Panthera pardus (Leopard)
Adult Leopard
Description: Leopards are slender and delicate compared with other big cats, but they are sturdy and solid compared with the cheetah.
Coat: Highly variable, essentially black spots on a fawn to pale brown background. The spots are small on the lower legs and head and neck, though on the other parts of their body they are larger and arranged in rosette patterns usally with a darker shade of their base colour within the rosette. Their ears are mostly black at the back with a paler tip. Their eyes are light brown to fawn and they have a black mark on the lower jaw where the mouth opens. The skin is dark pink blotched with black and the whiskers are long and white.
There are several aberrant coat patterns, one of which is melanism, this makes the animal totally black, these animals usually occur in mountainous areas and dense forests. In the Malay Peninsula around 50 percent of leapords may be black, but the number is much lower elsewhere.
Adult Leopard
Size: Male: head-body length 130-190cm, tail length 70-100cm, shoulder height 50-70.
Female: head and body length 60-75cm, tail length 60-75cm, shoulder height 45-60cm.
Weight: Male: 45-85kg, female 35-50kg.
Senses: They are agile in trees and they climb rather well. They also swim well.
Their hearing is exceptional, sight is very good and scent is good.
Habitat: Most areas with a reasonable amount of cover, a good supply of prey animals, areas such as tropical rain forests to barren deserts, from cold mountains to urban suburbs. Inhabits varied altitudes.
Range: The home range is extremely variable in size, prey density and habitat type are obvious factors. The lower the density of their prey the less leopards occupy the area and the larger their home ranges.
Females occupy territories of 10-290sq km (4-112sq mi) that may overlap as much as 40% with those of other females. Males territories are larger, ranging from 18-1,140sq km (7-440sq mi), with extensive overlap, as much as 40%, between different males. Males leopards also overlap with extensively with those of females.
Sometimes they will drag food up into one of their trees, here they can feast in peace and hold some food for a later date.
Distribution: Africa S of the Sahara and S Asia; aslo scattared populations in N Africa, Arabia and the Far East.
Status: Some subspecies are critically endangered and one is now belived to be extinct.
Despite the loss of some subspecies the leopard is likely to continue to thrive through much of its range, it is adaptable and highly successful in most areas.
Habitat loss and persicution in response to livestock attacks are causing a decline in some populations, however even in areas with such killings taking place the populations appear to be stable.
Leopards are often shot for "sport", now only a certain number of leopards are allowed to be shot each year, and hunters buy the right to shoot them for around US$2,500.
Leopards are popular subjects of ecotourism and people pay to be taken to see them in their natural habitat. Leopards are now prized in areas where they where once considered to be pests as they bring in extra cash for the areas people each year.
Daily Rhythm: Hunting is generally a night time activity and this is the time when leopards are most active. During the day they tend to sleep in trees, in areas where they are undisturbed they tend to hunt at either day or night.
Often seen sunning itself on trees and rocks. They sleepin trees or on the ground among rocks or thick vegetation whereever suitable cover can be found.
They spend some times in each day to groom their coats.
Voice: The main vocalization is a rough, rasping sound. It serves to proclaim the home-range holder's presence and to make contact between separated individuals. When females are in heat she rasps to attract a male to mate with, and mothers rasp to their cubs.
Their territorial claim is a rough sawing cough, this is repeated up to a dozen times, they also utter this as a contact call, making a short growl as a greeting. Sometimes they make a short snarling noise when they are stalking prey, an explosive growl in alarm and 2-3 short coughs before they charge. In anger they growl and spit and scream when they are furious. Purs are uttered when they are content.
Females greet their young with soft, quickly repeated calls.
Enemies: Leopards have a wide variety of prey animals to choose from and so they generally avoid direct competition with fellow carnivores. Sometimes they are killed by lions, hunting dogs, spotted hyenas and crocodiles. Lions and hyenas will sometimes steal prey from leopards.
Young are killed by hyenas, jackals and similar sized predators.
Prey: Reptiles (snakes and tortoise), birds (of stork size), small mammals, fish and insects, medium-sized antelopes (reedbuck), warthogs, monkeys (such as baboons) and occasioanlly small carnivores including cheetahs, lion cubs and bat-eared foxes.
They may take carrion when in need.
Food and Feeding: Besides scavenging, leopards catch a great variety of prey species. They generally hunt alone at night, employing a combination of opportunism, stealth and speed. They are excellent at remaining hidden when stalking and can approach within 2m of their prey beofre they make a short, fast dash at them. Small prey is often killed by a bite to the back of the neck. Leopards sometimes drag their kill into a tree but more often they drag it several hundred meters and hide it in dense vegetation.
Sometimes they lye in wait in trees and pounce onto their prey from the braches as it passes bellow. They kill their prey with a throat bite of, if the prey is large, by twisting the neck and snapping the cervical vertebrae.
Domestic dogs and monkeys are favorite prey animals.
They usually drink on a daily basis, when water is not available they can go for up to a month without.
Grouping: Leopards are secretive and adaptable and are generally solitary, though females spend about half of their lives rearing their young. Males are almost entirely solitary.
When they defecate they scratch the ground with their feet.
Breeding: Over most of the leopards range there is no particular season in which they breed. Females become sexually receptive at 3-7 weeks intervals, and the period of just a few days, during which pairs mate frequently. The female usually has 6-7 day heats.
Several males will often follow one female fighting over her attention. They mate in sitting possition.
Gestation: 90-112 days, usually 95-98 days.
Litter Size: Usually 1-3 with a maximum of 6.
Young Description: Cubs are blind but furred when they are born and weigh 430-570g, they measure about 20cm head and body, 15 cm tail length.
At 1 month they weigh 1kg, at 6 months they weigh 10kg and at 12 months they weigh 30kg. Their eyes open in their first week.
Young are similar to adults but greyer and the rosettes are still solid and therefore the young seem much darker. They have a white spot on the back of their ears, this grows larger and yellower with age.
Leopard Cub
Nest: Cubs are born in rock crevices or holes, hollow trees, reedy nests or thickets.
Young Care: The females keeps the cubs hidden until they start to follow her at 6-8 weeks. After the cubs have been weaned, at about 3 months, the female frequently leads them to food, but spends little time with them otherwise. When the cubs reach 18-20 months the female encourages them to leave so that she can mate again. At 18-24 motnhs the young should be fully independent.
Males will usually leave their mothers range at about this time, but females tend to stay within their mothers range until they are about 2 years old, and ready to breed themselves, at this time they disperse, however they often settle in an area that overlaps their mothers home range.
Sexual Maturity: About 2-3 years.
Longevity: Up to 14 years, up to 21 in captivity.
Geographical Variations:
Panthera pardus (Amur Leopard)
Distribution: Amur-Ussuri region, North China, Korea.
Description: Coat: long and thick, light hued in winter and reddish-yellow in summer. Spots comparatively large.
Panthera pardus tulliana (Anatolian Leopard)
Distribution: Asia Minor.
Description: Coat: brighter and tanner than nominate, often has some grey hues.
Panthera pardus panthera (Barbary Leopard)
Distribution: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Panthera pardus pardus (African Leopard)
Distribution: Africa except in extreme North, Asia.
Description: Coat: Yellowish-ochre.
Panthera pardus jarvisi (Sinai Leopard)
Distribution: Sinai.
Description: Coat: Light with large spots.
Panthera pardus nimr (South Arabian Leopard)
Distribution: South Arabia.
Panthera pardus adersi (Zanzibar Leopard)
Distribution: Zanzibar.
Description: Coat: Very small spots.
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