Leopard
A leopard (Panthera pardus) is a big cat of the genus Panthera. It lives in Africa and Asia.
| Leopard | |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Genus: | Panthera |
| Species: | P. pardus[1]
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| Binomial name | |
| Panthera pardus[1] | |
| Subspecies | |
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see text | |
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| Range of the leopard: former (red), uncertain (yellow), highly fragmented (light green), and present (dark green) | |
| Synonyms | |
Appearance
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
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
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
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
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
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
Leopard Media
Map showing approximate distribution of leopard subspecies
Leopard (Panthera pardus) male ... (51890626416)
Indian male leopard (cropped)
IG KusumoKintokoEko WA 082140100111 foto macan tutul jawa lokasi TN Baluran, Situbondo, Indonesia
Arabian Leopard Panthera pardus nimr in Sharjah Photo Prof Dr Norman Ali Khalaf
Nordpersischer Leopard
Amur leopard. Frame from a camera trap (cropped)
Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) at Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Vietnam.
Srilankan leopard (srilankan kotiya) 02 (cropped)
Two cladograms proposed for Panthera. The upper cladogram is based on the 2006 and 2009 studies, while the lower is based on the 2010 and 2011 studies.
_male_..._(51890626416).jpg)
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_02_(cropped).jpg)
References
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The English Wikibooks has more information on: |
- ↑ Wozencraft, W. C.. Mammal Species of the World (2005)Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 547. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ↑ Panthera pardus. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2016-3 (2016)International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ↑ 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. 18 July 2011. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3347532/Leopard-savaging-a-crocodile-caught-on-camera.html. 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