home » Hats » Leopard coloring. What natural area does the leopard live in? Wild cat description

Leopard coloring. What natural area does the leopard live in? Wild cat description

Leopards belong to the feline family, a subspecies of big cats from the panther genus. It is one of the most common felines after the domestic cat. Although some of the subspecies are almost destroyed and listed in the International Red Book, there are quite thriving subspecies, for example, the African leopard.

Description of the leopard

The leopard is a fairly large cat weighing from 30 to 75 kg. There are also larger individuals weighing up to 90 kg. Body length 90-180 cm without tail. The tail is from 75 to 110 cm. The height at the shoulders is 80-90 cm.

The structure of the skull is massive, elongated, slightly low. The zygomatic arches are not widely spaced, the nasal bones are narrowed at the back. V oral cavity like most felines, 30 teeth. Each jaw has 2 canines and 6 incisors. Leopards have enough long tongue and like all cats, it is equipped with special tubercles that help separate meat from bone and wash.

The constitution of a leopard is elongated and flexible. Feet strong and slender, with curved and very sharp claws, up to 55 mm long. The fur is dense but not fluffy, tightly attached. V winter time in animals living in colder climates, the coat becomes longer and has a dull color.

The color can vary depending on. Leopards living in northern regions range, have a bright red, yellow-gray or light yellow coat color. The fur of African leopards is red-brown or yellowish.

In addition to the basic color, the entire body of the leopard is covered with small black or brownish spots. Each leopard has an individual pattern and pattern of spots. The spots can be either annular or solid. Asiatic leopards have larger spots, while African leopards have smaller spots. Among leopards, there are melanists, who are often called black panthers. Although the skin of a black leopard is not entirely black, spots always appear on it, as if in a pattern. Most melanist leopards live on the island of Java and the Malay Peninsula, but also to a lesser extent in India and Africa. Black individuals are often born in the same litter with spotted calves.

Leopard lifestyle

Leopards are solitary. Their usual day: sleep, hunting and leisurely walks around their site. mostly at night. Females that have kittens can go hunting at any time of the day.

Thanks to the soft pads, the leopard is able to sneak up on its prey so quietly that not a single leaf will rustle, not a single branch will crunch. As a rule, he hunts medium-sized animals, which he overtakes with a powerful jump (up to 5-6 m).

Leopards adapt well to live in any area, be it mountains, rainforests, plain, savanna or semi-desert. The territory of one leopard can range from 10 to 400 km². In females and males, the territorial areas may coincide, but if a representative of the same sex enters the territory, a fierce fight occurs between the rivals, sometimes with a fatal outcome.

Breeding leopards

Leopards do not have a specific breeding period; mating can occur at any time of the year. Pregnancy of a female lasts from 93 to 103 days, then babies are born. Leopard cubs are born blind and open their eyes only after 8-10 days. Most often, 1-2 babies are born in one litter, less often 3. Of the entire litter, only one kitten often survives.

The cubs spend the first three months in the den, and then they leave it with their mother. From time to time, the mother changes the shelter of her kittens so that they are not found by predators. Leaving them in another shelter, the mother goes hunting. Only after six months can kittens follow their mother everywhere. The mother brings up her offspring for about two years. Young leopards at this age leave their nurse and become independent.

Young animals reach sexual maturity at about 2.5 years.

Population status and protection of leopards

Five subspecies of leopards are endangered. The main reason for the decline in the leopard population is changes natural environment habitat, reduced food resources, and poaching.

The number of the Far Eastern leopard as of 2007 was about 34 individuals. By the beginning of 2015, there were already about 57 of them.

Also, some of the subspecies are listed in the IUCN Red Book and the Russian Red Book.

The leopard is a typical large member of the vast family of felines. The beast is unusually beautiful, however, this beauty is somehow unkind, alarming. Large black spots and rings are scattered across the sparkling golden background. On the sides and outer side of the legs, the general background of the color is lighter than on the back. It is white on the belly and inside of the legs. The winter fur of the leopard living in the Amur-Ussuri region is soft and rather lush. In summer it is shorter, less frequent and coarser, but the pattern remains the same - beautiful and bright. In warm regions, of course, winter fur is not necessary for a leopard.

Black leopards are rare. They are most often called the black panther, However, they are melanists: the same leopards, but dressed in a skin of a different color. In very bright light and on a black panther, you can notice the spotting, albeit with difficulty.

