The leopard is a typical large representative of the vast cat family.
The beast is unusually beautiful, although this beauty is somehow unkind and alarming.
Large black spots and rings are randomly scattered across the sparkling golden background. On the sides and outer side of the legs the general background color is lighter than on the back. It is white on the belly and inside of the legs. The winter fur of the leopard that lives in the Amur-Ussuri region is soft and quite lush. In summer it is shorter, sparser and coarser, but the pattern remains the same - beautiful and bright. In warm regions, of course, the leopard does not need winter fur.
Black leopards are occasionally seen. They are most often called a black panther. However, they are melanistic: the same leopards, but dressed in a skin of a different color. In very bright light and on a black panther, spotting can be seen, although with difficulty.
Scientists at zoos have found that when spotted leopards are crossed with black ones, kittens of both color types are born in approximately equal proportions, and black parents produce mostly black offspring.
Black panthers live throughout the leopard's vast range, but are rare in the Amur-Ussuri region. They are most often found in Southeast Asia, especially Java.
The leopard has a graceful, light and flexible figure, a rounded head, a long tail, and slender legs. And he is all graceful - when he stands or lies, and when he walks, and when he attacks. His gait is quiet, light, completely inaudible - majestic.
This beast is superbly armed. Its fangs and retractable claws are as sharp as needles and deadly as daggers. With a load in his teeth that exceeds his own weight, he rushes through the forest quickly and easily. It seems that the animal has a bag of tow in its mouth, and not a roe deer, sika deer or gilt. And it’s almost incredible: with a roe deer in its mouth, a large leopard can jump to a height of two or three meters. Let's add: his running speed is 16 - 18 meters per second, and eight-ten-meter long jumps and four-meter high jumps are common for him, as is artistic climbing of trees, even straight and smooth ones.
The lion and the tiger are relatives of the leopard, but the closest of them in origin, appearance and lifestyle is the jaguar, which lives in South and Central America. He is almost the same color, with dark spots on a yellow background, only a little larger and a little stockier in build. And the habits are the same. In a word, a brother to the leopard and a super cat of the New World.
Lion, tiger, leopard and jaguar are all in the same genus panther. They are so close that they produce hybrid crosses between themselves. And if the cat family deservedly bears the laurels of the most specialized predatory animals, then the four representatives of the panther genus are nothing less than the elite of the cat family.
But the clouded leopard, which lives mainly in the tropical forests of South Asia, is not closely related to the real leopard, although in its appearance and color it seems to be a smaller copy of a super cat. The snow leopard, an inhabitant of the highlands, is also not very close to the leopard and is not among the elite of the famous family.
While inferior to the lion and tiger in size, the leopard wins in agility and swiftness of movements. He climbs trees and rocks beautifully and feels no less free there than on the ground. His reaction is instantaneous, attacks are lightning fast, he knows no fear. And it is not for nothing that many scientists and famous hunters consider the leopard to be the most perfect of cats - a super cat.
Habitat
The leopard is a typical inhabitant of the tropics and subtropics. It is widespread: it is common in almost all of Africa, in Asia south of the Caucasus, in the upper reaches of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya and Amur. In our country, this animal is now occasionally found in the Transcaucasus and the mountains of Central Asia. There are only a few leopards in the Primorsky Territory: (. Sometimes they enter Transbaikalia from the south.
The leopard inhabits mainly tropical, subtropical and mixed forests, woodlands, bushes, and rock formations in the mountains. It is interesting that in Africa, a significant part of these cats live in thickets of acacia and thorny bushes, as if yielding the savanna to lions, and the meadows to the cheetah. Large predators like not to be disturbed by anyone.
Hunting
The main prey of the leopard are roe deer, small antelopes, deer, wild boars, monkeys, and hares. Average weight the prey is usually 25 - 50 kilograms, but a leopard is able to crush a horse, zebra, cow and even a gorilla. And with all this, he is not averse to eating a locust, a vole or a frog. And you can imagine - he catches and feasts on fish!
In Primorye, until the beginning of the 20th century, its favorite prey were sika deer and goral. Now these animals in the wild have become very rare, but there are a lot of deer on state fur farms. And the predator uses every opportunity to penetrate the deer farm park and indulge his soul on his favorite hunt. The leopard is a smart animal, it understands well how a visit to the deer farms can end, and yet it goes for it.
