Leopard (Panthera pardus)

Common Names: Leopard

Leopards are the most widespread and adaptable big cat, and are found in almost every habitat, from desert to rainforest. They range from Africa through the Middle East, India and China, north to southern Siberia, and south through the Malay peninsula to the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. They are equally at home in a steaming Indian jungle, a cool Amur forest, or the hot, treeless mountains of Iran and Afghanistan.

Because of this wide distribution, leopards exhibit extreme variability in coat color, ranging from greyish or pale yellow to a rich buff or chestnut color. There are black spots on the head, lower limbs and tail, and black spots that form rosettes on the back, flanks, and upper limbs of the sleek, athletic body. The underside of the body is whitish in color. Coat colour and patterning are broadly associated with habitat type. The leopard is often confused with the jaguar Panthera onca of Central and South America, but are relatively smaller and slimmer, with a longer tail and smaller head. Melanistic leopards called black panthers are fairly common, especially in moist, dense forests like those of Bengal and Java.

The head is relatively small and convex in profile. The irises are yellow, green or grey, and the pupils are round. The ears are rounded, backed with black and conspicuous white central spots. The legs are rather short and stout. Their long tail is patterned with spots and rosettes, and black tipped. The underside is white, and along with the white spots on the backs of the ears, are thought to be conspicuous ‘follow me’ signs for the cubs following the female through dense vegetation.

Leopards are quite athletic, being very strong climbers (these cats have been known to drag prey more than two to three times their own weight up into trees), and good swimmers when necessary. Active between dusk and dawn, leopards will also hunt during the day in marginal habitat or in areas where they are not persecuted by man. They usually rest up in trees during the heat of the day, but may also lay in dense vegetation or among rocks. Hunting is accomplished mainly by stalking, stealthily approaching their prey as close as possible before pouncing. Their diet is quite varied, but seems to consist of anything available, from dung beetles to adult antelope. Other prey species include gazelles, wildebeest, deer, wild goats, monkeys, porcupines, rabbits, various birds and even insects. Carrion is also taken, as is domestic stock. Leopards often store carcasses in the forked branches of trees. This allows the meal to be eaten at leisure without being bothered by various four legged scavengers always on the lookout for a meal.

Breeding can occur throughout the year in Africa and India, but is mainly confined to January and February in China and southern Siberia. The oestrous cycle averages about 46 days, and heat lasts for six or seven days. Males and females are known to form hunting pairs during the mating season, and may even stay together for a short period of time after mating. One to four, usually two or three, cubs are born in a cave, rock crevice, or hollow tree after a gestation period of 90 - 105 days. They weigh between 400 and 700 grams at birth, and are covered with dark, woolly fur peppered with indistinct spotting. Their eyes open between seven and ten days, and they begin to walk around two weeks of age. Weaned at three or four months, the young separate from their mother between 18 - 24 months. Females reach sexual maturity at an average of 33 months, while males take 24 - 36 months. Captive leopards have lived up to 23 years in captivity. 

Leopards have fared better than other big cats, due mainly to their wide distribution and amazing adaptability. Their universal tastes in prey items, and their secretive, nocturnal lifestyle has allowed them to escape some of the continual persecution that man inflicts on animals that appear to compete for resources he sees as ‘his’. Leopard have the reputation of being very cunning because of this lifestyle, and some natives say that the leopard brushes out his tracks with his tail as he walks along.

Despite their successes, leopards are still vulnerable to the predation of man, and the many skins that have been sold attest to this. Leopards are also fairly easily poisoned by livestock raisers who leave out poisoned bait. The main threat for these cats, as it is for all wildlife, is habitat destruction. Illegal commercial hunting for pelts, bones and body parts for traditional medicine is also a substantial threat.

Leopards will probably be able to survive longer than other big cats, due to their acceptance of marginal areas that man has little use for. It will certainly take all of their cunning and adaptability to survive in the face of man’s continuous onslaught. CITES has placed all leopards on Appendix 1.

Read about the extremely endangered Amur leopard subspecies here