How many years do leopards live? Leopards

A leopard (leopard) is an animal that belongs to the class mammals, order carnivores, family felines, subfamily big cats, genus panther.

International scientific name: Panthera pardus(Linnaeus, 1758).

The Greek word πάνθηρ, from which the word “panther”, another name for the leopard, comes, consists of two stems: πάν (everything, everywhere) and θήρα (beast, predator), that is, literally “full-fledged predator”. Although there is an opinion that the word “panther” comes from the Sanskrit pundarikam - “tiger”, “yellowish beast”. Prefix leo from Greek Λέων indicates a relationship with. In Rus', the leopard was known as the leopard, pard and pardus, although the last two names also applied to another animal - the cheetah. The word leopard, which is also called this type mammal, is of Turkic origin.

A leopard can also attack a person. But man-eating leopards are much less common than those that attack people and lions. Only an old or sick animal can do this. A healthy and young animal attacks a person only if it is wounded.

A leopard eats up to 20 kg of meat per day. Having killed large prey, it feeds on it for another 4-5 days. Only after this does the leopard go on its next hunt.

Leopards drink a lot, especially after eating. In this regard, they always settle in places where there is constant water. Cats usually go to water at night.

In addition to animal meat, leopards eat grass to clear their gastrointestinal tract of hair that they ingest while grooming their fur.

How do leopards hunt?

Leopards are night hunters. But sometimes they can hunt during the day, especially in cloudy weather. Leopards go for prey in the pre-sunset hours and hunt in the first half of the night. If the hunt was unsuccessful, they continue it in the early morning.

These predators are capable of attacking a wide variety of animals, acting cunningly and swiftly. They lie in wait for their victims mainly on the ground, but at the same time, they are excellent at climbing trees, overtaking prey there too. The gait of these felines is silent. They try to watch for their prey on animal trails or at a watering hole, on a salt lick or even on a tree branch. Leopards quietly and deftly sneak up on the object of the hunt, approaching it within 2 meters, and make the decisive throw. The leopard does not like to chase its prey: it most often runs no more than 40-50 meters after an animal attacked from an ambush. Leopards kill small animals with a bite to the neck. Jumping onto the back of a large animal, they knock it down, fall with the full weight of their body, wrap their paws around the victim’s neck and bite its throat or back of the head.

Leopards usually hunt alone. The female can go hunting with adult children while the family has not yet broken up. As a rule, leopards kill one animal without touching or scaring the rest. If the leopard does not eat the killed victim immediately, then it can drag the remains of the meal up a tree to protect it from other carrion eaters. But usually they carry the remains several hundred meters away and hide them in thickets of plants. These predators do not compete with other big cats for food, as they feed not only on large ungulates.

Leopard breeding

In the southern regions of their habitat, leopards breed all year round. In the Far East they mate in January. During the mating season, male leopards are aggressive, often fight, and roar loudly. Leopards make dens for their offspring in the most remote and secluded places. These can be various depressions: under trees, under stones, in rocks. Before the babies appear, the female lines the bottom of the den with dry leaves and grass.

A leopard's pregnancy lasts 3 months. Childbirth occurs at night and lasts 6-10 hours. Usually there are 1-4 babies in a litter weighing 500-700 g and a body length of up to 15 cm, but up to 6 newborn kittens are possible. Leopard cubs are born blind and helpless, covered with long, thick brownish fur with dark spots. They begin to see clearly in 1.5 weeks, and get to their feet only after 2 weeks, crawling around the den. Leopard kittens meow like their domestic relatives. If a female leopard senses danger, she hides the kittens in another place, carrying them in her teeth one at a time. The female keeps the babies in a shelter until 6-8 weeks, and then they begin to leave the den to play. The female feeds them meat food: first by regurgitating half-digested food, and then bringing them killed small animals and birds. At 5-6 months, after the mother stops feeding her cubs milk, she begins to lead them to killed prey.

The brood follows the mother more than a year, learning hunting and survival techniques before she goes into heat. Young leopards from the same litter stay together for some time. They become sexually mature after 2 years, with females slightly earlier than males. During this period, young animals disperse and settle in other places.

Subspecies of leopards, photos and names

A leopard is a species of animal from the panther genus. There are several subspecies of this type:

Panthera pardus delacuri (Pocock, 1930) – Indochinese leopard,
Panthera pardus fusca (Meyer, 1794) – Indian leopard,
Panthera pardus japonensis (J. E. Gray, 1862) – North China leopard,
Panthera pardus kotiya (Deraniyagala, 1956) – Ceylon leopard,
Panthera pardus melas (G. Cuvier, 1809) – Javan leopard,
Panthera pardus nimr (Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1833) – South Arabian leopard,
Panthera pardus orientalis (Schlegel, 1857) – Far Eastern leopard, Amur leopard, East Siberian leopard,
Panthera pardus pardus (Linnaeus, 1758) – African leopard,
Panthera pardus saxicolor (Pocock, 1927) – Persian leopard. Currently, the Central Asian leopard (Caucasian leopard) (lat. Panthera pardus tulliana, Panthera pardus ciscaucasica) is also combined with Persian.