The leopard has keen hearing and sharp eyesight, and it sees well in seemingly impenetrable darkness. With its bright coloring, the super cat perfectly camouflages itself in the area. In a rare clear forest, you can walk past a motionless animal lying a few meters away and not notice it. It sneaks invisibly even in grass 30 - 40 centimeters high, as if pressing into the ground. Its color camouflages especially well in autumn or during drought, when yellow and brown leaves and withered grasses are everywhere.
On a tree, a leopard lying motionless in a fork or on a thick sunu often cannot be noticed even by an experienced and keen-sighted local hunter - so much so does the animal merge with the general background of the tree bark, shimmering in the glare of the sun. Only the tail gives away the super cat: she forgets about it, and it hangs down, and when the animal gets excited, the tip of the tail moves.
Like the tiger, the leopard has an irresistible hatred of jackals, wolves, dogs and a passion for their meat.
A large hungry leopard can eat medium-sized prey in two days, but a well-fed one can eat it for almost a week. What is not eaten is hidden in reserve. In Africa and South Asia, this animal, fearing jackals, hyenas and other lovers of preying on strangers, usually drags its prey onto a rock or into the fork of a large tree and settles down here itself.
But here’s another mystery: the leopard finishes eating its big catch on the fourth or fifth day, when it is already smelly. He does not disdain carrion, and if another predator tastes the prey during his absence, the leopard no longer touches it. Pride? Disgust? Unknown.
Leopard - a thunderstorm of monkeys. Monkeys, chimpanzees, and all monkey relatives are terrified not only of a living predator, but even of its frayed cords. What can you do: they don’t always manage to escape from his rapid throws, even in the trees. When the super cat walks through the forest, the monkeys, climbing to the tops of the trees, raise an unimaginable hubbub. Baboons - large, brave and strong monkeys - are constantly wary of the leopard: the herd maintains a perimeter defense during the transition, and during feeding and resting it is vigilantly guarded by guards.
Our distant ancestors also often died in the claws of a leopard. Maybe that’s why this beast is not afraid of people even now. Do not believe the reports often found in the scientific literature about the cowardice of the leopard. Cowardice and prudent caution are not the same thing and should not be confused. The leopard is insanely brave and at the same time careful. Pursuing prey, he sometimes comes close to settlements, however, from meeting with modern man began to evade, without showing haste and nervousness. There have been attacks by leopards on people, but almost all of them were caused by persecution i.e. attacks on humans were provoked by the person himself: like the tiger, the leopard does not tolerate this, he is too proud and independent.
About procreation
Leopards live alone, in pairs and in families. In January, during the rut, they usually stay in pairs, but sometimes the gentlemen gather in “weddings”, roar desperately loudly and fight fiercely over the female, although not to death: they are too reasonable for this and, with all their independence and pride, do not vain.
Unlike lions and tigers, male leopards are exemplary spouses. Although they do not directly participate in raising their offspring, they live not far from the brood and occasionally visit it.
For a year and a half, the mother carefully and jealously raises and educates the cubs, and then the time comes for them to earn their daily bread, and the families fall apart.
Female leopards can give birth to up to three babies in a litter at any time of the year, as long as there is enough food. Males do not take part in raising the young, which remain in the care of the mother until they reach the age of 20 months. At 30 months, young animals reach sexual maturity.
At 2 - 3 years old, young leopards start their own families. At 6-8 years old, a leopard is in its prime, and at 12-15 years of age, old age sets in. The record for life expectancy in zoos is 24 years. In the wild, of course, super cats don’t live to that age.
Leopards belong to the cat family, a subspecies of big cats from the panther genus. This is one of the most common felines after the domestic cat. Although some of the subspecies have been practically destroyed and are listed in the International Red Book, there are quite thriving subspecies, for example, African leopard.
Description of the leopard
The leopard is a fairly large cat weighing from 30 to 75 kg. There are also larger individuals weighing up to 90 kg. Body length 90-180 cm without tail. Tail from 75 to 110 cm. Height at shoulders 80-90 cm.
The structure of the skull is massive, elongated, slightly low. The zygomatic arches are not widely spaced, the nasal bones taper at the back. The mouth, like most cats, has 30 teeth. Each jaw has 2 canines and 6 incisors. Leopards have enough long tongue and like all cats, it is equipped with special tubercles that help separate meat from bones and wash itself.
The leopard's body is elongated and flexible. The paws are strong and slender, with curved and very sharp claws, up to 55 mm long. The fur is thick, but not fluffy, and close-fitting. During the winter, animals living in colder climates have longer, duller coats. 
Color may vary depending on. Leopards living in the northern regions of their range have bright red, yellow-gray or light yellow fur. The fur of African leopards is red-brown or yellowish.
