Hi everyone
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is one of the five extant species in the genus Panthera,
a member of the cat family, Felidae. They live in Africa and Asia.
Leopard is the most adaptable feline species.
Let's learn about them.
Characteristics
The leopard's fur is generally soft and thick, notably softer on the belly than on the back.
Its skin colour varies between individuals from pale yellowish to dark golden
with dark spots grouped in rosettes.
Its belly is whitish and its ringed tail is shorter than its body.
Its pupils are round.. Leopards living in arid regions are pale cream,
yellowish to ochraceous and rufous in colour;
those living in forests and mountains are much darker and deep golden.
Spots fade toward the white underbelly and the insides and lower parts of the legs.
Rosettes are circular in East African leopard populations,
and tend to be squarish in Southern African and larger in Asian leopard populations.
The fur tends to be grayish in colder climates, and dark golden in rain forest habitats.
The pattern of the rosettes is unique in each individual.
Size and weight
The leopard is sexually dimorphic with males larger and heavier than females.
It is muscular, with relatively short limbs and a broad head.
Males stand 60–70 cm at the shoulder, while females are 57–64 cm tall.
The head-and-body length ranges between 90 and 196 cm with a 66 to 102 cm long tail.
Sizes vary geographically. Males weigh 37–90 kg, and females 28–60 kg.
In 1913, an Algerian newspaper reported a leopard killed that allegedly
measured about 275 cm in total length.
The maximum weight of a wild leopard in Southern Africa was about 96 kg.
It measured 262 cm.
An Indian leopard killed in Himachal Pradesh in 2016 measured 261 cm
with an estimated weight of 78.5 kg;
it was perhaps the largest known wild leopard.
Variant colouration
Melanistic leopards are also called black panthers.
Melanism in leopards is inherited as a recessive trait relatively to the spotted form.
Interbreeding in melanistic leopards produces a significantly smaller litter size
than is produced by normal pairings.
The black leopard is common foremost in tropical
and subtropical moist forests like the equatorial rainforest of the Malay Peninsula
and the tropical rainforest on the slopes of some African mountains such as Mount Kenya.
Distribution and habitat
The leopard has the largest distribution of all wild cats, occurring widely in Africa,
the Caucasus and Asia, although populations are fragmented and declining.
It is considered to be extirpated in North Africa.
and areas where grasslands, woodlands, and riverine forests remain largely undisturbed.
They are found everywhere in Africa (except the Sahara Desert),
as well as in Asia Minor and the Middle East, India, Pakistan, China, Siberia,
much of mainland Southeast Asia, the islands Java, Zanzibar and Sri Lanka.
Behaviour and ecology
The leopard is a solitary and territorial animal.
Adults associate only in the mating season.
Females continue to interact with their offspring even after weaning,
and have been observed sharing kills with their offspring when they can not obtain any prey.
They produce a number of vocalizations, including growls, snarls, meows and purrs.
The roaring sequence in leopards consists mainly of grunts and is also called "sawing",
having been described as resembling the sound of sawing wood.
Cubs are known to call their mother with a urr-urr sound.
Leopards are active mainly from dusk till dawn and rest for most of the day
and for some hours at night in thickets, among rocks or over tree branches.
Leopards have been observed walking 1–25 km across their range at night;
they may even wander up to 75 km if disturbed.
In some regions, they are nocturnal.
In western African forests, they have been observed to be largely diurnal
and hunting during twilight,
when their prey animals are active; activity patterns varies between seasons.
Leopards can climb trees very skillfully, often rest on tree branches
and descend from trees headfirst.
They can run at over 58 km/h, leap over 6 m horizontally, and jump up to 3 m vertically.
Hunting and diet
The leopard depends mainly on its acute senses of hearing and vision for hunting.
It primarily hunts at night in most areas.
In the Serengeti,
leopards have been observed to ambush prey by jumping down on it from trees.
The leopard is a carnivore
that prefers medium-sized prey with a body mass ranging from 10–40 kg.
The most significantly preferred species are ungulates; impala,
bushbuck, common duiker and chital.
Analysis of leopard in Taï National Park revealed that primates,
except for chimpanzee and potto ,are primary leopard prey during the day.
Leopards also kill smaller carnivores like black-backed jackal, bat-eared fox, genet and cheetah.
Average daily consumption rates of 3.5 kg were estimated for males and of 2.8 kg for females.
