LEOPARD

LEOPARD

Leopards are solitary animals. Most leopards are light colored with distinctive dark spots that are called rosettes. They live in sub-Saharan Africa, northeast Africa, Central Asia, India, and China. 

Compared to other wild cats, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, but generally has a smaller, lighter physique. The maximum weight of a leopard is about 96 kg.

Leopards that are melanistic  are known as black panthers.

The leopard is distinguished by its well-camouflaged fur, opportunistic hunting behaviour, broad diet, and strength.

The vertical climber

A leopard has the ideal physiology for tree climbing. They are powerfully built in their shoulders and forelimbs, allowing them to pull themselves up steep tree trunks; they have a low centre of gravity and incredibly  high power-to-weight ratio; they have protractile claws allowing them to grip bark; their front limbs are free from attachment to the collarbone (joined only by ligament and muscle) which allows free movement; their mobile backbone allows them to twist and turn and balance themselves, twisting up to 180 degrees relative to the other half of their body; and their tails are long, slender and sturdy for keeping balance when climbing. These adaptations make the leopard the most successful climber of all the predators in the region.