Leopard

A leopard (Panthera pardus) is a big cat of the genus Panthera. It lives in Africa and Asia. An apex predator, it has a well-camouflaged fur (marked with rosettes), opportunistic hunting behaviour, stealthiness, elusiveness, broad diet, and strength. It adapts to many habitats from rainforest to steppe, including dry and montane areas.

The leopard is a secretive big cat. Unlike lions, leopards are solitary and do not live in groups. The adult males live separately, and the females live only with their cubs. Leopards live in habitats where there are some trees. They climb trees well, and do so regularly. They can carry prey up a tree and keep it safe from hyenas and lions. Trees are its main escape from attacks by lions or packs of dogs. It is an ambush predator, and operates best where it has some cover. Leopards come out to hunt in the afternoon or late at night.

The most similar cat in its lifestyle is the jaguar, which lives in Central and South America. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic are called black panthers.

Appearance 
Leopards generally have yellow fur with dark rosettes and spots, and a lighter colored underside. But there can be a lot of differences in the different leopard subspecies. There are also leopards who are completely black, those are also called black panthers. Male leopards are about 30% larger than female leopards.

Habitat 
Originally the leopard lived in all of Africa (but not in the Sahara) and southern Asia. But today many leopard subspecies, especially in Asia, are endangered. Leopards live in a lot of different environments: rainforests, forests, mountains and savannas.

Life style 
The leopard is mostly active at night. It is basically an ambush hunter. It can climb very well, and it stays up in trees a lot of its time. Leopards usually live alone and try not to meet other leopards. They only come together to mate. Young leopards leave their mothers after 13 – 18 months.

Hunting and diet 
Leopards hunt at different times, and they also use different methods for hunting. Most often leopards will secretly move towards their prey and attack it when they are close, or hide and wait for it to come close.

Leopards are versatile, opportunistic hunters, and have a very wide diet. Leopards are carnivores. Leopards are apex predators. They prey on antelope, zebras, warthogs, buffalo, wildebeest, wild boar and deer, but they also prey on rodents, hares, fish, birds, snakes, lizards, turtles, monkeys and even jackals. Leopards are the only natural predators of adult chimpanzees and gorillas, though probably not the large male silverback gorillas. Leopards do not usually eat humans, but sometimes leopards that are hurt or sick can attack and eat people when they do not have enough to eat. A leopard in India is believed to have eaten more than 125 people.

Subspecies 
There are nine subspecies of leopards recognized today, one in Africa and eight in Asia. They are:

 African leopard P.p pardus
 Amur leopard P.p orientalis
 Arabian leopard P.p nimr
 Indian leopard P.p fusca
 Indo Chinese leopard P.p delacouri
 Javan leopard P.p melas
 North Chinese leopard P.p japonensis
 Persian leopard P.p saxicolor
 Sri Lankan leopard P.p kotiya

References 

Panthera
Mammals of Africa
Mammals of Asia
National symbols of Rwanda
National symbols of Somalia
Big cats