North American leopard (SciiFii)

The North American leopard (Panthera americaparadus) is a species of big cat, most closely related to jaguars (Panthera onca), despite its name, that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the rainforests, wetlands, forests, open woodlands, grasslands, shrublands, and scrublands across North America to help boost biodiversity. The North American leopard exhibits great variation in coat color, depending on location and habitat. Coat colour varies from pale yellow to deep gold or tawny, and sometimes black, and is patterned with black rosettes, while the head, lower limbs and belly are spotted with solid black, which resembles a cross between the spots of a jaguar's and a true leopard's. Male North American leopards averages 60 kg (130 lb) with 91 kg (201 lb) being the maximum weight attained by a male. Females weigh about 35 to 40 kg (77 to 88 lb) on average. The North American leopard has an exceptional ability to adapt to changes in prey availability, and has a very broad diet. It takes small prey where large ungulates are less common. The known prey of North American leopards ranges from dung beetles to adult large pronghorns, which can reach 900 kg (2,000 lb). In the Great Plains, around 150 prey species have been documented in North American leopard scat, including rodents, birds, small and large pronghorns, pikas, rabbits, hares, adapiforms, and arthropods. North American leopards generally focus their hunting activity on locally abundant medium-sized ungulates in the 20 to 80 kg (44 to 176 lb) range, while opportunistically taking other prey. Average intervals between ungulate kills range from seven to 12–13 days. North American leopards often hide large kills in trees, a behavior for which great strength is required. There have been several observations of North American leopards hauling carcasses of young giraffe pronghorns (Giraffoantila megacollum), 2–3 times the weight of the North American leopard, up to 5.7 meters (19 feet) into trees. In tropical, subtropical, and temperate rainforests and wetlands in southeastern United States, their diet consists of pronghorns, deer, primates, peccaries, and non-native wild boars. Some individual North American leopards have shown a strong preference for American pangolins and porcupines. Male North American leopards and females with cubs are more active at night than solitary females. The highest rates of daytime activity are North American leopards using thick shrubs and forests during the spring, when the prairie springers also use them. North American leopards are generally most active between sunset and sunrise, and kill more prey at this time. The North American leopard is a solitary and territorial animal. Adults associate only in the mating season. Females continue to interact with their offspring even after weaning, and have been observed sharing kills with their offspring when they can not obtain any prey. They produce a number of vocalizations, including growls, snarls, meows and purrs. The roaring sequence in North American leopards consists mainly of grunts, also called "sawing", as it resemblels the sound of sawing wood. Cubs call their mother with a urr-urr sound. The conservation status of the North American leopard is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts and the North American leopard's wide range.
Category:Animals
Category:Species
Category:SciiFii