Leopard
Leopard: Panthera pardus
Characteristics
Weight and Height
Males: wt 77-143 lb (35-65 kg), ht 24-28 in (60-70 cm)
Females: wt 62-128 lb (28-58 kg), ht 23-26 in (57-64 cm)
Color
tan to reddish brown; dark spots on torso and upper limbs; in tropical regions, leopard have darker spots and in some cases appear to be almost completely black.
General Locations
The leopard can be found in most of the national parks or reserves. However, it is most likely that one will find leopard in: Masai Mara NR, Kenya; Serengeti NP, Tanzania.
Habitat
The leopard is known for it's ability to survive in many different types of habitats, in fact, the leopard probably has the greatest tolerance of any African carnivore. The leopard can easily adapt to anything from lowland rainforest to deserts, to mountains (can be found on the peaks of Kilimanjaro). The leopard has almost 30 different species on which it feeds on a regular basis, even more so than the lion. The leopard will eat anything from medium-sized antelopes to the young of larger species along with hares, birds and other small carnivores. When necessary, it will also kill domesticated animals.
Activity
The leopard is strictly nocturnal. Spends most of the day sleeping in large trees and becomes quite active shortly after dusk and will continue hunting until shortly after dawn. Some leopard will travel as far as 15 mi (25 km) a night and almost never spends the night or day in the same place twice.
Social Systems
The leopard is a solitary cat which means that it hunts, eats, sleeps and lives alone. Leopard will only associate together long enough to mate and then split apart as quickly as possible. Females and males have overlapping home ranges which seems to work out quite well, especially in the national parks. Most home ranges are 3.5 to 24 sq. mi (9-63 sq. km) and 70% overlap at least one other range.
Reproduction
Mating is considered unseasonal which means that there are not any birth or mating peaks. The gestation period is 90 to 100 days and females conceive at 2-year intervals. There are typically 1 to 3 young per litter.
Jane Bettenay, P.O Box 156, Maun, Botswana.
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