Below is brief description each subspecies.

Indochinese leopard (lat.Panthera pardus delacouri) - a subspecies that is often black. The predator lives in Southeast Asia(Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand). According to data from 2016 (Rostro-García et al., 2016), it is no longer found in Singapore, may have been extirpated from Laos and Vietnam, and has almost disappeared from Cambodia and southern China.

The population, not exceeding 2503 individuals, is constantly under threat of destruction. Due to deforestation, the area that is the usual habitat of this species is shrinking. Poaching and illegal wildlife trade are also negatively impacting Indochinese leopard numbers.

Indian leopard (lat.Panthera pardus fusca).

The body length of males reaches 128-142 cm, the tail length is 71-92 cm, the maximum weight of the leopard does not exceed 77 kg. The length of females is 104-117 cm, the length of the tail is 76-88 cm, females weigh 29-34 kg.

The Indian leopard lives in Northern India and adjacent countries: Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, southern China. Indian leopards have long been famous as cannibals. Perhaps in earlier times, this was due to the fact that they ate the unburied corpses of people who died during periods of epidemics, and then, having tasted human flesh, continued their attacks.

North China leopard (lat.Panthera pardus japonensis) has the same dimensions as the Amur leopard: body length up to 136 cm, tail up to 90, weight up to 75 kg. The average weight of males is 50 kg, females - 32 kg.

North China leopards are found in the forests and mountains of central and northeastern China. According to data from 2015 (Laguardia et al., 2015), the number of predators is 174-348 individuals. For comparison: in 1998 their number reached about 1000 individuals.

Males reach a length of 142 cm, females 114 cm. The length of the tail of a male is up to 96.5 cm, of a female – up to 84 cm. The maximum weight of a male is up to 77 kg, of a female – up to 44 kg.

This species received its name from its only habitat - the island of Ceylon, which is now called Sri Lanka. IN wildlife live from 700 to 950 individuals (data for 2015).

Javan leopard (lat.Panthera pardus melas) - one of the endangered subspecies, lives only on the island of Java in Indonesia. It is dying out due to a reduction in the territory of residence, which is just over 3000 square meters. km and continues to decrease. According to data from 2008 (Ario et al., 2008), there are from 350 to 525 individuals in nature.

Previously, it was believed that the Javan leopard is exclusively black in color, but then it was found that spotted colors are also found among them.

South Arabian leopard (lat.Panthera pardus nimr) is the smallest leopard, reaching a length of no more than 140 cm with a weight of up to 20 kg (for females) and up to 30 kg (for males). The background color can be either pale yellow or bright gold. Patterned rosettes.

The predator was once widespread in the Middle East. Currently, South Arabian leopards live only in small areas in the western part Arabian Peninsula. An endangered subspecies in dire need of protection. According to data from 2008, no more than 45-200 South Arabian leopards live in the wild.

Far Eastern leopard (Amur, East Siberian) (lat.Panthera pardus orientalis) also called Manchurian leopard or Korean leopard. Small subspecies. Body length is 107 - 136 cm, tail length is 82-90 cm, shoulder height is up to 78 cm. The weight of a leopard is on average 32-48 kg, but can reach 75 kg. It differs from other subspecies in its softer and longer fur: 30-50 mm on the back and up to 70 mm on the belly. In winter, the color of the animal is lighter than in summer. The background varies from cream to golden. The sides are lighter, and the belly and inner sides of the limbs are white. In summer, the color of the coat is more saturated. The predator's skull is strongly compressed in the interorbital region.

Currently, Far Eastern leopards live in a small area on the border of three countries - Russia, China and North Korea. A century ago, its habitat occupied the entire Korean Peninsula, Primorye and areas in northern China. As of 2014, no more than 50-60 individuals remained in the wild. This is the rarest living leopard. Active efforts are currently being made to conserve and restore the population both in captivity and in the wild. In the south of Primorsky Krai, reserves have been created to preserve this rare animal.

African leopard (lat.Panthera pardus pardus) - the most common subspecies. Body length - up to 180 cm, tail - up to 110 cm. The maximum weight of males reaches 91 kg, with an average weight of 60 kg. Females weigh on average between 35 and 40 kg.

The predator occupies vast territories in Africa, found in mountains, savannas, semi-deserts, humid tropical forests. Avoids desert areas where there are no permanent sources of water. Not found in the Sahara and in the desert regions of northern Africa and Namibia.

Persian leopard ( aka Central Asian leopard, Caucasian leopard) (lat.Panthera pardus saxicolor) - a large animal with a body length of up to 183 cm (according to the website www.inaturalist.org up to 259 cm) and a tail length of up to 116 cm. The leopard’s weight reaches 60 kg. The winter fur of the animal is pale, dull, the background is grayish-ochre, the spots are relatively rare, of a brownish tint. Summer fur can be of two types - lighter and darker.

