All subspecies of leopard. Leopards (lat.

The leopard is a large and serious predator of the cat family; female animals weigh about 50 kg, males weigh 70 kg or more.

Graceful beauty wild cat 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 under the anthracite-colored skin there is a spotted pattern. When two colors are crossed in captivity, kittens are born, of which half the litter is black, half is golden. The color of the coat and its thickness depend on the habitat of the animal: savanna inhabitants have a sandy color, desert inhabitants wear lighter 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 the snow leopard and clouded leopard, despite their external resemblance 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” dinner 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 physical activity animal, 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.

Brief overview:

Our hero has several names - leopard, panther, leopard. In the Russian-speaking environment, this predator is most often called a leopard, while black leopards are usually called a panther. The word “leopard” today is used only in relation to the snow leopard, or snow leopard. Whatever the name, this magnificent cat, famous for its deadly grace and agility, has been well known to us since childhood. However, in this article I will try to talk about it in as much detail as possible. I hope this increases your knowledge about this beautiful animal.
Leopard. He is as beautiful as he is deadly. The leopard is the embodiment of the very essence of the cat. This predator, like perhaps no other animal, perfectly harmonizes incredible dexterity, cunning, strength and grace.
So, after this brief introduction, let’s move on to the origin.

Origin:

The leopard belongs to the panther subfamily, that is, Pantherinae. This branch, separated from the general trunk of the felines, is the youngest. It is to this subfamily that the most formidable predators among cats, and, perhaps, among the order of carnivores as a whole. Unlike cats of the subfamily Felinae, all panthers are adapted primarily for killing prey that exceeds them in size and physical strength. Of course, cats of the subfamily Felinae, in turn, in rare cases can and do deal with prey that exceeds their size, but only among panthers the bulk of the victims are animals larger than themselves. Based on this, cats of the Pantherinae subfamily are the most professional killers among all land predators. They do not specialize in any particular prey. Their physical strength, agility and intelligence allow them to hunt any animal they can overcome, and at any time of the day. Their main activity time is not limited to the dark time of day, unlike cats of the Felinae subfamily, which, as a rule (but not always) are more nocturnal animals than cats of the Pantherinae subfamily. Cats belonging to this subfamily are the largest and strongest, and therefore they do not avoid stronger predators that hunt during the day. For this reason, all panther cats have a round, or at least rounded, pupil, rather than an elliptical pupil, like the vast majority of members of the subfamily Felinae. Another difference between panthers and the latter is that all panthers are capable of truly roaring, which felines are not capable of. The ability to growl is due to the structure of the hyoid apparatus, which in appearance resembles a curved Latin letter"H". It consists of 11 small bones. In the center they are connected to each other by two elastic ligaments. The growl results from the resonance created by these ligaments. Representatives of the subfamily Felinae have a completely ossified hyoid apparatus, so they are not capable of such powerful and rough sounds. In addition to roaring, panthers can also purr, like cats from Felinae, and even purr. However, they can only purr when exhaling, since felines purr both when exhaling and when inhaling.
View Panthera pardus formed in Africa about 1.5 million years ago (maybe a little earlier). In Asia, the oldest remains of a leopard date back a million years. Now that we have received a more or less clear picture of the origin of the subfamily Pantherinae and the species Panthera pardus itself, let’s move on directly to the classification.

Taxonomy:

Leopard – typical representative the subfamily Pantherinae and the genus Panthera itself, which in addition to it includes the most formidable predators of the cat family - the tiger, lion and jaguar. He is the smallest representative of his kind, but the most dexterous and one of the most dangerous. Like its closest relatives mentioned above, the lepard can produce a powerful growl that cats from the subfamily Felinae, which includes all small cats, as well as lynxes and pumas, are not capable of. Below, for convenience, is a clear table of the classification of leopards in the animal world:

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata (vertebrates)
Superclass: Tetrapoda (tetrapods)
Class: Mammalia (mammals, or animals)
Subclass: Theria (viviparous mammals, or true beasts)
Infraclass: Eutheria (placental, or higher animals)
Order: Carnivora (predatory)
Suborder: Feliformia (feliformes)
Family: Felidae (felines)
Subfamily: Pantherinae (panthers)
Genus: Panthera (panthers)
Species: Panthera pardus (leopard, or panther)

