Interesting facts about Leopards

Leopards belong to the family of cats and you will see that their body is built in such a way that assists in hunting. They generally hunt during nights and keep their food up on a tree for safe storage. You will find them in sub - Saharan Africa, Central Asia, China, Northeast Africa and also in India. Now the leopards are also considered to be an endangered species along with its other related counterparts like lion, jaguars and tigers. They are one of the most graceful as well as other dynamic big cats. Their dotted coats act as a great camouflage when they hide themselves amongst the leaves of the tree before pouncing on their target. They feed on deer, pigs and antelope in the jungle and if they are closer to the human settlement, then only they attacks dogs out there and sometimes people as well.

Information about Leopards

Name:	Leopard
Binomial name:	Panthera pardus
Head and body length:	100 and 165 cm
Weight:	Male - 30 to 91 Kg; Female - 23 - 60 kg;
Life span:	12 to 18 Years
Body color:	Pale yellow to deep gold and patterned with black rosettes.
Habitat:	Savanna and Rainforest
Distribution:	Africa, Eastern and Southern Asia
Diet:	Carnivorous
Conservation status:	Near Threatened
Predators:	Humans, Lions, Nile Crocodiles and Brown Hyena
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Genus:	Panthera
Species:	Panthera pardus

Here are some other interesting facts about leopards:

Source: Flickr

• Panthera Pardus is the scientific name of the Leopard
• You will find two kinds of leopards, one is the popular cream fur with golden spots on it and the other one is with black fur and even darker spots on it, which is at times mistaken to be panthers.
• They are considered to be one of the strongest swimmers and not only that they are also popular for their agility. They can run as fast as 58 km/hr and leap horizontally 6m and vertically it can leap up to 3m.
• You will find the leopard's tail to be as long as its full body and that is the reason it is able to turn quickly and has great balance as well
• They generally have around three or two grayish cubs with hardly visible spots per gestation and during this period the mother leopard stop wandering around and take care of the cubs. They take care of them for almost 2 years after that they are on their own. For about three months the Cubs suckle and in order to protect the cubs from the predators they keep them hidden for the first 8 weeks
• Leopards also react the same way as the cats, so when they are angry they will growl and when they are content they will purr and when they want to make their presence felt to other leopards they make sounds like rasping cough.
• Leopards are said to be mainly solitary animals and they only allow intrusion during the mating period. Otherwise, they mark their territory with urine and also dig their claws on the trees to leave behind its mark which is enough to give the hint that it is their territory and nobody is welcomed
• When the female leopard is ready to mate they leave behind the scent on trees by rubbing their bodies against it or they make a sound just to let the male leopards know that she is ready for mating.