According to 2008 data, there are from 870 to 1290 adult individuals in the world. Persian leopards live in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, eastern Turkey, Turkmenistan (in the Kopet Dag mountains); in Azerbaijan: in Nakhichevan, in the Talysh Mountains, in Karabakh; in Armenia and in the Greater Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. The habitat of leopards is the base of cliffs and scatterings of stones, sometimes plains overgrown with bushes.

Individuals that were previously widespread in the North Caucasus were completely exterminated in the middle of the 20th century. But we can hope that predators will return to these places again, since since 2007, Russia has launched a program to restore the population of the Central Asian (Caucasian) leopard. On the territory of Sochi national park The Leopard Recovery Center is operating in the Caucasus, and its first pets have already been released into the wild. The Central Asian leopard is included in the Red Book of Russia as an endangered species.

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, long tail, 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 way of life 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 supercat 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.

WWF UK

The Amur, or Far Eastern, leopard is the rarest endangered subspecies. The Far Eastern leopard lives in mountain forest areas, where it has a clear preference for black fir-cedar-broad-leaved forests in the middle and upper reaches of rivers. Less willingly, it colonizes broad-leaved forests and especially pyrogenic oak forests, the area of which increases as a result of annual fires. Its range, which previously covered Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the south of the Ussuri Territory, has now shrunk to a critically small size. The current range of the Far Eastern leopard covers only a limited mountain forest area with an area of about 10-15 thousand square meters. km at the junction of the three states of Russia, China, and North Korea. The size of individual areas of the Far Eastern leopard is small, approximately 5-8 thousand hectares, and the animals themselves are strictly territorial predators: each adult animal has its own area, which does not overlap with the areas of individuals of the same sex.

The harsh conditions of the region with cold snowy winters and a limited food supply did not previously allow Amur leopard have a more or less significant number, and in recent decades, active human economic activity has been steadily pushing it out of its original habitats and has brought it to a very dangerous brink...

The remaining habitats of this elegant, graceful cat are annually subjected to largely destructive effects forest fires, the breed dies and the food supply is undermined. Poaching has not been stopped not only of the main food items of leopards - roe deer, sika deer, raccoon dog, badger, hare, but also of the leopard itself. And it’s not difficult to get it: almost any pack of dogs can drive not only a young, but also an adult animal up a tree, and when it’s hungry, it will follow any bait and end up in traps. This is what poachers take advantage of.

The only reserve where the Far Eastern leopard breeds is Kedrovaya Pad, but it is so small - about 18 thousand hectares - that it does not play a significant role in the conservation of this wonderful cat - only one male lives here permanently, and breeds, as a rule, no more two females. Almost every year the reserve “releases” from two to four young leopards outside its boundaries, but the surroundings of the reserve are so developed by humans and unsuitable for the animals to live that they are doomed to death from a poacher’s bullet or from starvation.

The last refuge of the leopard in the Ussuri region was a small area of southwestern Primorye with a length of about 200 kilometers from the Razdolnaya River to Posyet Bay. But even here it remains only in a narrow, poorly developed mountainous strip of coniferous-deciduous and deciduous forests along the border with China.

Among all the cats, the leopard is perhaps the most beautiful, the most graceful, very strong and courageous, but at the same time very strong and courageous, but at the same time a very cautious animal. The bright variegated color not only decorates, but also makes it invisible in the play of sunbeams in the forest jungle, in the variegation of tall grass and among the mosaic of fallen leaves. The leopard has a keen eye and keen hearing, and an excellent sense of smell. He is smart and unhurried in a calm state, but is lightning fast in a jump when not hunting, and can climb a tree with prey that exceeds his weight. Compared to a tiger, he is small. The female weighs up to 50, and the male - up to 70 kg.

The life of the Far Eastern leopard, which lives in the north of its range, takes place in extreme conditions, A region with cold and snowy winters, with frosts up to 30 degrees, would seem to be no place for tropical animals... And yet the leopard lives here... But it lives with a density tens of times lower than in the tropics: a different nature , different prey, different behavior. In the summer, when the climate in the leopard’s domain approaches tropical (abundant fog, drizzle, downpours, impassable thickets intertwined with vines, the green fragrance of nature - then its food is more varied and there is no need for warm clothing), the fur barely reaches 2.5 cm. But in the fall, with the onset of cold weather, the leopard dresses in a lush coat with thick and long (from 5 cm on the back to 7 cm on the belly) fur. Young kittens are especially fluffy, which in nature are very similar to snow leopard. Perhaps that is why the locals call the leopard exactly that: “leopard”.

What is known about the Far Eastern leopard? The material on measurements of cats is small - scientists were lucky enough to take measurements of about a dozen spotted panthers. Their upper limits show that the length of males reaches 136 cm, females - 112, tails up to 90 and 73 cm, respectively, weight up to 53 or, possibly, up to 60 kilograms.