Appearance:

The leopard, along with the puma, is the fourth largest living cat. Depending on the subspecies and gender, the weight of a leopard varies from about 20 to 100 kg. Males are larger and more massive than females. On average, the weight of an adult male is 50-90 kg, and only in very rare cases does it reach 100 kg. Heavier animals are also known from zoos. Physically, the leopard is very strong, especially considering the relatively small size of the animal. It perfectly combines qualities such as strength and agility. He can defeat an animal much larger than him in weight.
Leopard is one of the best jumpers in the animal world. Among cats, it is surpassed in this regard only by the puma, and even then only slightly. The leopard feels free, both on the ground and in the trees. In addition, he is an excellent swimmer, and can, if necessary, cover huge distances by swimming, for example, swimming across a wide river. Like all cats, the leopard is not capable of long running, as it runs out of energy quite quickly. However, it can reach speeds of approximately 60-65 km/h (or maybe even more), and its reaction speed is simply fantastic. All this makes the leopard an excellent hunter and an excellent fighter, although he tries to avoid direct confrontations, since he leads a solitary lifestyle, and serious injuries can mean death for him.
All the leopard's senses are excellently developed. He has sharp eyesight, and he sees perfectly, both during the day and at very dark night. His hearing is unusually delicate, capable of picking up the slightest rustle. Leopards can hear high frequencies, which are inaccessible to the human ear. The sense of smell is also quite well developed, especially if you take into account the fact that the sense of smell in all cats is not particularly sensitive. In addition, the leopard has well-developed vibrissae, which play an important role as an organ of touch.
The leopard skull can reach more than 28 (almost 30) cm in length. However, on average the length of a leopard's skull is approximately 23 cm (smaller subspecies may have less). The presence of a rather large cranial crest indicates great power of the jaws. The powerful muscles of the neck and shoulders, in turn, contribute to a strong grip. It should be borne in mind that the leopard always knows exactly where to bite the victim. The leopard has 30 strong teeth in its mouth, among which the huge fangs of the predator are the most striking. All this makes a leopard bite truly terrifying. With his jaws, this successful hunter is able to hold the carcass of an antelope, which far exceeds his own weight.
In addition to its deadly grip and impressive teeth, the leopard is armed with sharp retractable claws and powerful paws, the blow of which is quite dangerous in itself. The length of the claws on the front paws, on average, is about 5 cm. Moreover, not only the claws on the front paws are deadly, but also on the hind paws. For example, if the enemy still managed to press the leopard to the ground and grab onto its throat, then with its hind paws it can easily rip open the enemy’s belly. As already mentioned, the leopard and the puma are cats of equal size. However, with the same size as the puma, the leopard is almost always stronger than it. Because, firstly, he has stronger jaws. Secondly, he has a more powerful skeleton, and therefore more powerful muscles. And finally, thirdly, he is much fiercer and more aggressive than the puma. Well, it also seems to me that the leopard is smarter than the puma, since it belongs to the subfamily Pantheridae, and panthers are the youngest branch of felines and are considered the most highly intelligent among cats.
Leopards living in tropical and equatorial belts the coloring is brighter and more contrasting, with more frequent spots than that of leopards living in temperate climates. Leopards from jungles and forests have darker and richer colors than animals living in savannas, mountains or semi-deserts. The length and thickness of the coat also depends on the climate.
In addition to the typical spotted color, among leopards there are also completely black individuals, popularly called black panthers. This is not a separate species, as previously thought, or even a subspecies. The black color of the leopard is the result of a certain mutation. Such individuals have an excess of melanin, the pigment responsible for black and brown colors. Black leopards even have a blackish tongue, and their eyes are usually green. It is interesting that the spotted pattern in such individuals is still preserved, and in the light you can see the black spots characteristic of all leopards, which are darker than the general black color. Melanists are found among all subspecies, but most black leopards live in tropical forests. This is due to the fact that in a dense tropical forest, it is easier for individuals with such an unusual color to survive than, for example, in the savannah.