In addition to the main color tone, the entire body of the leopard is covered with small black or brownish spots. Each leopard has an individual pattern and arrangement of spots. The spots can be either circular or solid. Asian leopards have larger spots, while African leopards have smaller spots. Among leopards there are melanists, which are often called black panthers. Although the skin of a black leopard is not completely black, spots always appear on it, as if a pattern. Most melanistic leopards live on the island of Java and the Malay Peninsula, but are also found to a lesser extent in India and Africa. Black individuals are often born in the same litter with spotted-colored cubs.
Lifestyle of leopards
Leopards lead a solitary lifestyle. Their typical day: sleep, hunting and leisurely walks around their property. mainly at night. Females who have kittens can go hunting at any time of the day.
Thanks to its soft pads, the leopard is able to sneak up on its prey so quietly that not a single leaf rustles, not a single branch crunches. As a rule, it hunts medium-sized animals, which it overtakes with a powerful jump (up to 5-6 m). 
Leopards adapt well to living in any terrain, be it mountains, tropical forests, plains, savannas or semi-deserts. The territory of one leopard can range from 10 to 400 km². Females and males may have the same territorial areas, but if a representative of the same sex enters the territory, a fierce fight inevitably breaks out between the rivals, sometimes with a fatal outcome.
Leopard breeding
Leopards do not have a specific breeding season; mating can occur at any time of the year. The female's pregnancy lasts from 93 to 103 days, then babies are born. Leopard cubs are born blind and only after 8-10 days do they open their eyes. Most often, 1-2 babies are born in one litter, less often 3. Of the entire litter, only one kitten often survives. 
The cubs spend the first three months in the den, and then leave it with their mother. From time to time, the mother changes the shelter of her kittens so that they are not discovered by predators. Leaving them in the next shelter, the mother goes hunting. Only after six months can kittens follow their mother everywhere. The mother raises her offspring for about two years. Young leopards at this age leave their nurse and become independent.
Young animals reach sexual maturity at approximately 2.5 years.
Population status and protection of leopards
Five subspecies of leopards are critically endangered. The main reason for the decline in the leopard population is changes in the natural habitat, reduction in food resources, and poaching.
The number of Far Eastern leopards as of 2007 was about 34 individuals. By the beginning of 2015, there were already approximately 57 of them.
Also, some of the subspecies are listed in the IUCN Red Book and the Red Book of Russia.
Tigers and jaguars belong to a kind of “elite” of the cat family - the genus of panthers. These small, but graceful and strong cats are easily recognized by their beautiful spotted skin, but it cannot be called the main distinguishing feature. It turns out that a black panther is still the same leopard, but with slight mutations in color. In addition, cheetahs can also boast of a spotted coat. Leopards also have the habit of dragging their prey into trees and do this with extraordinary ease.
Among leopards, there are 9 subspecies, which differ from each other in the color of the main background and the location of the spots.
The habitat of leopards is so vast that its area is second only to that of the domestic cat. Previously, these animals could be found on a vast territory, including almost the entire African continent, except for the Sahara Desert (African leopard), Western Asia and Transcaucasia (Persian and Arabian leopards), India (Indochinese and Indian leopards), China (Northern Chinese and Far Eastern leopards) , Indonesia, Pakistan (Indian leopard), Java islands (Javanese leopard), Zanzibar and Sri Lanka (Ceylon leopard). Now these numerous areas have decreased by almost 2 times.
Leopard habitat Depending on the species and continent, these cats prefer different environment habitat. Thus, the African leopard is found both in wild jungles and in semi-deserts and savannas. It avoids dry areas. The Asian and Far Eastern subspecies prefer various forests in the mountains and plains.
Leopards are smaller in size than lions and tigers. The body length without a tail ranges from 90 to 190 cm, with a tail - all 150 - 300 cm. The height of males at the withers reaches 50-78 cm. The weight of males does not exceed 75 kg.
These large cats have a more elongated and slender body, making their gait seem light and even a little airy. Females are distinguished from males only by their smaller body size and skull structure.
Leopards have become famous throughout the world for their spotted color. Thus, against a general light yellow or red background, hundreds of dark spots of various shapes and sizes are scattered throughout almost the entire body. The arrangement of spots can be continuous or in the form of ring shapes. The basic background of each subspecies is slightly different. This coloring serves as an excellent camouflage for the predator during the hunt.