And further... The eyes are yellow, the pupil is vertically oval, becoming round in the dark, the claws are dark chocolate with white ends, very mobile and retractable into a special “sheath” so as not to dull them when walking. The fur coat is changed twice a year, in the fall - for a warm winter one and in the spring - for a cool summer one. Polygamous, that is, one male can court several females. Mating games (rut), and therefore the appearance of cubs, can occur at any time of the year (in this the leopard remained faithful to the heritage of tropical origin), but usually the wedding takes place in January. After this, after 92-95 days, the female gives birth to up to four kittens weighing 400-600 grams, blind and measuring only 15-17 cm. But more often there are only two kittens. They begin to see the light on the 7-9th day. The babies begin to leave the den at the age of a little over a month, and at two months they begin to join the game - the mother feeds them with regurgitation of semi-digested meat. Three-month-old kittens acquire the coloration of adults: black spots on their fluffy coat turn into rosettes. At the age of about a year, they part with their mother and become independent, and in the second or third year they start a “family” themselves. In the zoo they live up to 20 years, in the wild - much less. These are the main data published in reference books on the Far Eastern leopard, which present observations made mainly in zoos. For more than 10 years, V. Korkishko and D. Pikunov studied the life of the leopard; they prepared a monograph on the ecology of this cat, which, of course, will reveal many little-known aspects of the animal’s life. In particular, they identified about 20 different animals that serve as food for the leopard, including the not mentioned above boar, musk deer, fox, weasel, squirrel, hedgehog, hazel grouse, pheasant and others.

Most of the animals that the leopard feeds on are objects of commercial and recreational hunting and, naturally, are hunted by poachers. In addition, after the establishment of barrier structures on the border with China in autumn-winter period The influx of roe deer migrating from the Black Mountains, which previously regularly filled empty niches in coastal areas, has almost stopped. Over the past 10 years, the number of roe deer, even in the Kedrovaya Pad nature reserve, has fallen by more than 10 times. If previously passing herds of 20-30 and up to 70 animals were observed, now there are none at all.

It became difficult for the leopard to obtain food, especially in winter, when badgers and raccoon dogs go into holes for a long time, and young ungulates are few in number, and, in addition, they grow up and become more cautious. Other small prey do not have large numbers to be sufficient to feed the leopard. Sika deer are a good prey for panthers, but they live in herds and are distributed sporadically and are therefore accessible only to some leopards. In addition, a certain competition when hunting deer arises between the leopard and the tiger, especially in places with a small number of deer.

And yet, despite the difficulties encountered in obtaining food, the Far Eastern leopard has not recorded any unprovoked attacks on humans. He is not afraid of people, but he is very careful towards them, and sometimes quite curious. Sometimes, like a tiger, he follows on the heels of a person, watches all his actions, undoubtedly hoping to profit from the remains of his hunt, but at the same time remains unnoticed. Very often uses paths and roads made by humans: they are easier to walk on and produce less noise when walking. It almost never attacks livestock, with the exception of deer in deer parks, and rarely specifically hunts dogs.

If in the tropics, in places where leopards are common, you can easily observe them almost point-blank from a car, then the Far Eastern leopard lives so secretly and in inaccessible places that it is very difficult to see it even from a distance. And this is where for more than six months the forest, which has shed its leaves, remains completely transparent and the grass sticks to the ground, where for almost 4 months, at least in shady places, snow lies... In winter, their tracks left in the snow tell in great detail about the life of leopards, but in summer the leopard gets lost in the tall grass and bushes and its life is revealed in separate fragments: footprints left on the dirt of the paths, scratches - marks along the paths, on terraces and ridges, and paw prints on sand spits near the river. It is rare for a leopard to give itself away by roaring.

The leopard can eat frozen meat and animal carcasses. Reindeer herding farms play a special role in the life of leopards. On the one hand, they provide leopards with unlimited and easily accessible prey, on the other hand, farm owners do everything to destroy the predator. Leopards are very conservative. For many years they live in the same areas, using permanent paths, passages and brood lairs. At the same time, they absolutely cannot tolerate the prolonged presence of humans in such places, much less any economic activity(construction of hunting huts, roads, etc.) and always leave them when she appears. The disturbance factor for this hidden beast is very significant. The leopard poses no direct danger to humans. Over the past 50 years, not a single case of an unprovoked leopard attack on a person has been recorded. Having excellent hearing and vision, the leopard is the first to detect people and carefully moves away (even from prey), remaining unnoticed. Only some young leopards, out of curiosity, can follow the scent of a person, but they never show signs of aggression.

Taxonomic position:
Class Mammals - Mammalia, Order Carnivora - Carnivora, Family Felidae, Species - Pantera pardus, Subspecies - Pantera pardus orientalis Schlegel.