Scientists in zoos have found that when spotted leopards are crossed with black ones, kittens of both types of color are born in approximately equal proportions, and black parents give mostly black offspring.

Black panthers live throughout the vast range of the leopard, but are rare in the Amur-Ussuri region. Most often they are found in the South East Asia especially in Java.

The leopard has a graceful, light and flexible figure, a rounded head, a long tail, slender legs... And he is all graceful - and when he stands or lies, and when he walks, and when he attacks. His gait is quiet, light, completely inaudible - majestic.

This beast is superbly armed. Its fangs and claws that retract into a special sheath are sharp as needles and deadly as daggers. With a load in his teeth that exceeds his weight, he rushes through the forest quickly and easily. One gets the impression that the animal has a bag of tow in its mouth, and not a roe deer, sika deer or pig. And it is almost unbelievable: with a roe deer in its teeth, a large leopard jumps to a height of two or three meters. Let's add: the speed of his run is 16 - 18 meters per second, and eight-ten-meter long and four-meter high jumps are common for him, as well as artistic climbing trees, even straight and smooth.

The lion and the tiger are relatives of the leopard, but the closest of them in origin, appearance and the lifestyle of the jaguar found in South and Central America. He is almost the same colored, in dark spots on a yellow background, only slightly larger and slightly stockier in build. And the habits are the same. In short, a sibling to a leopard and a supercat of the New World.

Lion, tiger, leopard and jaguar are all in one kind of panther. They are so close that they give each other hybrid crosses. And if the feline family deservedly bears the laurels of the most specialized predatory animals, then the four representatives of the panther genus are nothing more than the elite of the feline family.

WWF UK

The Amur, or Far Eastern, leopard is a rare endangered subspecies. The Far Eastern leopard lives in mountain-forest areas, where a clear preference is given to black-fir-cedar-deciduous forests in the middle and upper reaches of rivers. Less willingly he populates broadleaf forests and especially pyrogenic oak forests, the areas of which are increasing as a result of annual fires. Its area, which previously covered Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the south of the Ussuri region, has now reduced to a critically small size. The current range of the Far Eastern leopard covers only a limited mountain forest area with an area of about 10-15 thousand square meters. km at the junction of three states of Russia, China, North Korea. The sizes of individual plots in the Far Eastern leopard are small, about 5-8 thousand hectares, and the animals themselves are strictly territorial predators: each adult animal has its own plot, which does not overlap with the plots of individuals of the same sex.

The remaining habitats of this graceful graceful cat are annually exposed to a significant degree of destructive effects of forest fires, the breed dies and the food base is undermined. Poaching has not been stopped not only for the main food items of leopards - roe deer, sika deer, raccoon dogs, badgers, hares, but also the leopard itself. And it is not difficult to get it: almost any pack of dogs can drive not only a young, but also an adult animal onto a tree, and when hungry, it goes to any bait and falls into traps. This is what poachers use.

The last refuge of the leopard in the Ussuriysk Territory is a small area of southwestern Primorye, about 200 kilometers long from the Razdolnaya River to Posyet Bay. But here, too, it keeps only in a narrow, undeveloped mountainous strip of coniferous-deciduous and deciduous forests along the border with China.

Among all cats, the leopard is perhaps the most beautiful, the most graceful, very strong and courageous, but at the same time very strong and courageous, but at the same time a very cautious animal. Bright variegated coloring not only decorates, but also makes it invisible in the play of sun bunnies in the forest jungle, in the variegation of tall grasses and among the mosaic of fallen leaves. The leopard has a keen eye and keen hearing, an excellent sense of smell. He is quick-witted and unhurried in a calm state, but lightning fast in a jump, not hunting, and can climb a tree with prey exceeding it in weight. Compared to the tiger, it is small. The female weighs up to 50, and the male weighs up to 70 kg.

The life of the Far Eastern leopard, living in the north of the range, takes place in extreme conditions The land with cold and snowy winters, with frosts of up to 30 degrees, it would seem, is not a place for tropical animals ... And yet the leopard lives here ... But it lives with a density ten times lower than in the tropics: a different nature , different prey, different behavior. In the summer, when the climate in the leopard's possessions approaches the tropical (abundant fogs, drizzle, showers, impassable thickets entwined with lianas, the green fragrance of nature - then his food is more varied and warm clothes are not needed), the wool barely reaches 2.5 cm. But in the fall, with the onset of cold weather, the leopard dresses in a lush fur coat with thick and long (from 5 cm on the back to 7 cm on the belly) fur. Especially fluffy young kittens, which in nature are very similar to snow leopard... Perhaps that is why the locals call the leopard exactly like this: "leopard".

