Leopard(Panthera Pardus)

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 Snow Leopard, the Clouded Leopard, the Sinai Leopard and the South Arabian 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.

Quick Facts • Found - Sub-Saharan Africa and

southern Asia • Scientific Name – Panthera Pardus • Height - 28 inches at the shoulder • Length – 1m -1.9m • Weight - 36kg - 90kg • Lifespan - 21 years in captivity

12 – 15 years in the wild • Habitat - Rainforest, grassland

and mountainous regions • Solitary Creature • Prefers to hunt at night

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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 colouration 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 colour 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.

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 (saved for later).