| * |
HABITS
Except for a brief time during mating and when the female is
rearing her young, the leopard leads a solitary life within a defined territory. Like
other members of the cat family, the leopard marks its territory with urine. It will also
shred the bark of particular trees within its territory.
In areas rich in game, territories are smaller than in
those areas that have less prey. The territories of males are usually larger than those of
females and will often overlap several females' territories. However, males never share
portions of their territories.
LEOPARD & MAN
The leopard has been hunted for its pelt for many years. In the
early 1960s, leopard poaching reached an all-time high when an estimated 50,000 leopards
were killed in East Africa.
Today the leopard is a protected species, but it is still
hunted by herdsman, shepherds, and poachers. But it is recognized by farmers as having a
useful function: it controls such animals as baboons and bushpigs that damage crops.
Above: A female and her cubs
emerge from their lair.
Below: A female suckles her young.
Although most frequently found in
forest regions, the leopard can live successfully in a variety of habitats, from
semi-desert to the lower altitudes of mountains just below the snowline. Its coat color
varies from a very pole yellow to black, but it is always spotted. |
* |
The solitary leopard is extremely
difficult to spot in the wild. it is renowned for its sharp vision and keen sense of
hearing, and for its unique ability to avoid detection.
BREEDING
Male and female leopards come together to breed for only 6-7 days
when the female is in heat. The male is drawn to her by the strong smell of urine she
sprays on trees during this time. After mating, the male returns to his territory, leaving
the female to give birth and care for the young alone.
The birth takes place in a hidden lair after a gestation
period of 3 months. If the female carried her young for a longer period of time, it would
restrict her ability to hunt, preventing her from killing enough food for herself and her
cubs. But the short gestation period means that the cubs are born underdeveloped; they are
helpless and weigh only 15-20 ounces.
While the cubs are still small, their mother carries them
to a new hiding place every few days to lessen their chance of failing prey to lions,
hyenas, or even male leopards. At this stage in their growth, the spots on their coats are
so dense that they appear to be solid gray. Their milky blue eyes, characteristic of the
young of all species of cat, open after 9 days. The cubs generally stay with their mother
for 2 years.
Above: A leopard rests in a tree after
a successful kill.
|
* |
FOOD & HUNTING
The leopard usually hunts at dawn or dusk. After waiting silently
among the brush or in a tree, the leopard ambushes its prey. The leopard kills by biting
its prey on the throat or the back of the neck. It will then take its kill, which may be
as heavy as itself, up into a tall tree, lodging it in the branches. Here it is safely
stored beyond the reach of scavengers such as hyenas and jackals.
After eating, the leopard usually visits a water hole to
drink. The leopard eats a wide range of animals, from baboons, warthogs, and medium-sized
antelopes to small mammals and birds.
Individual leopards will sometimes develop a
preference for particular types of food. It is thought that man-eating leopards, which are
rare, develop a liking for human flesh after they have tasted it once.
KEY FACTS
Height to shoulder: 20-24 in. Length:
40-50 in. from head to end of back.
Weight: 80-1 75 lb.
Sexual maturity: 2-3 years. Mating:
Year-round in tropics, seasonal in other areas.
Gestation: 90-112 days.
Number of young: 2-3 cubs, occasionally
up to 6.
Habit: Solitary.
Diet: Mammals and birds.
Call: Roar, growl, or purr.
Lifespan: 12 years in the wild.
|
* |
| Did You Know?
The range of a leopard's hearing is twice that of a human's, and,
in dim light its sight is six times better.
The leopard likes to drink daily but can go for as long as a
month without water.
Leopards have a highly developed homing instinct. A group found
wandering in a suburb of Nairobi was captured and released in the Tsavo National Park, 200
miles away. Within a few weeks, the leopards found their way back to Nairobi.
Black leopards, called black panthers, were once regarded as a
separate species, but they are now considered true leopards. Although they are
black, their rosettes of spots are still faintly visible, and sometimes they re even born
into the same litters as common leopards. |
|
