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Leopard (Panthera
pardus)
Habitat:
~ in contrast to the jaguar the leopard lives in Africa
and in large parts of Asia (from Turkey to Manchuria and
in the southern Siberia). Its terretory embrances the rain
forest, deserts, half deserts, dry savannah, nordic
deciduous forests and drying forests, mangrove forest,
reed-, bamboo- and shrub jungles over the mountains up to
the flat country. This cat oversleeps the day on trees
(hmm... why I can't do that?)
Fur:
~ the leopard has a look of deer-brown to gold-black with
large rosettes on the back up to the legs. This coat
pattern is related to the jaguar. Instead of the black
spots inside the rosettes, the leopard has a dark-brown
colouring. Furthermore the coat pattern on the chest is
spotted. On the chest, the belly and the inside of the
legs the coat turns into light brown to white.
Proportion:
Length 95 to 150 cm (measured without the tail)
Shoulder height of 85 to 95 cm
Tail length 50 to 65 cm
Weight female 30 to 60 kg
Weight male 45 to 90 kg
Age:
~ the average age is up to 15 years. Sometimes, leopards
reach an age of 23 years in captivity.
Reproduction:
~leopards usually live lonely, rarely they form small
groups.
~ the mating time is in different seasons to complete
annual (depending on the region). The time of pregnancy is
between 90 and 105 days. A litter consists of 1 to 7 cubs
- normal are 2 to 4 cubs. By the high baby mortality rate
usually only 2 cubs of a litter survive.
Diet/hunt:
~ as dawn - and night animals, leopards perform a very
energy saving hunt. The first kind of their hunt behavior
is the creep up. They creep up to their victim several
meters, in order to tear it down with an enormous jump and
to finally kill it. The second kind is to lie in ambush
and to wait until the unsuspecting prey comes. According
to the menu, the cat eats everything from small mouses,
birds, apes, antelopes and buffalos up to reptiles.
~ the cat is killing the prey via neck bite or throat
bite. Immediately after the hunt it tears up the victims
belly, takes the entrails out and digs these. Afterwards
the leopard drags its prey on a tree, and nourishes itself
on it several days.

Class:
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Mammalia (Mammals) |
Order: |
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Carnivora (Carnivore) |
Family: |
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Felidae (Cats) |
Subspecies: |
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Pantherinae |
Species: |
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Panthera (Big cats) |
Sort: |
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Panthera pardus
(Leopard)/approx. 26 subspecies
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(c) Annett Noack 2004 - 2021
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