States in which the Far Eastern leopard is found:
The size of the entire world population of the Far Eastern leopard is not about 40 individuals, with the majority living in Russia in the Primorsky Territory - 30 individuals, and less than 10 individuals in the Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces in China. IN South Korea The last meeting with a leopard was recorded in 1969.

Central Asian leopard – Panthera pardus tulliana. An extremely rare, endangered subspecies in Russia, possibly an already extinct subspecies. Listed in the IUCN Red List. Body length 90 – 170 cm. Tail up to 100 cm. Body weight – 2 – 80 kg. An excellent tree climber and rock climber, but does not like water. Distributed in the Greater Caucasus and Transcaucasia, those areas that are involved in military operations. The main sources that were used in compiling this story about LEOPARDS:

Young naturalist 1992 - 2
Young naturalist 1980 - 4
Newspaper "Bird Market" 1996
WWF Russia website -

The leopard is one of the most common wild cats on the planet. Today, there are 9 subspecies living in the wild, which is more than other feline species. 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 can be found from South Africa to ours Far East. If in East Africa It is quite easy to meet a leopard, but on the Arabian Peninsula, in Asia and in our Far East this is not very possible.

So, below I present to your attention all representatives of the species.

African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus)

Let's start with the most common one. The ancestor of the leopard came to Africa from Asia, but it arose and developed into the modern leopard on the black continent about 500-800 thousand years ago. Later (about 300,000 years ago) it spread to Asia.

The size and weight of leopards depend on the geographic area of their habitat and vary greatly. Individuals inhabiting forests are usually smaller and lighter, while those living in open areas are, on the contrary, larger than their forest counterparts.

The leopard is an excellent climber in trees, often settling there for a daytime rest or in ambush, and sometimes even catching monkeys in trees. However, the leopard mainly hunts on the ground. It sneaks up on prey within a jumping distance. Jumps on prey and strangles it.

In Africa, it lives both in the humid jungles of the central regions of the continent, as well as in the mountains, savannas and semi-deserts. The leopard avoids large deserts and arid areas without water and is therefore absent from the Sahara and the driest regions of Namibia.

Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca)

This is the second largest subspecies. Today, according to rough estimates, there are about 11,000 individuals.

This is a large cat the size of the African subspecies. It differs from it in a more contrasting fur color, the general background of the fur is darker. The muzzle is wide, the ears are short.

Found in dry deciduous forests, tropical forests, northern coniferous forests. In the mountains they rise to heights of up to 2,500 meters above sea level.

In the 1920s in Northern India, in the Rudraprayag district, a leopard killed 125 people in 8 years.

Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr)

This is an almost extinct subspecies. The last count was carried out more than 10 years ago and showed that there are no more than 200 individuals left in the wild, plus about 50 live in zoos.

It is the smallest subspecies of leopard. The weight of males is up to 30 kg, females - only up to 20 kg. This does not prevent the leopard from being strong predator and hunt medium-sized prey: gazelles, Nubian ibex, for example.

Previously, it was widespread throughout the Middle East. Now the range has been greatly reduced, and in many regions it is on the verge of extinction.

Central Asian leopard (Panthera pardus ciscaucasica)

The largest of the leopards. It is also called “Caucasian” or “Persian”. One of two subspecies living in Russia. However, it was introduced into Russia artificially. Now scientists are trying to restore the population, which disappeared in the middle of the last century. This subspecies mainly lives in Iran, where there are about 800 individuals.

There are light and dark color types of this leopard.

In July 2016, in a specially selected territory of the Caucasian biosphere reserve released three Central Asian leopards, which were raised and trained to live in the wild by specialists from the Reintroduction Center in Sochi. As scientists explained, the animals will become the founders of a new population of a species that was once practically extinct in the Russian Federation.

This is truly meaningful historical event, for the first time in more than half a century, the Central Asian leopard has actually returned to the Caucasus.

Let us remind you that the Sochi Center for Breeding and Rehabilitation of the Central Asian Leopard was opened in 2009 on the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation. To restore the population of animals included in the Red Book, five leopards were brought here from Iran and Portugal. All of them were born in the Sochi Center, built back in 2009. This is where the predators passed special training to independent life.

North China leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis)

From the name it is clear that the habitat of this subspecies is northern China, where about 1000-1200 individuals live.

The leopard's spots are more reminiscent of those of the jaguar, and its fur is one of the longest of all leopard subspecies.

Far Eastern leopard (Panther pardus orientalis)

This the rarest subspecies of leopard. There are about 50-60 individuals left in the wild. The main part lives in Russia in the Land of the Leopard Nature Reserve.

In size, it is average among leopards and is the northernmost subspecies of leopard. Due to this, it has the longest and thickest fur of all subspecies.

The rarest, most elusive and mysterious predator on the planet. Its numbers are so small that the probability of encountering it in the wild can be equated to the chance of encountering Bigfoot or space aliens.