Behavior:

The leopard leads a terrestrial lifestyle, but is an excellent climber and even hunts in trees. He often goes hunting under the cover of darkness, but often hunts during the day. Like all panthers, it is active both at night and during the day.
The leopard is a solitary hunter. This animal prefers solitude, with the exception of the mating season, during which the male and female remain together for a short time. Therefore, he was accustomed to relying solely on his own strength. In this regard, he does not like to take unnecessary risks and always soberly assesses the situation. If he has the ability to escape, he can escape even from an opponent who is weaker than him. But this beast is by no means timid. If necessary, he always takes a fight and he is terrible in anger. Cold-blooded and calculating, strong and surprisingly fast in its movements, the leopard is an extremely dangerous opponent and, as mentioned above, it is able to defeat an animal much larger than itself.
The leopard is a territorial animal. Each individual has its own individual area. The size of individual plots largely depends on the abundance of food. If there is a lot of prey, then the area, of course, is smaller. If prey is rare in the area where the leopard lives, then, accordingly, the animal requires a larger territory. The individual areas of males partially or completely include the areas of one or more females. Males jealously defend their territory from the encroachments of another male. The female's territoriality is less developed, however, she also tries not to enter lands belonging to other females.
Leopards mark their areas with odorous urine. These scent marks contain information for other leopards, so another animal can find out what gender the animal that left the mark is, its approximate age and readiness to mate. In addition to such odorous signals, leopards also leave purely visual marks - marks from their own claws on tree trunks.
In addition to beauty, grace and strength, the leopard is very smart, and is one of the most intelligent animals (not counting, of course, the great apes). Tracking a leopard is an extremely difficult task even for a professional hunter. No wonder the famous hunter John Hunter considered the leopard the most dangerous animal in Africa. When a leopard becomes a man-eater, he becomes the very embodiment of a nightmare. Man-eating leopards are one of the most bloodthirsty and successful cannibals in the animal world. Thanks to the books of another famous hunter, Jim Corbett, we know about two, perhaps, the most legendary man-eating leopards - the Panar man-eater, which killed about 400 people, and the Rudraprayag man-eater, with 125 registered victims. This cunning and calculating killer terrorized Rudraprayag for 8 long years before Corbett finally managed to shoot him. Actually, it must be said that leopards and people did not have a good relationship from the very beginning. The enmity between the genus Panthera and Homo goes back thousands of years. Even in prehistoric times, the ancestors of leopards and the leopards themselves hunted our ancestors. And our ancestors, getting together, sometimes dealt with the nightmare cat. This is probably why, even now, of all the predatory animals, civilized people experience the greatest fear of representatives of the cat family. Big cats have a tantalizing effect on our subconscious. Who knows, maybe it's genetic memory...
Despite its intellectual abilities, the leopard is difficult to train. It is much more difficult to train it than a lion or a tiger, but it is still possible. The main thing is to understand the animal, to find your special approach. But, in fairness, it must be said that a tame leopard is always potentially more dangerous to humans than, say, a tiger. Look closely at the leopard. There are shards of ice in his eyes, an arrogant, proud look. This cat will not tolerate familiarity. She will always be devoted to her instincts, her innate qualities. In the section on the origin of panthers, it was already said that the leopard is not strictly a nocturnal animal. This is a lone hunter in which absolutely everything is perfect. It’s not for nothing that the leopard is called a super cat.