A study in the southern Kalahari Desert showed
that leopards meet their water requirements by the bodily fluids of prey and succulent plants;
they drink water every two to three days,
and feed infrequently on moisture-rich plants such as gemsbok cucumbers,
tsamma melon and Kalahari sour grass.
The leopard stalks its prey and tries to approach as close as possible,
typically within 5 m to the target,
and finally pounces on it and kills it by suffocation.
It kills small prey with a bite on the back of the neck,
but holds larger animals by the throat and strangles them.
It is able to take large prey due to its massive skull and powerful jaw muscles,
and is therefore strong enough to drag carcasses heavier than itself up into trees;
an individual was seen to haul a young giraffe,
weighing nearly 125 kg up 5.7 m into a tree.
Small prey is eaten immediately,
while larger carcasses are dragged over several hundred metres and safely cached in trees,
bushes or even caves to be consumed later.
Enemies and competitors
In parts of its global range, the leopard is sympatric with other large predators
such as the tiger, lion, cheetah, spotted hyena, striped hyena, brown hyena,
African wild dog, dhole, wolf and up to five bear species.
Some of these species steal its kills, kill its cubs and even kill adult leopards.
Leopards retreat up a tree in the face of direct aggression.
Leopards generally seem to avoid encounters with adult bears, but kill vulnerable bear cubs.
In Sri Lanka, a few recorded vicious fights between leopards and sloth bears
apparently result in both animals winding up either dead or grievously injured.
Nile crocodiles prey on leopards occasionally.
One large adult leopard was grabbed and consumed by a large crocodile
while attempting to hunt along a bank in Kruger National Park.
A 5.5 m Burmese python used to prey on an adult leopard.
In Serengeti National Park,
troops of 30–40 olive baboons were observed while mobbing and attacking a female leopard
and her cubs.
Reproduction and life cycle
Depending on the region, leopards may mate all year round.
In Manchuria and Siberia, they mate during January and February.
The estrous cycle lasts about 46 days and the female usually is in heat for 6–7 days.
Gestation lasts for 90 to 105 days. Cubs are usually born in a litter of 2–4 cubs.
Mortality of cubs is estimated at 41–50% during the first year.
Females give birth in a cave, crevice among boulders, hollow tree, or thicket to make a den.
Cubs are born with closed eyes, which open four to nine days after birth.
The fur of the young tends to be longer and thicker than that of adults.
Their pelage is also more gray in colour with less defined spots.
Around three months of age, the young begin to follow the mother on hunts.
At one year of age, leopard young can probably fend for themselves,
but remain with the mother for 18–24 months.
The average typical life span of a leopard is between 12 and 17 years.
The oldest recorded spotted leopard was a female named Roxanne
living in captivity at McCarthy's Wildlife Sanctuary in The Acreage,
Palm Beach County, Florida.
She died August 8, 2014 at the age of 24 years, 2 months and 13 days.
This has been verified by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Man-eating
Most leopards avoid people, but humans may occasionally be targeted as prey.
Most healthy leopards prefer wild prey to humans,
but injured, sickly, or struggling cats, or those with a shortage of regular prey,
may resort to hunting humans and become habituated to it.
Although usually slightly smaller than a human,
an adult leopard is much more powerful and easily capable of killing one.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEOPARD AND CHEETAH
Body size and shape: In general, the Cheetah is a leopard with a much slimmer
and slimmer body than the Leopard and is easily recognizable to the naked eye.
Cheetah has a rather small head, long slender body
and rather slim belly
while Leopard has a stout and more tiger-like body.
Leopards have rosette-shaped spots. Cheetahs have solid round, or oval spots.
Leopards have no “tear” line.
Cheetahs have a black “tear” line running from the inside of the eye to the mouth.
These tear marks act as reflection absorbers while they are hunting during sunny days.
Cheetah has 2 hind legs bigger than 2 front legs
while Leopard has 2 front legs bigger than 2 hind legs.
Leopards are bulkier and stronger. Cheetahs are lighter, but taller, than leopards.
Leopards hunt at night. Cheetahs hunt during the day.
Leopards like to drag prey up trees. Cheetahs prefer grassy plains.
When hunting: Leopards rely on stealth. Cheetahs rely on speed over short distances.
They are the world’s fastest animal.
Leopards have strong teeth and jaws and can crunch through thick bones.
Cheetahs have smaller teeth and jaws, leaving a larger nasal cavity for rapid breathing.
They cannot crunch large bones.
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