Forests are shelter places for a number of many wild animals that make our nature beautiful. They are helpful to humans in a number of ways. Their bright colours, soft fur, extremely developed running capability makes them immensely successful among the predators. We are talking about the leopards. Leopards come under the kingdom Animalia and phylum Chordata. They are placed in the class Mammalia, order Carnivora as they are carnivores and the family Felidae. The scientific name of the leopard is Panthera pardus. They are the smallest of the four big cats which includes lion, tiger and the jaguar. Earlier they were distributed across the eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa but now their population has declined heavily because of mass killing and they are now confined to areas of sub-Saharan Africa and also in fragmented numbers in India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indochina and China. IUCN has kept leopards in the category of Near Threatened species as they are on the verge of being extinct.
Leopards have short legs, long body and large skull in comparison to others members of the cat family. It resembles jaguar but is smaller and somewhat slightly built. The body fur is marked by rosettes similar to that of the jaguar but the rosettes are somewhat smaller and are more densely packed and lack the central spots as the jaguars possess. Jaguars and leopards both are melanistic and are commonly called as black panthers. Leopards are popular for their opportunistic hunting behaviour as they are having the ability to adapt to a wide variety of habitats and are capable of running with extremely fast speed which may be 58 kilometers per hour and are capable of climbing the trees swiftly even when carrying a heavy carcass. They are also notorious thieves and can steal the prey within a minute. It can easily catch and consume any animal it hunts. It is available from the rainforests to the desert terrains.
SAVANNAH CAT
Taxonomy and Evolution
In the earlier times it was believed that leopard is the hybrid of lion and panther. The generic name Panthera pardus is taken from a Greek word which means spotted fur. Like all other members of the Felidae genus Panthera is also a subject of debate and the exact relations between all the four species including the snow leopard and the clouded leopard is still a mystery. It is believed that the members of the family Felidae evolved about 11 million years ago. The last ancestor of lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, snow leopard and the clouded leopard made its existence about 6.37 million years ago on the planet earth. A study conducted by Yu and Zhang on the mitochondrial DNA in 2005 shows that the leopard is very closely related to the snow leopard. Johnson et al., also supports this view as they conducted a study in 2006. It is believed that leopard originated in Asia and later on migrated to Africa. About 27 subspecies of leopard were suggested during the 18th century. But later on only nine sub species were recognized.
Physical Characteristics
Leopard is a agile and stealthy predator. Although it is smallest among the other members of the genus Panthera but it bears a massive skull with strong and powerful jaw muscle. The body is comparatively long and the legs are short. The head and body length is about 125 cm and 165 cm. the tail length is about 110 to 160 cm. the height of the shoulders is about 45-80 cm. the muscles that are attached to the scapula are extremely strong and are responsible for providing the ability to the leopard to climb trees. The size of the adult leopards varies among the members of the family. It has been reported the males are 30% larger in size as compared to the females. The average body weight of males is about 30 to 91 kg while that of the female is 3 to 60 kg. The males of the Kruger National Park, South America are reported to weigh 91 kg while those that are found in the coastal mountains of South Africa are smaller and weigh about 30 kg only. This variability in body weight may be due to the differences in the habitats. The leopards of the Middle East are also smaller in body size.
Leopards may be sometimes confused with other cat members like the cheetah and the jaguar. The three can be distinguished by the pattern of the spots. The cheetah has small, simple and densely packed spots while the jaguars have small spots inside the rosettes. The leopards have smaller and rounder rosettes in comparison to that of the jaguars. The leopards are larger and much stronger than the cheetah but they are smaller in size as compared to the jaguars and lightly built. Leopards also show wide variation among the colour of the fur as well as the pattern of rosettes. The leopards of the East Africa have circular rosettes while those of the South Africa have square shaped rosettes. The colour of the coat is cream coloured of more pale in the desert populations and those of the colder climates have shades of gray. The species dwelling in the rainforests have more golden coloured coat. The coat under the belly is generally lighter in colour and the spots or the rosettes are often seen on the face and the legs.
Colour Variation
The mountainous regions and the rain forests house a melanistic form of the leopards. The colour of the fur is black and is inherited by the offspring and is basically caused by the recessive gene loci. These forms are called as black panthers. The melanistic leopards are common to the Malayan Peninsula and according to a report of 2007 all the leopards of the Taman Negara National Park were melanistic. The advantage of such melanism may be helping in protection but exact reason is not clear. It has also been believed that melanism helps in strengthening the immune system in an unknown way. In Africa the black leopards are less common and their black colouration seems to have no role in their protection while the black leopards are very much common in the Ethiopian Highlands. Pseudo-melanism or abundism has also been noticed in case of leopards. The pseudo-melanistic leopard has the normal background colour but the spots are more densely packed and merge together to match with the golden brown colour. The face and the under parts are as usual as in the normal ones.
