enough, it is thought that up to 50% of the
Leopards found inhabiting the thick, tropical rainforests of the Malay
Peninsula are black.
Leopard Relationship with Humans
Since big game hunting took off in
Africa, the Leopard has been one of the most sought-after animals for hunters
to kill. Part of the African "Big Five" which are the most desirable
animals for sports hunters, Leopards in some areas particularly have been
severely affected by trophy hunting. In many places Leopards are also often
persecuted by local people who kill them for their meat and fur, and also
because they are seen as pests to farms and livestock due to their lack of fear
of people (although they are very seldom seen). However, recent booms in the
tourist industry in Africa has meant that more and more people are paying for
the privilege to see one of these majestic animals in the wild, bringing money
into local communities. This leads to Leopards being more protected by local
people rather than persecuted, as Leopards are providing an important and
new-found source of a good income for the local people.
Leopard Conservation Status and Life
Today
Today, the Leopard is listed by the
IUCN as being an animal that is Near Threatened in its natural environment as
populations are stable throughout much of its vast natural range. A number of
Leopard sub-species however, are considered to be either Endangered or
Critically Endangered in their native habitats and one is thought to now be
extinct. This is thought to be due to the fact that these populations are
either small or geographically isolated and are severely affected by local
hunting and habitat loss. In a number of African countries however, Leopards
are still legally hunted as trophies by sports hunters with annual quotas
allocated by CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species).
Conservation issues
Habitat and prey loss
As humans continue to push further
into the mountainous areas with their livestock, the snow leopards’ habitat is
getting boxed in, degraded and fragmented by increasing human intrusion. Overgrazing
has damaged the fragile high altitude grasslands, leaving less food for the
wild sheep and goats that are the snow leopard’s main prey. Such increasing
loss of its natural prey, which is also partly due to hunting for meat, is a
major threat for the long-term survival of snow leopards.
Retribution killings
With less natural prey to feed on and
growing numbers of domestic animals being grazed in their hunting territories,
snow leopards have increasingly adapted to prey on livestock. This brings them
into conflict with local people. Herders in these areas live a precarious
economic life and loss of even a single sheep causes great economic hardship.
This has led to several instances of retaliatory killing of snow leopards.
Poaching
Another major challenge for the
protection of snow leopards is poaching for their pelts. Their bones and other
body parts are also in demand for use in traditional Asian medicines.
Other challenges
Much of its habitat is extremely
difficult to access. Found at very high altitudes, studying the species and its
current status and distribution is an arduous task.
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