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The solitary leopard is extremely difficult to spot in the wild. It is renowned for its sharp vision and keen sense of hearing, and for its unique ability to avoid detection.

HABITS

Except for a brief time during mating and when the female is rearing her young, the leopard leads a solitary life within a defined territory. Like other members of the cat family, the leopard marks its territory with urine. It will also shred the bark of particular trees within its territory. In areas rich in game, territories are smaller than in those areas that have less prey. The territories of males are usually larger than those of females and will often overlap several females' territories. However, males never share portions of their territories.

BREEDING

Male and female leopards come together to breed for only 6-7 days when the female is in heat. The male is drawn to her by the strong smell of urine she sprays on trees during this time. After mating, the male returns to his territory, leaving the female to give birth and care for the young alone. The birth takes place in a hidden lair after a gestation period of 3 months. If the female carried her young for a longer period of time, it would restrict her ability to hunt, preventing her from killing enough food for herself and her cubs. But the short gestation period means that the cubs are born underdeveloped; they are helpless and weigh only 15-20 ounces. While the cubs are still small, their mother carries them to a new hiding place every few days to lessen their chance of falling prey to lions, hyenas, or even male leopards. At this stage in their growth, the spots on their coats are so dense that they appear to be solid gray. Their milky blue eyes, characteristic of the young of all species of cat, open after 9 days. The cubs generally stay with their mother for 2 years.


FOOD & HUNTING

The leopard usually hunts at dawn or dusk. After waiting silently among the brush or in a tree, the leopard ambushes its prey. The leopard kills by biting its prey on the throat or the back of the neck. It will then take its kill, which may be as heavy as itself, up into a tall tree, lodging it in the branches. Here it is safely stored beyond the reach of scavengers such as hyenas and jackals. After eating, the leopard usually visits a water hole to drink. The leopard eats a wide range of animals, from baboons, warthogs, and medium-sized antelopes to small mammals and birds. Individual leopards will sometimes develop a preference for particular types of food. It is thought that man-eating leopards, which are rare, develop a liking for human flesh after they have tasted it once.

LEOPARD & MAN

The leopard has been hunted for its pelt for many years. In the early 1960s, leopard poaching reached an all-time high when an estimated 50,000 leopards were killed in East Africa. Today the leopard is a protected species, but it is still hunted by herdsman, shepherds, and poachers. But it is recognized by farmers as having a useful function: it controls such animals as baboons and bush pigs that damage crops.



KEY FACTS

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