Behaviour and Biology
The leopards are known to be experts in climbing the trees and are often seen resting on the branches of the trees. They are often noticed to climb rapidly over the trees with prey in their grip and are also seen enjoying their prey on the branches. They are also masters in swimming but not as great in comparison to other members of the cat family. They can run with a speed of about 58 kilometers per hour and are having the leaping capacity of 6 meters and jumping horizontally ability of 3 meters vertically. They perform a number of activities like roaring, grunting, growling, meowing and sawing sounds. Leopards are nocturnal creatures easily studied in the open savannah habitats. The leopards inhabiting the rain forests of West Africa are diurnal and crepuscular. The leopards inhabiting in the forests are known to exhibit specialization in the prey selection and seasonal activity patterns.
Diet
Leopards are dynamic and opportunistic hunters seen hunting in the open savannas between the sunrise and the sunset by taking the advantage of the bushes and the cloudy sky. The leopard stalks near its prey very silently and then grabs its throat and the neck region. They are often seen to carry their prey over the branches of the trees to enjoy it in a relaxed mood. They are capable of taking the prey about three times heavier than their own body weight swiftly to the tree branch. The leopards are the only known big cats that are capable of taking the prey to the branch of the tree. The dietary demand of the leopards and the diversity of prey are extremely elaborate in comparison to other species of the genus Panthera. The leopards are known to prey on smaller animals like the dung beetles to large size animals including the ungulates, monkeys and also they prefer to feed on rodents, amphibians, fishes, birds as well as reptiles. In Africa the chitals, black bucks and the antelopes form the favourite food of the leopards.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
The mating cycle of leopards continues throughout the year or seasonally during January and February depending upon the regions. The female stays in the receptive condition for about 7 days and the estrous cycle lasts for about 46 days. The gestation period is of 90-105 days. The cubs are born in groups of 2-4 and only 1 or 2 survive after the first year as the mortality rate is 40-50%. The cubs are born in the caves, dens or under crevices. The eyes of the cubs are closed when they are born and the eyes take 4-9 days to open. The coat of the young ones is stronger and thicker in comparison to that of the adults. The colour of the fur is paler with lesser number of spots. When the cubs are three months old they start following their mother during the act of hunting. At the age of one year they become completely independent and are able to feed and defend themselves on their own but they tend to remain with their mother for about 18-24 months. The life span of the leopards is noted to be around 21 years in captivity. The home range of leopards is about 30-78 kilometers which includes 15-16 females. Leopards are solitary and apart from mating and hunting they are also known to participate in aggressive encounters. Leopards are known to survive to a temperature range of 25°C.
Ecological Significance
Leopards have been observed to compete for food and shelter with other predators like the lions, tigers, spotted hyenas and both African and Asiatic wild dogs. The predators may also cause damage to the young cubs or they may often kill the cubs. Even a tiger or a lion can kill a leopard. Leopards have adapted certain features to remain protected from these terrific enemy and they often avoid those areas which are frequently visited by these predators. They often climb on the trees in order to protect themselves but the lions often get successful in snatching the preys taken by the leopards to the trees.
Hybrids
Cross breeding between the leopards and other members of Panthera has resulted in the production of hybrids. A cross conducted between a male leopard and a female lioness resulted in the production of the offspring what we call a leopon. Leopons are produced under captivity and are surviving in the Koshien Hanshin Park in Nishinomiya, Japan in the late 1950s. A cross between the male jaguar and a female leopard results in the production of jagupard and the reverse cross results in the production of lepjags. A cross between a puma and the leopard is called as pumapard.
Relationship with Humans
Leopards are the source of strength and have been used by human beings since time immemorial in the art, mythology and culture. Leopards as pets have been used by certain kings of the olden times. Many national parks and sanctuaries have been established all over the world which are providing not only protection to these species but are also a source of earning good currency. Generally leopards avoid killing human beings but loss of habitats and insufficient quantity of prey compels them to attack human beings.
Leopards are the beautiful creatures which make our environment beautiful and we must take care of these animals which are on the verge of extinction.
Leopards - The Smaller Cats
Navodita Maurice
SAVANNAH CAT
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