The thick coat may vary slightly depending on the time of year. In the Far Eastern leopard in winter it becomes slightly longer - up to 5 cm and paler, and in summer it becomes shorter, about 2-2.5 cm and brighter. The largest number of spots are located on the back and sides. Each cat's pattern is individual. It's like a person's fingerprints.
Probably, each of us has heard about black panthers, but not everyone knows that a black panther is a melanistic leopard (dark-colored individual). Color changes are the result of mutations. But even in black panthers, if you look closely, you can see darker spots in places. This natural mutation is more common in individuals living in forested areas of Southeast Asia.
Black leopard or black panther 
Black kittens can be born not only to black leopards, but even to ordinary spotted leopards.
They are most active at night. It is during this period that these graceful predators go hunting. Leopards feed on various medium-sized ungulates: deer, antelope, roe deer and other animals. During the “lean period” they will not disdain rodents and carrion. They often attack livestock (most often while grazing on pastures), but they prefer not to get too close to human settlements.
With booty 
These cats are solitary by nature, but can also live in pairs. They climb trees with incredible ease and often rest there for the day or for ambush. But for the most part they prefer to hunt on the ground. To do this, they use one of two main techniques: quietly sneaking up or attacking from an ambush.
Day rest 
To ensure that their prey remains safe and sound, leopards prefer to drag it into trees. This procedure is carried out with incredible ease, as if they were lifting not 50-60 kg, but a bag filled with straw.
With prey on the tree 
The mating season in different habitat areas begins at different times, for example, in the southern regions it lasts almost all year round, and in the northern regions it begins in late autumn or early winter. At this time, males become quite aggressive and often start “wedding” fights over females, but without fatal outcomes.
Pregnancy lasts only 3 months. Before giving birth, the female goes in search of a suitable den for her future kittens. 1-2 cubs are born, which are raised exclusively by the mother. The male is not allowed near the kittens. He lives near the brood, but visits it infrequently. The cubs grow very quickly and become sexually mature after 2-2.5 years. They begin to have their own families at the age of 2-3 years.
Female with cubs 
IN wildlife The lifespan of leopards is approximately 12-15 years, but in captivity it is 24.
Like all big cats, leopards can pose a deadly danger to humans. It's extremely rare, but it happens. The reasons for an attack on a person can be different:
1) injury to an animal during a hunt;
2) wounds from porcupine quills (the injection sites begin to fester and terribly hurt, as a result of which the animal loses its former mobility and cannot keep up with its fast prey);
3) old age (old individuals also no longer have the same strength as before).
Leopard sleeps in a tree crack The most famous man-eating leopard was the leopard from Rudraprayag (Northern India). The events took place in the 1920s. He killed 125 people. For eight years he kept the area at bay. At first, the leopard lay in wait for night walkers on forest roads, and then began to break into homes. In 1925 he was shot and killed.
Rudraprayag man-eating leopard Now the number of these beautiful animals is decreasing every year. As a result, 5 subspecies were included in the IUCN Red List, and amur leopard was also listed in the Red Book of Russia. In Russia, since the 16th century, leopards living in the Caucasus region have also been called leopards.
The leopard is a large and serious predator of the cat family; female animals weigh about 50 kg, males weigh 70 kg or more.
The graceful beauty of a wild cat is very deceptive. An elegant predator, stretched out in bliss on the grass, in a split second turns into a merciless and fast hunter who quickly attacks his prey. The word leopard is translated from Greek as leon (lion) and pardus (panther). The habitat of representatives of the cat family is tropics and subtropics; they are widespread in Asia and Africa.
The color of the leopard is very bright and beautiful: the golden skin is decorated with an intricate pattern in the form of black rings and spots. In addition to the traditional spotted color, the skin of a leopard can be black; such animals are called black leopards or panthers. In bright sunlight, you can see that a spotted pattern is visible under the anthracite-colored skin. When crossing two colors in captivity, kittens are born, of which half the litter is black, half is golden. The color of the coat and its density depend on the habitat of the animal: savanna inhabitants have a sandy color, desert inhabitants wear more light fur. If felines live in an area with harsh climatic conditions, then their fur is thick and dense; in more comfortable conditions, the undercoat of animals is thin.
Female leopards weigh about 50 kg, males weigh 70 kg or more.
The light and flexible figure of the leopard has a pronounced rounded head, a long tail and slender, lean paws. The animal's tail has a length equal to half the length of the wild cat's body. It is not only a decoration, but also an indicator of the predator’s mood. The cat does not change its royal posture either during rest or at the moment when it is preparing to attack. The leopard is well armed - it has sharp claws in its arsenal, which at rest are retracted into a special sheath, the blow of the beast’s claws is dagger-shaped, it pierces the victim with claws similar to sharp, sharpened blades. The powerful teeth of a predator easily hold prey that is larger than it own weight and, when moving across the terrain with prey in its teeth, it reaches speeds of up to 16-18 meters per second.
