Leopard
Panthera pardus
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Leopard Panthera pardus |
Body Length(mm) -910-1900 Weight (kg) - 30-90 Litter Size - 2-3 average Infant Mortality - 40-50% Life Span - 12-17 years Status - Various
Africa P.p.adersi - Zanzibar P.p.adusta - Ethiopia P.p.leopardus - West Africa P.p.melanotica - Southern Africa P.p.nanopardus - Somalia P.p.panthera - Algeria, Egypt P.p.pardus - East Central Africa P.p.reichenowi - Cameroon P.p.ruwenzorli - East Central Africa P.p.sindica - South West Asia P.p.suahelica - Eastern Africa Middle East P.p.ciscaucasia - West Caspian P.p.dathei - Iran P.p.jarvisi - Sinai Penninsula P.p.nimr - Arabia P.p.saxicolor - Iran, Afghistanan P.p.tulliana - West Caspian Asia P.p.delacouri - Indo-China P.p.fusca - Indian Sub-continent P.p.japonensis - N. Central China P.p.kotiya - Sri Lanka P.p.melas - Java P.p.millardi - Kashmir P.p.orientalis - Amur - Korea P.p.pernigra - Nepal, Kashmir
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The
leopard is most easily recognised by its rosette patterned coat and extremely long,
darker tail. This large cat is sometimes confused in
appearance with the South American Jaguar - the leopard though is less
stocky and unlike the jaguar, its rosette markings are
generally smaller and have no internal spots. The overall
size of the leopard depends very much on the subspecies
and location, with the largest animals growing to a
length of nearly 5 feet with an additional tail length of
some 3 feet - generally the male is between 20-40% larger
than the female. The base coloration of the coat also
varies greatly depending upon location, ranging from
golden/yellow in open grasslands, through yellow/cream in
desert areas to deep gold in mountain and forest regions.
All black or melanistic leopards, sometimes commonly
called ‘Black Panthers’ (see below), are born
in the same litter as normally marked cats and also carry
the rosette markings, although these are masked by the
darkness of the fur. It has been observed that the
melantistic leopard is most generally found in the dense,
wet forested areas of India and south east Asia, where
the coloration advantages the cat in its hunting. The leopard is a versatile hunter and generally nocturnal in its pursuit of prey - however the increased frequency of hunting found in the female raising young often leads to more opportunist hunting during daylight hours. The type of prey taken by the leopard is again dependant largely upon its locale - in the open grasslands of Africa where roaming herds of large to medium sized herbivores are common the leopard will take young eland and wildebeest, impala and gazelle. However in the same areas the leopard will also take small mammals such as hares and rock hyrax, reptiles and insects. In contrast, in the west and central forested regions of Africa the leopards prey consists mainly of the smaller antelope such as duiker, small monkeys and various rodents such as rats, squirrels and porcupines.
Although no other wild cat has such a wide spread range and diverse prey base as the leopard, it is still under threat in many regions. Once common in all parts of Africa apart from the deserts of the Sahara, it has now gone from most parts of northern Africa, apart from a few widespread areas of the Atlas mountains and is scarce in the extreme west of the continent. Subspecies of the leopard once common in the middle east, P.p.nimr and P.p.jarvisi are now all but extinct, as is the Persian leopard (P.p.saxicolor). In south east Asia and India its numbers have dwindled mainly due to hunting for its prized fur and through loss of natural habit due to the spread of the human population. The Korean Leopard (P.p.orientalis), also known as the Amur Leopard are extremely rare in the wild, suffering extensively from habitat loss. Although the leopard has had greater survival success across the African/Asian range compared with the Cheetah and Lion, who now only exist in single locations within this extended range, the leopard, especially in the Middle East and South West Asia is under extreme threat. The leopard is listed in CITES Appendix 1.
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Although a strong and competent
hunter the leopard is not without threat from other
carnivores - because of this the leopard commonly caches
its prey high in the boughs of trees away from packs of
scavenging hyenas and opportunist lions. It is here that
the leopard demonstrates its huge strength - its powerful
limb and neck muscles enabling it to carry a fully grown
male antelope or even young giraffe, often weighing up to
three times its own body weight, high into the tree tops.
Direct competition from other large cats such as the 
