Leopards

"Leopards usually aren't very nice."

**Leopards** are felines that appear in ***The Lion Guard*** universe. They live in the **Back Lands**.

## Appearances

### In the Real World

Leopards are graceful and long-bodied animals. Their coats come in shades of yellow, cream, and gold, with white underparts though at times can be all black due a mutation known as Melanism. The spots on their throat, chest, head, and lower limbs are small and solid, unlike the rosettes patterning the rest of their fur. Leopards have broad heads and rounded ears. Some leopards can have a completely black coat; those leopards are known as black panthers.

### In *The Lion Guard*

Leopards in *The Lion Guard* are cream-colored animals with rosettes larger than those of real world leopards. They also lack spots in the areas that leopards have small, solid spots, with the exception of their head. Their rosettes are outlined in black and filled in with deep brown. Their tails are also striped and end with a large tuft.

## Information

### In the Real World

Leopards are very stealthy and cunning big cats that hunt nocturnally and crepuscular. Leopards are the biggest (and only) large predators of the African jungles, which makes them the apex predators of such areas. On the savannas, however, they are usually dominated by lions and spotted hyenas, though large males have been observed hunting and killing the latter. Leopards are the smallest of the *Panthera* genus to which lions also belong to. Yet despite their small size, leopards are the most widespread of all the big cats. This is because leopards can adapt quite easily to different environments (Leopards have been found in jungles, grasslands, savannas, mountains and even urban areas) and are less picky in terms of diet compared to other big cats, as they feed on a variety of animals and bugs, including hartebeests, **impalas**, **warthogs**, **jackals**, and dung beetles. To avoid burnout while hunting, leopards often lie on a tree branch, wait for an animal to pass underneath, and then pounce on it. Once a large kill is made, a leopard will often store it in a tree, out of the reach of other predators.

Despite the **lion**'s reputation as king of the jungle or king of beasts, this is only the case in Western culture. In Africa itself, the majority of the tribes actually thought of the leopard as the ultimate predator and king of the jungle. The ancient people of Benin had a ritual where the heir of the throne had to sacrifice a leopard to the gods. It symbolized that the future king of the people was blessed with the power and wisdom with now deceased king of the beasts. Wearing the fur of a leopard was considered standard in many rituals, as well as a sign of royalty, such as with the Zulus. Some tribes, such as the Mabadu, worshiped leopards to the extremes, and gave rise to the Anioto, more commonly known as the 'Leopard Men', a cult of cannibalistic assassins and religious extremists that took part in ceremonial sacrifices and much more.

### **In The Lion Guard**

Makucha the leopard was a diurnal hunter in the episode that he made his appearance, though two other leopards both slept in the daylight hours.[1] None live in the Pride Lands, and they are therefore unfamiliar to most Pride Landers,[2] while a couple are confirmed to reside in the Back Lands. It is stated by Ajabu that a leopard's favorite food is okapi. Leopards have a reputation as aggressive animals, as it has been stated that they greet others with their teeth and are supposed to be fierce hunters and fighters, who rarely give up their territory without a fight.

One leopard, Badili, has shown to be submissive and lacking the confrontational qualities that make up the other leopards in the universe. Even after gaining these traits, he has remained friendly towards others. Oddly enough, leopards are not native to the Pride Lands in the series, despite being native to Kenya in real life. This makes all the leopards in the series an invasive species. As animals aren't aware of how dangerous leopards are, proven by Makucha when he sneakily attacked a zebra and gazelle herd, though it was stated by Kion and Fuli many other animals wouldn't know about leopards if they aren't aware of its appearance. As leopards caused more problems over time, animals such as galagos became more aware that leopards were a threat. An example of this is when Badili unintentionally slept in Laini's Tree, much to the ire of Laini. Makucha is also an example, as he tried to attack many animals multiple times.

Leopards are solitary, as proven by Makucha, though he has gotten others to join him to defend his territory and could be more successful to hunt down prey. Leopards can steal other territories from their own kind and drive off the weaker leopard far from their original territory. Makucha, at one point, teamed up with three other leopards to take down the Lion Guard and split them up for defending their watering hole. His leap did this, presumably from the Guard and zebras entering their territory.[3]

A leopard’s speed is nearly as fast as a cheetah, but compared to a cheetah, they can leap further and have better agility to zigzag. They are great jumpers, able to jump branch to branch to get away from their enemies. Leopards are even depicted as excellent climbers, such as when Makucha's Leap managed to scale a rock wall. In addition, they have great stealth, as shown when Mapigano creeps up on Badili to scare him. Leopards have a great sense of smell and can use it to track their target for miles. Their strength is greater than a cheetah and nearly strong enough to handle lions around Kion's age. Though they stronger then cheethas but unable to strike at them from their amazing speed.

Leopards do have great resilience and stamina by taking attacks from lions, hippo, Okapi and Zebra as they still able to get back to try to continue to fight or run off long distance.

## **Notable Leopards In The Lion King & The Lion Guard**

* **Leopold's leap**
	+ **Leopold**
	+ **Claudia**
* **Badili**
* **Mapigano**

* **Makucha's Leap**
	+ **Makucha**
	+ **Jiona**
	+ **Fahari**

## **Trivia**

* Much like the **lions** in the series, female leopards are recognizable by their lack of whiskers.
* In the show, some leopards have been shown with some tufts of fur under their chin, indicating they are adults. However, Mapigano is shown with less tufts, which could indicate he is a juvenile leopard.

## **References**

1. **The Trouble With Galagos**
2. **The Imaginary Okapi**
3. **The Golden Zebra**