Leopard
| Leopard Temporal range: Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene to recent
 | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Pantherinae |
| Genus: | Panthera |
| Species: | P. pardus[2] |
| Binomial name | |
| Panthera pardus[2] | |
| Subspecies | |
|
see text | |
 | |
| Range of the leopard: former (red), uncertain (yellow), highly fragmented (light green), and present (dark green) | |
| Synonyms | |
 | This article needs more sources for verifiability. |
A leopard (Panthera pardus) is a big cat of the genus Panthera. It lives in Africa and Asia.
Appearance
[change | change source]Leopards are known for their unique appearance. They have well-camouflaged fur, which is usually tan, and spots (called rosettes). They usually have a lighter-coloured underside.
However, there can be a lot of differences within the different leopard subspecies. There are also leopards who are completely black; these are also called black panthers.
Male leopards are about 30% larger than female leopards.[3]
Habitat
[change | change source]Originally the leopard lived in all of Africa (except for the Sahara Desert) and in southern Asia. However, today many leopard subspecies, especially in Asia, are endangered.
Leopards adapt to many habitats, including rainforests, steppes, mountains, savannas, and montane areas. Usually, they live in habitats where there are some trees.
Lifestyle
[change | change source]The leopard is a secretive big cat. Unlike lions, leopards are usually solitary and do not live in groups, though it is not uncommon for young leopards to seek out the company of other leopards. Some territorial males even establish relatively tolerant relationships with the females in their immediate vicinity.[4]
They climb trees very well, and they spend a lot of time in trees. They can carry prey up a tree and keep it safe from hyenas and lions. Trees are its main escape from attacks by lions or packs of dogs.
Young leopards leave their mothers after 13 – 18 months.[source?]
The most similar cat in its lifestyle is the jaguar, which lives in Central and South America.
Hunting behavior
[change | change source]Leopards are versatile, opportunistic hunters. They hunt at different times, usually in the afternoon or late at night, and use different methods for hunting.
Most references to leopards describe them as nocturnal. They are often active at night. Still, it is not uncommon to encounter a leopard moving or even hunting during the day, even in extreme temperatures.[5]
Leopards are ambush predators. They operate best when they have some cover to hide behind. Usually, they secretly move towards their prey and attack it when they are close, or hide and wait for it to come close.
Leopards are unpredictable animals. The leopard's ability to surprise its prey is one of the factors that makes it such a lethal predator.[6]
Diet
[change | change source]Leopards are carnivores[7] with a very wide diet. They prey on Thomson's gazelle, impala, duikers, reedbucks, steenboks, and topi calves, zebras, young warthogs, blue wildebeest, and guineafowl. They also prey on rodents, hyraxs, rats, hares, storks, and monitor lizards.[source?]
Leopards can take down baboons and even jackals. They are the only natural predators of adult chimpanzees and mountain gorillas, though probably not the large male silverback gorillas.[8]
Leopards do not usually eat humans, but sometimes leopards that are hurt or sick attack and eat people when they do not have enough to eat.[9] A leopard in India is believed to have eaten more than 125 people.[10]
Subspecies
[change | change source]There are nine subspecies of leopards recognized today, one in Africa and eight in Asia. They are:[source?]
- African leopard P.p pardus, which includes the Barbary leopard
- Amur leopard P.p orientalis
- Arabian leopard P.p nimr
- Indian leopard P.p fusca
- Indo Chinese leopard P.p delacouri
- Javan leopard P.p melas
- North Chinese leopard P.p japonensis
- Persian leopard P.p saxicolor
- Sri Lankan leopard P.p kotiya
References
[change | change source]
- ↑ Stein, A.B.; Athreya, V.; Gerngross, P.; Balme, G.; Henschel, P.; Karanth, U.; Miquelle, D.; Rostro, S.; Kamler, J.F.; Laguardia, A. (2016). "Panthera pardus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2016-3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- 1 2 Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 547. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ↑ Kindersley, Dorling (2001, 2005). Animal. New York City: DK Publishing. ISBN 0-7894-7764-5.
- ↑ https://africageographic.com/stories/leopards-silent-secretive-and-full-of-surprises/
- ↑ https://africageographic.com/stories/leopards-silent-secretive-and-full-of-surprises/
- ↑ https://africageographic.com/stories/leopards-silent-secretive-and-full-of-surprises/
- ↑ "Leopard savaging a crocodile caught on camera". The Telegraph. 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
- ↑ Primates: Gorilla Facts – National Zoo| FONZ Archived 2010-06-01 at the Wayback Machine. Nationalzoo.si.edu. Retrieved on 2012-08-21.
- ↑ Hart, Donna & Robert W. Sussman 2005. Man the hunted: primates, predators, and human evolution. Westview Press. ISBN 0813339367.
- ↑ Tougias, Michael 2007. When Man is the prey: true stories of animals attacking humans. Macmillan. ISBN 0312373007