The mysterious leopard is a secretive and stealthy big cat. Its coat, valued in the past as ceremonial robes and a coveted fashion item, is covered with black spots and rosettes and the tail is longer than its body length. Solitary prowlers, they are nocturnal and often hunt long after the sun has gone down. They further add to their allusive air by residing in riverine forests, dense bush or mountainous areas. In the Cape they have been largely driven out by farmers, thus opting to hide out in the mountains.
Extremely territorial, they live alone; urine and claw marks on trees serve as markers of their territory, keeping other leopards away. They will only come together to mate and the females will then stay with the cubs for up to two years. They love trees and as powerful climbers can drag prey twice their own body weight up a tree. This keeps their catch away from scavengers and other predators and allows them to store it for when they wish to feed again. Their diet is quite versatile ranging from rodents and birds to dassies, monkeys and large antelope.
Their solitary and oft fierce nature keeps their predators to a minimum, with the biggest threat being humans. A glimpse of a leopard is rare due to its nighttime activities and their preference of the shade and solitude of trees and caves during the day.
The leopard, Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its range of distribution has decreased radically because of hunting and loss of habitat. It is now chiefly found in sub-Saharan Africa; there are also fragmented populations in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. Because of its declining range and population, it is listed as a "Near Threatened" species on the IUCN Red List.
Compared to other members of the Felidae family, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, but is smaller and more slightly built. Its fur is marked with rosettes similar to those of the jaguar, but the leopard's rosettes are smaller and more densely packed, and do not usually have central spots as the jaguars do. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic are known as black panthers.
The species' success in the wild is in part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometres per hour (36 mph), its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass, and its notorious ability for stealth. The leopard consumes virtually any animal that it can hunt down and catch. Its habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains.
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