Leopard - (One of The Big 5) |
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Unique Features
Leopards are cunning hunters and can detect their prey from a distance of over a kilometer away. Leopards strangle larger prey with a throat bite. The leopard is the strongest of all cat species. It has the ability to drag a carcass 3 times its own body weight.
Leopards are secretive and solitary by nature. The pattern on a leopard’s coat gives it excellent camouflage and makes it difficult to spot in the wild. Most of their hunting takes place at night. The leopard’s favorite resting place is in a tree, and it’s only serious enemy is the lion. The species' success in the wild is due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometers per hour (36 mph), its ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass,and its notorious ability for stealth. The leopard consumes virtually any animal it can hunt down and catch. Predators The adult leopard's only serious enemy is the lion. When attacked, the leopard often escapes by climbing a tree. Leopard cubs are hunted by large birds of prey, wild dogs, hyenas and lion. Family Ties Leopard live in home areas where male and female areas may overlap. Males respect each others boundaries, marking their territories by scratching marks on tree trunks, urinating and defecating. A group of leopard usually comprise of the mother and cubs. Cubs are born in underground burrows or secluded dens, and remain hidden for the first eight weeks. At the age of five weeks cubs start practicing their hunting skills by catching insects, frogs or other small creatures. They are weaned at three months and start stalking prey by following their mother when hunting. Hunting Leopard are cunning hunters with diverse feeding habits. They eat the widest variety of prey of all cats. Their diet includes bat-eared foxes, porcupines, aardwolves, aardvarks, lizards, snakes, crocodiles, ground birds, eggs, dassies, jackals, genets, ostriches, baboons and monkeys. They are also keen fishermen, catching crabs by overturning rocks and hooking catfish with their claws. They hunt alone. They stalk their prey and get as close as possible before making the final rush. They are perfectly camouflaged and they have silence and stealth to their advantage. They can detect the slight movement of a medium-sized animal at the distance of one kilometer and they have excellent night vision. It kills its smaller prey by a single neck or head bite. It strangles larger prey with a throat bite. The kill is always dragged away under cover of a bush or tree.The leopard eats its fill and stores the remainder of the kill either up a tree, in a hole, or buries it, covering it with soil and branches. Leopard can sometimes be seen dozing in a tree, sated after eating its fill, with two or three carcasses lodged in the forked branches of the same tree. |