Indochinese leopard (Panther pardus delacouri)

This is a subspecies found in southern China. Last year, scientists calculated their approximate number and found that there were no more than 1,000 individuals left.

Javan leopard (Panther pardus melas)

It lives on the Indonesian island of Java and is on the verge of extinction. Today the population does not exceed 250 adult individuals.

The species is able to thrive in various ecological niches from mountainous areas to tropical forests, which was recorded by scientists in the 1990s. The species is threatened by a reduction in food supply and habitat due to deforestation and agricultural use of new lands, as well as conflicts with local residents. Java is one of the world's most populous islands, home to 59% of Indonesia's population and a population density higher than that of other island nations. 90% of the vegetation on Java has already been destroyed, and primary forests are preserved only in mountainous areas, so there is less and less space for leopards on the island.

Ceylon leopard (Panther pardus kotiya)

Lives only on the island of Sri Lanka. Presumably there are no more than 800 individuals left.

Leopard is the most beautiful and graceful animal in Asia and Africa, a wild big cat of the panther genus. Some subspecies have relatively high numbers, five of them are on the verge of complete extinction. Living space occupies almost the entire African continent (except the Sahara), the Arabian Peninsula, the territory of India, eastern region Tibet, the Himalayas, Asia, the foothills of the Caucasus, Siberia.

The leopard mainly lives in savannas, mixed forests, bushy areas, mountainous regions. The animal is able to adapt to any landscape, except very dry areas. A prerequisite for existence is a stream or river nearby.

Appearance

Outwardly, the leopard looks menacing, although it has a certain grace and charm:

The body is quite large, slender, muscular, squat. Length without tail is from 90 to 190 cm. The smallest individuals have a height at the withers of 45 cm, in large specimens it reaches 78 cm. Tail length is from 60 to 120 cm.
The weight of the predator depends on the region of its habitat and, as a rule, the weight of females does not exceed 65 kg, and males 75 kg.
The skull is massive with powerful jaws.
The fangs are huge, up to ten centimeters.
The ears are small and there are no tufts.
The mane is missing.
The coat is rough and lies close to the body.
The color of the leopard is distinguished by the presence of dark spots (solid, ring-shaped) on a main red or yellow background. All spotted leopards have different spot patterns. Asian subspecies have larger spots, African individuals have small dark markings. The fur background of young leopards is somewhat lighter. On the face, spots are located in the area of the mustache and forehead. The color of the animal is unique and inimitable.

The spotted leopard sometimes becomes the parent of a completely black individual - the well-known black panther.

Lifestyle and nutrition

The animal sleeps in the trees during the day, sometimes forgetting to remove its hanging tail. Hunts at night. Controls an area from 8 to 400 km 2 (depending on the abundance of prey, habitat region and terrain). The range of several females often coincides with the range of one male.

It marks hunting grounds with claws, feces, and urine. He conducts an inspection of the territory regularly, using the factor of surprise, and rarely chooses the same routes. He communicates with his neighbors through a roar, and arranges a heated meeting for everyone who dares to invade his patrimony.

The leopard hunts prey weighing up to 900 kg. It does not make sudden movements; it approaches the victim slowly, camouflaging itself, clinging to the ground. At dusk, excellent vision and hearing help out. The animal is not endowed with a good sense of smell.

The animal jumps to a height of 3 meters, maximum length jumping – 6 meters. Leopard speed less speed cheetah, but still very high - up to 60 km per hour. The predator jumps on the prey when there are less than 10 meters left, bites into the throat and breaks the cervical spine. The strangled game is carried under the nearest tree, where the meal takes place. Everything that remains from the prey is covered with earth, dry leaves, or dragged up a tall tree. The main prey is ungulates.

In a hungry year, the leopard makes up for the lack of its favorite food with monkeys, rodents of various sizes, reptiles, and birds. It can also attack domestic animals.

Reproduction and care of offspring

A male and female leopard often live nearby and treat each other tenderly and very respectfully. They play and frolic together (and not only during the mating period). wild cat A leopard living in the south can give birth at any time of the year (the peak period is the month of May). Northern animals breed in January–February. Females attract males by smell, and predators mate repeatedly. Mating games continue for several days.

Pregnancy lasts 3 months. The leopard cat sets up a den in a secluded place secretly from its father. The shelter is a depression under the roots of trees or a small cave. The litter contains from one to three cubs.

A newly born leopard kitten weighs no more than a kilogram. It opens its eyes in the second week, feeds on its mother’s milk for up to three months, and slowly begins to eat meat at six weeks. The cubs are pugnacious, playful and very voracious. The mother has to leave them alone for a long time in order to get enough food.

A leopard kitten grows and gains weight quickly, reaching sexual maturity at 2 – 2.5 years. From this moment his adult life begins.

In the wild, the life expectancy of a predator is from 10 to 11 years. Individuals in captivity live up to 21 years.