The leopard's tree-climbing skills exceed those of any world champion in acrobatic disciplines: the height of its jump is four or more meters, and it can jump up to eight to nine meters in length.
The predator can climb up any trees, including those with an absolutely smooth trunk. Leopards often descend from tree trunks head down. Each adult has its own hunting grounds, which are marked using claws and urine. The animal stops the invasion of an opponent with a warning roar.
Leopard, lion, tiger and jaguar are the four most prominent representatives of the panther genus. But snow leopard and the clouded leopard, although externally similar to a leopard, have nothing to do with this genus. Biologists call the leopard a supercat; it feels equally confident both on the ground and much higher, easily moving in the branches of trees.
In the leopard family there are hybrids: leopon and berry pard.
- Leopon is a hybrid obtained by crossing a male leopard with a female lion. Leopon was first officially registered in India at the beginning of the 20th century. Over time, they began to be bred in captivity. Leopard hybrids are not capable of bearing offspring. Externally, the leopon looks peculiar: its head looks like a lion’s, the rest of the body looks like a leopard. Male hybrids can grow a mane similar to a lion's mane, more than 20 centimeters long. The color of the animal contains black and brown spots, and there is a tassel on the tail.
- Berry pards are the result of crossing a leopard and a jaguar.
How much does a leopard's "dinner" weigh?
The average weight of a leopard's prey is 25 - 50 kg. But this does not mean that the predator is ready to be content with small prey. The animal is able to cope with a zebra, deer or horse. But, if a cat is hungry, it does not disdain frogs, mice and fish. The leopard is a threat to all types of monkeys; they avoid meeting with it, and even the sight of the animal’s skin brings panic to the monkeys. An intelligent and cautious predator, even if there is an abundance of food, enters livestock farms, where livestock becomes its prey. This behavior of the leopard can only be explained by self-confidence: while avoiding meeting a person, it still goes after “easy” prey, hoping for its speed and power.
The leopard's perfect hunting skills allow it to camouflage perfectly, remaining unnoticed on a thick fork of a tree when the skin merges with the color of the bark, or sneak through the grass 30-40 cm high, hugging tightly to the ground. Only the tail can give an animal away: when the animal is excited, its tail hangs down and the tip twitches slightly. The leopard hides the captured trophy in a place inaccessible to jackals and wolves: on rocks or in the forks of trees. The advantage of climbing trees allows the predator to store a certain supply of food. He can eat up the remains of the “second freshness” lunch on the fourth or fifth day, but if another predator has touched his reserves, the cat will not touch the prey even if it is hungry.
How long does a leopard live?
The record lifespan of a leopard in captivity is 24 years. Under natural conditions, the life of an animal is much shorter. Predators live both in families and alone. In winter, when the rut (mating period) begins, they stay in pairs, but sometimes rivalry begins over the female. A showdown rarely ends with the death of males: for all their aggressiveness, leopards are quite reasonable and not vain.
Male leopards are exemplary spouses; they do not take direct part in raising their offspring, but they live close to the children and sometimes visit them. At this time, the mother takes care of the babies and zealously raises them; at the age of one and a half years, the cubs begin an independent life and the leopard family breaks up.
Up to three kittens are born in a family, they grow up under the care of their mother and at the age of 30 months they reach sexual maturity, leaving the parental nest. Predators start their own family at the age of 2-3 years; the age of 6-8 years is the peak of the animal’s physical activity; by the age of 12-15 years, leopards reach old age.
Leopards can roar, but are a little quieter than lions. In addition, they can purr like domestic cats. Leopards have acute hearing; they hear five times better than humans. Leopards have one peculiarity: they do not need to drink a lot of water, they only need the moisture that enters the body with food.
Poaching of leopards is carried out for the purpose of obtaining decorative skins and whiskers and bones, which are used in the manufacture of medicines. Although the population of predators is quite large - about 500 thousand individuals, 10 times more than the number of lions, tigers and cheetahs combined, they belong to the category of protected animals, close to critical. The weight of leopards hunted by humans was: males - from 36 to 38 kilograms, females - from 28 to 45 kilograms. Hunting these beautiful and dangerous animals is not prohibited in a number of their habitats. But environmentalists are already sounding the alarm and insisting on limiting and completely banning the shooting of representatives of the cat family. Endangered subspecies include: South Arabian, Far Eastern, Ceylon, Javan and Central Asian leopards.