Hunting and competition with other predators:

As mentioned above, a leopard can hunt at any time of the day, however, where its more formidable relatives - the tiger and lion - live side by side with it, in order to avoid competition, the leopard is often forced to hunt under the cover of darkness. The prey of this lucky hunter can be any animal from a frog to a small buffalo. In the African savannah, he most often hunts impalas, gazelles, wildebeests, hares, warthogs, etc. In Asia - for deer, wild boars, mountain goats, etc. A leopard, unlike a lion and a tiger, almost never eats carrion. The fact that the leopard can professionally deal with such dangerous prey as a porcupine speaks in favor of the fact that the leopard is a very skilled hunter. For example, tigers are often injured by the terrible quills of this large rodent. At times, they even become crippled, since porcupine quills getting stuck in the predator’s body cause infection and cause severe pain. For this reason, predators can become cannibals. For example, in the body of the famous man-eating tigress from Muktesar, which was shot by the already mentioned Jim Corbett, many porcupine quills were found. A leopard kills a porcupine, as a rule, much more skillfully than a tiger. According to Jim Corbett, he quickly grabs the porcupine by the weak spot - the head - and kills it. Thus, leopards are injured by porcupines much less often than tigers.
Having killed his prey, he must drag it up a tree as quickly as possible, since stronger predators, such as a lion or a pack of hyenas, can take away his rightful prey. I think largely for this reason, the victims of the leopard most often are relatively small antelopes such as impala or hartebeest. After all, he still needs to drag the dead carcass up the tree. It should be noted that the strength of this cat is such that it is capable of dragging an animal twice its own weight up a tree. In addition to antelopes, the leopard often hunts monkeys, most often baboons, and, like the tiger, has a certain weakness for dogs. There are many cases where leopards snatched dogs right from under the noses of their owners so quickly that by the time they came to their senses, it was often too late.
In the savannas of East Africa and in the Asian jungles, the leopard is full of enemies. His stronger cousins, the lion and the tiger, can easily take his prey and, on occasion, even kill him. So the leopard tries to avoid meeting its scary relatives.
In addition to lions, other worst enemies of the leopard live in the African savannahs - spotted hyenas. A leopard can easily finish off even the largest hyena, but a lone leopard cannot do anything against a pack of such predators. If he did not manage to drag his victim up the tree in time, then the prey he gained with such difficulty is lost. The leopard also avoids collisions with a pack of hyena dogs. But, in fairness, it is worth noting that the latter do not cause him as much trouble as spotted hyenas, which the leopard simply cannot stand.
In Asia, leopards have clashes with red wolves. These predators, gathered in a large flock, pose a serious threat to the leopard. Sometimes the leopard has to escape from them in the trees. Unlike them, gray wolves do not pose a serious threat to the leopard and try to avoid encounters with this animal.
Sometimes there are clashes with the Himalayan and brown bears. However, such encounters are quite rare, especially with a brown bear. Yet these animals occupy completely different ecological niches. And besides, in any case, a leopard can easily dodge a bear and run away.
However, in tropical forests Central Africa, the leopard is the apex predator. There are no lions, no hyenas, and, of course, tigers. Leopard is the largest and strongest predator African jungle. Here he hunts duikers and other forest antelopes, as well as monkeys. In addition, even such a large animal as a bongo antelope or a young buffalo can become its prey (forest buffaloes are much smaller than their counterparts living in the savannas). There are cases where leopards have dealt even with adult gorillas. However, as a rule, the leopard does not hunt gorillas and tries to avoid them. Whatever one may say, the gorilla is still much larger and stronger than the leopard.
Now I’ll tell you briefly about the very method of hunting this extraordinary beast. Like all cats, the leopard uses ambush hunting. Having identified the victim, he quietly creeps up to her at an acceptable distance, then makes a lightning-fast attack. The leopard overtakes its prey in a few seconds. If the pursuit drags on, then he interrupts the chase, since he does not have the endurance that antelopes, deer, etc. have. A leopard can hide anywhere, for example in tall grass or in rocks. Often a leopard attacks its prey directly from a tree.
Having overtaken its prey in the blink of an eye, the leopard, like all cats, first digs into it with its sharp claws and then inflicts fatal bite in the neck, thus gnawing the trachea, or simply suffocating the animal. If the prey is small, then it can immobilize it with a bite on the scruff of the neck.
A leopard kills its prey, in my opinion, much more gracefully than a lion. For example, impala, it often catches you right in the air. These antelopes are incredibly jumping and, when running away, they rush with almost 10-meter leaps. Sometimes, a leopard, which jumps just as well, overtakes them while both animals - the hunter and the prey - are soaring in the air. During such collisions, the leopard, clinging to its prey, does a real somersault with it. This is a terrifying and yet somehow beautiful sight.