Subspecies

Individuals from different subspecies differ in color, size and are adapted to a specific habitat.. Animals can interbreed with each other and produce fertile offspring. There are nine genetically confirmed leopard subspecies known to exist today:

- one of the rarest subspecies of leopard and the smallest of its brothers. It lives in the mountainous regions of the Arabian Peninsula and tolerates hot, arid climates well. There are no more than 200 copies in the world. The population, despite environmental measures, tends to decline.

The golden-yellow coat color, usual for most leopards, is found only in the back area. The sides, belly and paws are grayish-white or beige. Black, small spots are evenly distributed throughout the body. The male weighs about 30 kg, the female’s weight does not exceed 20 kg, the body length with tail is within 1.4 m. The main diet includes hyraxes, gazelles, and mountain goats.

Lives in African jungle, semi-deserts and savannas. Avoids dry places, so the leopard is never found in the Sahara. The population is the largest of all subspecies. The main threat comes from humans - intensive extermination, the advance of civilization on the natural habitat. Within the boundaries of its range, the subspecies is distributed unevenly.

Individuals, depending on the region where they live, have different coat colors and sizes. The inhabitants of dense tropical forests are endowed with richer and brighter tones in color. The leopard from the northern provinces is several times larger than its southern relative. The diet includes baby zebras, antelopes, monkeys, reptiles, and birds. The remains of food are hidden in a tree.

Occasionally found in oak and mixed forests of the Far East. The subspecies' habitat occupies 10–15 thousand km2. The population is in critical danger and is difficult to replenish. Leopards reproduce very slowly; there are practically no females capable of producing viable offspring; pregnancy occurs once every three years.

There are very few animals left in the wild - 12 individuals in areas adjacent to China, 57 individuals in the Primorsky Territory of Russia (data for 2015). The animal is quite large - the weight of a male can reach 53 - 60 kg, a female - 42.5 kg. Body length 107 – 136 cm, tail – 82 – 90 cm. The fur fits tightly to the body, the length of the pile is up to 5 cm.

The color palette includes yellow, red, golden and red shades. The spots are black (solid, ring-shaped), forming a continuous pattern along the ridge. The tail has solid and large ring-shaped spots. It feeds on everything it can catch (deer, roe deer, wild boars, calves, smaller game). It feeds on large prey for several days.

It was first described by the German naturalist Friedrich Mayer in 1794. The habitat of the subspecies is limited to the borders of the Indian subcontinent - the Indus River, the Himalayas, the Ganges delta and the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra. This leopard is found in Bangladesh, Nepal, throughout India, some areas of Pakistan, and Bhutan.

Natural habitat – forests (dry deciduous, tropical, northern coniferous and temperate zone). In the Himalayas, the leopard conquers heights from two and a half to five thousand meters. Females weigh 29 - 34 kg, grow in length from 104 to 120 cm, have a tail up to 88 cm long. Males are much larger - an adult grows up to 142 cm in length, weighs 55 - 77 kg, tail length 90 cm. The color of the skin is dark – brown, the spots are large, round in shape, look contrasting in the photo.

- lives in southern China, southern and eastern regions of Asia. The subspecies is in danger of complete extinction. Animal bones and other body parts are used in traditional Chinese medicine, leather is used to make well-selling products. Illegal markets, despite the ban, are located in Myanmar, Thailand, and China.

The leopard chooses hunting grounds in mixed deciduous, dry evergreen forests, where there are gentle slopes and access to a reservoir. Climbs to heights of up to 600 meters. It feeds mainly on venison and wild pork, which competes with humans and is highly dependent on its activities.

- inhabitant of deciduous forests, subalpine meadows, deep rocky ravines. The subspecies occupies a fairly wide range, which includes northern Iran, the Caucasus Mountains, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The largest number of animals is in Iran - 850 individuals; in Turkey and Georgia there are practically no such predators left - up to 5 individuals in each state. The total population size is 1300 animals.

The body length of an adult is from 130 to 183 cm, the tail length is about 1 meter. Average weight - 70 kg, height at withers - 76 cm. Coat color is grayish-ocher or grayish-white. The intensity of the background color depends on the time of year - in winter time it is very light, darker in summer. The spots are mostly solid, in places they are grouped into ring-shaped shadows, and there are transverse dark markings on the tail.

- a typical representative of the fauna of northern China. The living space is occupied by forests and mountains of the region. The population size reaches 2.5 thousand individuals. Comparable in size to the Far Eastern subspecies.

The coat color is dark orange, the pattern on the coat is in the form of ring-shaped shadows with centrally located dark spots(like a jaguar). The length of the fur of this animal is the longest of all known subspecies.

– a single hunter from the island of Sri Lanka. The habitat covers the entire island. It has no competitors on its territory among other predators. It is endangered as an endangered subspecies. The number in the wild is up to 250 individuals. Kept in captivity in zoos around the world (in 2011 there were 75 individuals). The French zoo is actively engaged in a breeding program for this subspecies.