The leopard is a colorful, graceful, incredibly majestic and cunning feline.
This cat is fast and very cautious, with a strong, muscular and strong body. Her vision is excellent. The leopard sees perfectly at any time of the day. The animal's claws and teeth are amazingly sharp.
Modern leopards appeared in Africa approximately 470,000–825,000 years ago (various paleontological dates based on fossil remains are used). The predecessor of the modern leopard most likely disappeared during mass extinctions everywhere except Africa. Then the modern leopard spread from the African continent
Asian leopards appear to be much younger and evolved 170,000–300,000 years ago as a result of migration from Africa to Central Asia, then further east and south, the modern territories of India, the island of Sri Lanka and into Southeast Asia and further north, the territories of northern China, Korea and the Russian Far East.
Leopard habitat
Leopard is one of the representatives of large cats. The body of the animal is elongated, flexible, slender and strong. The body length varies from 91 to 180-190 cm. The height at the shoulders is 45-80 cm. A leopard weighs from 15 to 75 kg (depending on the subspecies and sex of the animal), extremely rarely reaching 100 kg or more. Males are 1.5-2 times larger than females.
Head The leopard is round, relatively small, with a noticeably convex forehead, sloping crown and moderately blunt muzzle. The ears are short, triangular, rounded, without tufts. A leopard's eyes are small and the pupils are round. The animal has well-developed vision and hearing, but the sense of smell is weak. The predator's fangs are relatively thin at the base, but high and sharp. The tail is long - 75-110 cm and makes up at least 2/3 of the body.
Legs Leopards are slender, relatively short and very strong. There are soft pads on the paws. The leopard's claws are hidden. He releases them only when it is time to grab prey or when he needs to climb a tree.
Wool The leopard is rough, not long - about 25-30 mm on the back, shorter on the tail. The fur of leopards living in tropical countries is brightly colored, but not fluffy. In winter, Far Eastern leopards are fluffy and denser. The body, legs, head and tail of the animal are covered with clearly defined spots. They can be solid or in the form of rings. The spots are larger on the animal’s belly and paws, and smaller on the head. On the back they are collected into rosettes. The largest leopard spots do not exceed 5 cm in length. In some cases, in the rear region of the back or on the sides they merge into stripes, and on the tail they form transverse rings.
The spotted pattern stands out against the yellowish or reddish color of the leopard's coat, the shades of which depend on the mammal's habitat: from yellow-brown to light yellow.
The pattern of spots is unique to each individual animal and can thus be used to identify individuals, similar to fingerprints in humans. This feature is sometimes used by researchers to identify individual individuals in the wild that are being monitored.
Thanks to their coloring, leopards are well camouflaged, clinging to the ground or hiding in the branches of trees. It is difficult to see them in grass no more than 50 cm high, even if you are several tens of meters away from them.
Young individuals are somewhat lighter than older ones. Their general tone is grayish-yellow or off-white. Summer leopard fur is rarer, shorter and lighter than winter fur. By the way, leopards are characterized by different lengths of yellowish and black hair. The black hairs that make up the spots are longer and thinner than the yellow ones. The degree of spotting and the shape of the spots may vary. Black color may acquire a brownish tint.
To communicate with other individuals, leopards use visual communication, namely: white spots that are located on the ears and at the tip of the tail. For example, by exposing these spots, females convey a message to their cubs while hunting or while in tall grass.
Black leopards
Found in Southeast Asia melanistic leopards, which are called (from the Greek pánther). Skin black panther not completely black, there are always visible spots on it to a greater or lesser extent. Dark fur perfectly camouflages them in dense forest thickets. They are especially common in Java. The recessive gene responsible for melanism is much more common in leopard populations living in forested and mountainous areas, as well as in leopards from tropical Asia. On the Malay Peninsula, almost half of all leopards are black; in other places the prevalence of melanism is much lower.
Black leopard
Black individuals can be born in the same litter with normally colored cubs. Typically, panthers are more aggressive than other leopards.
Lifestyle of leopards
Leopards lead a solitary lifestyle. Their typical day: sleep, hunting and leisurely walks around their property. Leopards hunt mainly at night. Females who have kittens can go hunting at any time of the day.
Thanks to its soft pads, the leopard is able to sneak up on its prey so quietly that not a single leaf rustles, not a single branch crunches. As a rule, it hunts medium-sized animals, which it overtakes with a powerful jump (up to 5-6 m).