Procreation and care for offspring:

For leopards that live in hot climates, such as Africa or India, the breeding season is not clearly defined. Animals can breed throughout the year. However, in countries with temperate or cold climates, the breeding season occurs during certain time year. For example, in the Far East mating season falls around January-February. During this period, the male and female spend all their time together. The couple copulates many times a day. Each time copulation lasts a few seconds. During mating, the female, like all cats, lies on her stomach, and the male, covering her, bites her scruff, like that of lions or tigers. After the female goes into heat (estrus), the male leaves her. All care for the offspring falls on the female. Males do not take any part in raising their offspring. On the contrary, on occasion, adult males can even snack on small kittens. Therefore, the mother fiercely protects her offspring from attacks from any side. And the mother leopardess is something terrible. She can, on occasion, put even a bear to flight, so it’s better not to mess with her.
Pregnancy lasts on average about 90 days (plus/minus about 10 days). As the birth approaches, the female begins to look for a reliable shelter for childbirth. This could be a cleft in the rocks, a cave, or even a hollow in the trunk of a large tree. There can be from 1 to 6 cubs in a litter, but most often there are 2-3. Newborn kittens weigh about 500-700 g, they are blind and very vulnerable. In case of danger, the female can move her cubs to a new den.
Kittens grow quite quickly, and around the 10th day their eyes open and other senses become more acute. Closer to three months, the mother begins to slowly wean them off milk. By this time, they already, as a rule, know the taste of meat and begin to show great interest in environment. Like all predator cubs, little leopard cubs are very curious. Following their mother, they try to imitate her in everything and take the first steps towards independent life. By about 5-6 months they are already able to catch small prey. Nevertheless, complete independence they acquire only by the age of two years of life, sometimes a little earlier. Males reach sexual maturity at about three years of age, females a little earlier. Life expectancy is about 20 years or more. The lifespan of animals living in captivity is usually longer duration the lives of their fellow tribesmen living in natural conditions.

Habitat:

The leopard is one of the most widespread cat species. Among the subfamily Pantherinae, it today has the widest habitat (among panther cats, only the lion was more widespread than it, but its range has long been greatly reduced). This cat easily adapts to a wide variety of biotopes. It can be found in dense tropical jungles, open savannas, snow-covered taiga, semi-deserts and high mountains. It withstands both merciless heat and extreme cold. The only thing is that he does not particularly like deep snow, which makes it difficult for him to move, since the leopard is not adapted to walking in deep snow, like a lynx or a puma. For this reason, hunting leopards in the Far East is relatively easy. The fact is that animals use the same well-trodden paths, avoiding snowdrifts.
Nowadays, the original range of the leopard has decreased, some subspecies have been completely exterminated, and some are on the verge of extinction. However, the leopard is the most numerous cat species of the subfamily Pantherinae. Its population ranges from approximately 500 thousand to a million, according to various estimates.
I will not list all the countries where the leopard lives. This area map will tell you this better than me:

Subspecies:

Due to the fact that the leopard has spread across to the globe very extensive, then this species has formed many subspecies, in other words, geographical races. It must be said that there is confusion with the subspecies of the leopard, as with the subspecies of many other animals. There is no consensus on this matter. Some tend to distinguish many subspecies, others less. Today, scientists count about 30 subspecies of the leopard. Some of them can be easily distinguished from each other, others are very similar to each other, and doubt arises as to whether it is worth distinguishing this or that subspecies at all. I do not set myself the goal of talking about all modern subspecies of leopard, but I will tell you about those subspecies that are best known to me.
Panthera pardus pardus is one of the largest subspecies. He lives in Central and East Africa. It is called the African leopard, although this name is not entirely accurate, since in Africa, in addition to it, several other subspecies live. Its color is contrasting, its spots are abundant, and the overall background of its coat is lighter than that of leopards living in the jungle. This subspecies is still quite numerous.
The Barbary leopard (Panthera pardus panthera) inhabits North Africa. The subspecies is endangered. The sizes are large.
The Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) lives, as its name suggests, in India. Sizes are medium and large. The color is contrasting and rich.
Panthera pardus kotiya lives in Sri Lanka. Similar to the Indian subspecies, but usually smaller. The coloring is contrasting, the colors are saturated, like those of the Indian leopard.
The Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) originally lived in many other countries in addition to Iran Central Asia and in Transcaucasia. However, to date it has been exterminated in many places of its original habitat, and in others its numbers are catastrophically low. For example, in Armenia there are only a few of them left. Needless to say, this subspecies is endangered. The Persian leopard can reach the maximum size for its species, being one of the largest subspecies of leopard, but individuals of medium size are also found. The coloring is not as contrasting as that of tropical subspecies. The general background of the fur is sand-colored, and in appearance this leopard looks a little like a snow leopard. The eyes are usually lighter than those of tropical leopards. The Persian leopard tolerates both heat and cold well, and can go without water for a long time.
The Anatolian or Central Asian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana) lives in Turkey. Previously lived, also, in the north of Israel. Externally it is very similar to Panthera pardus saxicolor, and I am not sure whether it is worth distinguishing it as a separate subspecies.
Panthera pardus ciscaucasica, in other words Caucasian leopard. There are only a few of these leopards left in the Caucasus. This subspecies, in turn, is also similar to Panthera pardus saxicolor. Maybe this is the same subspecies. In any case, the leopards that are still preserved in the mountains of Armenia belong to the subspecies Panthera pardus saxicolor.
The Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) lives in the Middle East. There are still a few individuals left in Israel. The subspecies is on the verge of extinction. The color is quite pale. This is one of the smallest subspecies of leopard. Previously, a subspecies was identified - Panthera pardus jarvisi (Sinai leopard), but in fact it is the same subspecies as Panthera pardus nimr.
The Far Eastern or Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is the northernmost form of leopard. The coat is long and fluffy. The eyes are usually bluish in color. The color is quite rich, especially considering that this is not a tropical subspecies. Far Eastern leopard easy to distinguish from a number of other subspecies, as it has a distinct personality. The sizes are usually medium, sometimes large. The subspecies is in critical condition. There are about 30 individuals left in the wild, and surprisingly, this population is very stable.
The North China leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis) is very similar to the Far Eastern subspecies. The dimensions are approximately the same as the last one. Perhaps there is no need to separate these two subspecies.

Photos:

African leopards:

Barbary leopards:

Persian leopards:

Indian leopards:

Sri Lankan leopards:

Arabian leopards:

Far Eastern leopards:

North China leopards:

Melanistic leopards:

African leopard skulls:

African Leopard Claw:

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 see 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 shine a bright light on a black panther, you will see spots on its skin. Black panthers can mate with leopards, and the offspring are 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 exceeding its 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 predatory cats live 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 often found 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, which has already been lying there 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 about the age of three years, and 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.

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 rougher, but the pattern remains the same - beautiful and bright. IN warm regions Of course, a 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 vast range of the leopard, 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 to 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. It's almost the same color 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, brother leopard and 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 its appearance and in coloring he seems to be a smaller copy of a super cat. Snow leopard, an inhabitant of the highlands, is also not a very close relative of the leopard and is not included in 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 instant, 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, 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. The average weight of 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 prey on strangers, usually drags its prey onto a rock or into a fork large tree and here he settles himself.

But here’s another mystery: the leopard finishes its large prey 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, he began to shy away from meeting modern man, 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.

So, leopard...

He is also a leopard, he is also a panther - he belongs to the cat family. Most often it can live in the Middle East, Southeast, South and West Asia, South Africa and Siberia.

Most often black leopards can be found in savannas, grasslands and meso-forests. And also favorite places The so-called African cats are found in mountainous, bush and desert areas.