This leopard feeds on large animals, but can sometimes switch to small mammals, reptiles and birds. It rarely drags prey up a tree.
It has a reddish or brownish-yellow base color with medium-sized black spots located close to each other. The average weight of a male is 56 kg, a female is 29 kg.

He chose the Indonesian island of Java with its tropical climate, mountains and forests as his habitat. Human encroachment on the natural habitat, a decrease in the amount of food familiar to the predator, and uncontrolled extermination have led to a sharp decline in the population. In the wild, the number of Javan leopards does not exceed 250 individuals.

Zoos in Indonesia and Europe contain several dozen animals. Animals have a completely black or usual spotted color. Main food: monkeys, ungulates, wild boars.

The last Arabian leopard in the Hajar Mountains ( northern territory Sultanate of Oman) was killed by a shepherd protecting his livestock in 1976.
In Africa, a limit for the shooting of leopards is set annually. The cost of the right to shoot is $4 – 12 thousand.
Hunting of females is prohibited in Tanzania.
In Asian countries, hunting these animals is prohibited by law.
The European leopard is a predatory representative of the animal world of the Pleistocene era. The subspecies became extinct during the last ice age (about 10 thousand years ago BC). The remains of the animal were discovered in Heidelberg (Germany). The estimated age of the find is 600 thousand years BC.
The Chung Chi leopard from China is one of the most prolific captive predators (died 1993). He managed to father fifteen cubs from different females. Total quantity descendants equals 40.
The Rudraprayag district in India became notorious due to the fault of a leopard. A dangerous and seasoned predator terrorized the local population for eight years (from 1918 to 1926). The confirmed number of victims is 125 people. After numerous unsuccessful attempts The killer leopard was killed on May 2, 1926 by hunter Jim Corbett.
The leopard does not like dogs and strangles them at the first opportunity.

Leopard (lat. Panthera pardus) another large representative of the cat family. The animal is very beautiful. The skin of the animal is a golden background, on which black spots are randomly scattered.

It is less common to find completely black leopards. Such leopards are most often called black panthers. In fact, this is the same animal, just with a different body color. If you light it brightly black panther, then spotting can be seen on its skin. Black panthers can mate with leopards, and the offspring are obtained with different colors skins, but in approximately equal proportions.

Leopards have a very flexible and graceful figure. A small round head, slender legs, a long tail - the leopard is the very embodiment of grace. And the sharpest claws and fangs make the animal one of the most dangerous predators.

A leopard, even with a load in its teeth that exceeds it own weight, can run easily and naturally. You might think that in the predator’s mouth is not a roe deer weighing several tens of kilograms, but just a rabbit. With prey in its teeth, a leopard can jump to a height of two to three meters.

In addition, the predator is excellent at climbing trees and can reach a mind-blowing speed of up to 18 (!!!) meters per second.

The lion, leopard and jaguar are each other's closest relatives. Family connection between these animals is so close that hybrid crosses are possible between them. Together, the four predators make up the true elite of the cat family.

Although the leopard is inferior to the lion and tiger in size, it is much superior to these predators in agility and speed. The leopard feels great both on the ground and sitting on a branch tall tree. The animal’s reaction is simply excellent, its movements are lightning fast. Many believe that leopards are the most advanced hunters in the cat family.

These live predatory cats in the tropics and subtropics. Leopards are widespread throughout Africa and Asia. In Russia, this predator is quite rare, mainly in Transcaucasia. The above are most common in Southeast Asia (Java Island). Leopards live in tropical and subtropical forests. They prefer to stay in thickets of bushes and between rocks in the mountains.

Having successfully hunted, leopard hides the remains of the loot in reserve. A hungry predator can eat a medium-sized roe deer in about two days, but usually the meal lasts for more than long time. The leopard does not hesitate to eat the leftovers even when they begin to rot.

It is worth noting that when a leopard finds a carcass half-eaten by another predator that has already been lying around for several days, it will not touch it, but the animal does not disdain its “rotten meat”! Leopards love to eat comfortably on tree branches. Here no one can stop the predator from starting to eat.

Thanks to their climbing skills, leopards are a real threat to monkeys. Seeing a spotted cat in the forest, the monkeys raise an unimaginable hubbub.

Every year, in January, the leopards begin their rut, and the predators stay in pairs. Males at this time become very aggressive and often fight among themselves. Leopards, compared to tigers, are exemplary spouses.

Females give birth to up to three cubs in a litter. The male hardly participates in raising the brood, but stays nearby and periodically visits the female with her cubs. For the first year and a half, the cubs stay with their mother. At this time, the female raises her babies very jealously and carefully.

Later, when growing leopards begin to hunt on their own, families break up. Predators become sexually mature at the age of about three years, and their life expectancy in the wild is up to 16 years (slightly longer in captivity).

Until recently, there was a real hunt for the unusual leopard skin. However, it is still being carried out now, only illegally. Almost everywhere, leopard hunting is prohibited.