Leopards adapt well to living in any terrain, be it mountains, tropical forests, plains, savannas or semi-deserts. The territory of one leopard can range from 10 to 400 km². Females and males may have the same territorial areas, but if a representative of the same sex enters the territory, a fierce fight inevitably breaks out between the rivals, sometimes with a fatal outcome.
When communicating with their relatives, leopards make various sounds. This can be a growl or roar, snorting, rumbling, purring.
The leopard's voice is so loud that it can be heard in the mountains several kilometers away. The growl of a leopard resembles the sound of a saw cutting into a tree. This is how the mother calls her cubs to her, and females call males during estrus. When establishing contact with other individuals and marking the boundaries of its territory, the leopard emits a creaking growl. The frequent cry of males during the rut is similar to a sharp cough that turns into sighs. But, in general, the leopard rarely makes sounds and is silent, even when caught in a trap.
Leopard breeding
Leopards do not have a specific breeding season; mating can occur at any time of the year. The female's pregnancy lasts from 93 to 103 days, then babies are born. Leopard cubs are born blind and only after 8-10 days do they open their eyes. Most often, 1-2 babies are born in one litter, less often 3. Of the entire litter, only one kitten often survives.
The cubs spend the first three months in the den, and then leave it with their mother. From time to time, the mother changes the shelter of her kittens so that they are not discovered by predators. Leaving them in the next shelter, the mother goes hunting.
Only after six months can kittens follow their mother everywhere. The mother raises her offspring for about two years. Young leopards at this age leave their nurse and become independent.
Young animals reach sexual maturity at approximately 2.5 years.
Life activity and habitat
Most leopards live in Africa, and hunting them is even allowed there. But in China, India and Russia, the leopard population is very small, some species are even listed in the Red Book.
Nature has endowed the leopard with acute vision, so it hunts at night. Its diet consists of ungulates, rodents, monkeys, hares, and sometimes the leopard can snack on a snake or frog. The leopard loves to feast on fish, which he catches with his paw, like a bear. A leopard can jump up to 10 meters in length.
The leopard has practically no enemies; it can fight with a tiger or lion, emerging victorious in this fight thanks to its agility and speed. The leopard is a solitary animal that marks its boundaries and fiercely defends them. He leaves his prey in the trees so that other predators do not get to it.
The leopard is nature's best hunter and helps control the monkey population by hunting old or sick individuals. But every year these hunters become fewer and fewer. This is due to the invasion of people into their habitat. Some species of leopards have already become extinct or are listed in the Red Book.
Territorial and social behavior
The leopard is a solitary animal, leading a predominantly nocturnal lifestyle. These animals can easily adapt to any living conditions. They can live in forests and mountains, as well as in deserts. The areas of their individual habitat can vary from 8 to more than 400 km2 - it all depends on the terrain and the availability of food for the animal. The modest size of the leopard does not prevent it from successfully hunting large prey - their victims can sometimes weigh up to 900 kilograms.
Leopards have unique tree climbing skills. They can climb them for recreation or to hunt monkeys. But more often, nevertheless, leopards engage in ground hunting. As a rule, the predator very quietly and carefully approaches its prey at a distance of one jump, and then pounces on its prey and strangles it. If the jump is unsuccessful, the animal does not pursue the victim. Sometimes a leopard can deliberately noisily approach its prey and then hide. In this case, the hunting victim was confused, not understanding from which side to expect an attack. Often, the leopard lifts the remains of its victims high into a tree in order to protect them from jackals and hyenas.
Leopard food
The leopard's diet usually consists of ungulates - antelopes and deer, as well as roe deer. Sometimes the predator can feed on rodents and monkeys, as well as birds and snakes. May also attack sheep and horses. Domestic dogs, as well as wild foxes and wolves, often suffer from leopards. A leopard, due to lack of food, can steal prey from other leopards. As for people, leopards rarely attack them - to do this you need to disturb the animal. However, a leopard always attacks if it is wounded - in this case the consequences can be the most dire.
As a rule, leopards do not hunt collectively, preferring to hunt alone. The predator sneaks up on the prey or waits for it somewhere in ambush.