Environment and area

There are 9 subspecies of black leopard:

• African (panthera pardus pardus) - habitat Africa.
• Indian (panthera pardus fusca) - range India.
• North China (panthera pardus japonensis) - native to northern China.
• Ceylon (panthera pardus kotiya) - range of Sri Lanka.
• Indochinese (panthera pardus delacourii) - native to southern China and Southeast Asia.
• Javanese (panthera pardus melas) - native to the island of Java.
• South Arabian (panthera pardus nimr) - range Arabia.
• Persian (panthera pardus saxicolor) - range Central Asia.
• Far Eastern (panthera pardus orientalis) - range of the Korean Peninsula, Northeast China and Far East Russia.

Females occupy a territory of approximately 4 square kilometers, and males - 12. That is, there are approximately 3 males per female.

Description

Compared to its long body, a leopard's legs are relatively short. They have a wide head and a massive skull with powerful jaw muscles. The head is crowned with small round ears. On the eyebrows of wild cats there are long whiskers that protect the eyes from dense vegetation, among which the predator is a big fan of moving. The color ranges from light yellow to reddish-orange depending on the animal's range. The shape of a leopard's spots depends on their habitat - in East Africa it is round, in South Africa it is square.

Predators have solid black spots on the chest, legs and face, and ring spots on the tail. Babies have a solid color - smoky gray, no spots are visible on it. The drawing of each individual is unique, like human fingerprints - never repeats. The black leopard or panther is an individual with recessive melanistic genes.

Male wild cats weigh from 30 to 65 kilograms, while females weigh from 16 to 57 kilograms. The length of the first ranges from one and a half to two and a half meters, while the second - from one and a half to two meters.

Lifespan

Under natural conditions, i.e. in wildlife, leopards live from 10 to 12 years. In captivity, the lifespan is much longer, averaging 21 to 23 years. Like all other living creatures, there are long-livers here - 17 years is the record lifespan of a wild cat living in the wild and 27 years in captivity.

Unfortunately, African leopard cubs survive only 40–50% of the time.

Diet

Mostly these predators prefer to feed on ungulates: antelopes, gazelles, wild boars, deer and livestock- this is the main diet of the African leopard. They can also eat birds, rodents, arthropods, reptiles, and carrion. The weight of prey ranges from 10–40 kilograms.

Wild cats hunt by setting up an ambush - they lie in wait and pounce on their prey - in most cases, the victim does not even have time to react, because this predator sneaks silently like a cat and attacks with lightning speed. The leopard immediately bites into the neck of the victim, which causes instant paralysis in the second, then strangles her and takes her to a quiet, secluded place. The great strength of African cats allows them to hunt prey that is 10 times their weight.

Reproduction

Female leopards attract males with pheromones contained in their urine. Calling for mating, the female strolls invitingly in front of the male, periodically slapping him with her tail. Mating lasts an average of 3 seconds, but the number of matings can reach 100 times per day, with an interval of about 6 minutes.

African cats are capable of reproducing all year round. The female's estrus lasts 7 days, and the gestation period is 96 days. Females usually lose their ability to reproduce at the age of 8–9 years.

Cubs at birth weigh less than 1 kilogram. The eyes of small leopards open 1 week after birth, at 2 weeks the babies already learn to walk. They begin to regularly leave the den and eat food familiar to leopards at the age of 6–8 weeks. Before this period, the mother can separate from the babies while going hunting for up to 36 hours, leaving the cubs in well-protected places. Ends at three months of age breast-feeding, and the cubs switch to solid food. At 20 weeks, the cubs usually leave the den, becoming completely independent.

Behavior

• These wild cats are nocturnal predators. They communicate with their relatives using roars, growls, and purrs. Like all felines, they mark their territory with urine and claws.
• These predators are capable of reaching speeds of up to 60 km/h, jumping to a height of more than three meters, and making jumps 6 meters long. They have excellent hearing and vision. They feel great both on land and in water.

Leopards are relatively tolerant of humans, but can attack them as easy prey if they are wounded.

A very big threat to these predators represents the person- people kill leopards for their sake valuable fur. Lions, tigers, hyenas and African wild dogs are very dangerous for wild cat cubs.

Leopard numbers are declining in many regions due to habitat fragmentation and loss. Leopards have protective status“close to a vulnerable position.” Even though leopards are the most common predator of all big cats, five of the nine subspecies are already listed as endangered and endangered.