Leopard subspecies
The leopard is one of the most common wild cats on the planet. It was previously believed that the leopard species contains 27 subspecies. This was based on the difference in colors and spots. But recent studies of their DNA have proven that there are much fewer of them:
- African leopard (Africa)
- Barbary leopard
- Indochinese leopard (Indochina)
- Javan leopard (Java)
- Indian leopard (India, South-East Pakistan, Nepal)
- Ceylon leopard (Ceylon)
- North China leopard (China)
- Far Eastern leopard (Russian Far East, Northern China, Korea)
- Persian leopard (Foreign Asia, Caucasus)
- Sinai leopard
- Central Asian leopard
- Anatolian leopard (combined with the Persian leopard, since the last mention of it was in 1974)
- South Arabian leopard (Arabian Peninsula)
- European
At the same time, only one subspecies is in relatively no danger so far - the African one. All the rest are more or less at risk, and some are already on the verge of extinction.
Leopard hybrids
Among leopards there are hybrids - such as leopon. Leopon is a hybrid resulting from crossing a male leopard with a female lion. The existence of the leopon was first officially confirmed in Kolhapur in India at the beginning of the 20th century. Later they began to be deliberately bred in zoos in Germany, Japan and Italy.
Leopard hybrids cannot bear offspring. Appearance Leopona is also quite interesting. Its head is shaped more like a lion's. All other parts of the hybrid's body are more similar to the body of a leopard. The size of the hybrids is usually somewhere between a lion and a leopard. Male hybrids sometimes have a mane similar to a lion's, which can reach 20 cm in length. The color of leopons is distinguished by brown or black spots, and their tail is decorated with a lion's tassel at the end.
Another leopard hybrid is berry parrot- it appeared after crossing a male jaguar and a female leopard.
Leopard conservation
Leopard populations are inexorably declining. The reasons for the extinction of the species are the destruction of the natural habitat of predators, as well as the disappearance of food for animals. There are statistics that indicate that at the time of 2007 there were only 25 to 34 Far Eastern leopards.
Just a few years ago main problem The disappearance of leopards was their shooting in order to take possession of a valuable skin. However, now the reasons for catching them have changed somewhat. With the development of oriental medicine, poachers are shooting leopards with the aim of using them for medical needs. Five species of leopards are included in the Red Book, including the Far Eastern leopard. They are also included in the Red Book of Russia.
Leopard hunting
The leopard, or leopard, has always been a very significant trophy for hunters. They hunted predators exclusively within their habitat areas. Among hunters, there is the concept of the “Big Five,” which includes such dangerous animals as the elephant, rhinoceros, lion, African buffalo and African leopard. Any of these animals is valuable prey and a luxurious trophy for the hunter.
If we talk about hunting for leopards in the period from the 19th to the 20th, we can conclude that in the countries of Africa and Asia this type of hunting was completely random and uncontrolled. It was this factor that became decisive in the issue of the disappearance of such a rare predator in most of its habitats.
In many areas of Asia, even today there are poachers hunting leopards, although this type of hunting is legally prohibited throughout the country.
Unfortunately, the demand for beautiful and valuable leopard skins is still high on the black market, and animal organs are actively used in recipes traditional medicine. Some countries on the African continent allocate a certain quota for the shooting of leopards - this is due to their high numbers in the territory of some countries. It will be interesting to know that the cost of a leopard can range from 4,000 to 12,000 dollars.
The standard scheme for hunting a leopard is the use of bait in the form of the carcass of an animal of interest to the predator (this could be a monkey or a roe deer). It is necessary to use fresh carcasses, because the leopard, like all other representatives of its family, will not come to the smell of carrion.
Usually hunters find a lonely growing tree that is often visited by leopards. The bait carcass is tied to the lower branch of a tree so that it is clearly visible against the sky. The leopard follows the scent of its prey already at dusk, accompanying its arrival with a roar. Such a roar is similar to a cough or the sound of a saw - the hunter will not confuse it with anything. Then the hunter has to act very quickly - the shot is fired at close range. When a leopard is wounded, it is most aggressive and dangerous to a person, trying to attack him instead of running away. Often the leopard only pretends to be killed - as soon as the hunter comes closer, he rushes at him.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the fashion for leopard skins reached its apogee, making this animal its victim. Most of the stars of that time loved to flaunt in a leopard skin coat, and were also photographed for magazine covers in this form. All this led to a significant reduction in the number of leopards on earth. Over the six years of the 60s, the European fur market was replenished with more than 250,000 leopard skins.
- Leopard and panther are the names of the same animal.
- Leopards are very strong. They can lift a victim heavier than themselves into the crown of a tree.
- Panthers climb down from tree trunks upside down.
- Black panthers also have spots on their fur, but they are difficult to see.
- The favorite food of young leopards is baboons.
- Each individual has a unique mottled pattern by which they can be identified.