What is known about the Far Eastern leopard? The material about the measurements of cats is not large - scientists were lucky enough to take measurements of about a dozen spotted panthers. Their upper limits show that the length of males reaches 136 cm, females - 112, tails, respectively, up to 90 and 73 cm, weight up to 53 or, possibly, up to 60 kilograms.

And further ... The eyes are yellow, the pupil is vertically oval, becoming round in the dark, the claws are dark chocolate with white ends, very mobile and retractable into a special "sheath" so as not to dull them when walking. The fur coat is replaced twice a year, in the fall - for a warm winter one and in the spring - for a cool summer one. Polygam, that is, one male can take care of several females. Mating games (rut), and, accordingly, the appearance of cubs can be at any time of the year (in this the leopard has remained faithful to the heritage of tropical origin), but usually the wedding takes place in January. After that, after 92-95 days, the female gives birth to up to four kittens weighing 400-600 grams, blind and only 15-17 cm in size. But more often there are only two kittens. They see clearly on the 7-9th day. Babies begin to leave the den at the age of a month or more, and at two - to join the game - the mother feeds them with belching of half-digested meat. Three-month-old kittens acquire the color of adults: black spots on their fluffy coat turn into rosettes. At the age of about a year, they part with their mother and become independent, and in the second or third year they themselves have a "family". In the zoo they live up to 20 years with a little, in nature - much less. These are the basic data published in reference books on the Far Eastern leopard, which include observations made mainly in zoos. For more than 10 years V. Korkishko and D. Pikunov have studied the life of a leopard, they have prepared a monograph on the ecology of this cat, which, of course, will reveal many little-known aspects of the life of the animal. In particular, they identified about 20 different animals serving as food for the leopard, including the above-mentioned wild boar, musk deer, fox, Siberian weasel, squirrel, hedgehog, hazel grouse, pheasant and others.

Most of the animals that the leopard feed on are the objects of commercial and amateur hunting and, of course, are poached. In addition, after the establishment of barriers on the border with China in autumn-winter period The influx of roe deer migrating from the Black Mountains, which previously regularly filled empty niches in coastal areas, has almost stopped. Over the past 10 years, the number of roe deer, even in the Kedrovaya Pad 'nature reserve, has dropped by more than 10 times. If earlier there were passing herds from 20-30 and up to 70 heads, now they are not at all.

It became difficult for a leopard to feed, especially in winter, when badgers and raccoon dogs go into their burrows for a long time, and young ungulates are few in number, and, moreover, they are growing up and becoming more cautious. Other small prey is not large enough to feed the leopard. Sika deer is a good hunting object for panthers, but it is kept in herds and is distributed sporadically, and therefore is available only for a part of leopards. In addition, some competition for deer hunting arises between the leopard and the tiger, especially in places with a small number of deer.

And yet, despite the difficulties arising with the extraction of food, no unprovoked attacks on humans were noted in the Far Eastern leopard. He is not afraid of a person, but in relation to him he is very careful, and sometimes quite curious. Sometimes, like a tiger, he walks on the heels of a man, watches all his actions, undoubtedly hoping to profit from the remnants of his hunt, but with all this he remains unnoticed. Very often he uses trails and roads made by man: they are easier to walk on, and less noise is produced when walking. He almost never attacks livestock, with the exception of deer in reindeer parks, rarely specifically hunts dogs.

If in the tropics, in places where leopards are common, you can easily observe them almost point-blank from a car, then the Far Eastern leopard lives so secretively and in such inaccessible places that it is very difficult to see it even from a distance. And this is where the forest, which has dropped its leaves for more than six months, stands completely transparent and the grass creeps to the ground, where for almost 4 months, at least in shady places, snow lies ... In winter, their footprints left in the snow tell about the life of leopards in great detail, but in summer the leopard is lost in tall grasses and bushes and its life is revealed in separate fragments: traces left on the mud of trails, scratches - marks along trails, on terraces and ridges and paw prints on sandy spits near the river. Rarely does a leopard give itself away with a roar.

The leopard can eat frozen meat and animal carcasses. A special role reindeer husbandry plays in the life of leopards. On the one hand, they provide the leopards with unlimited and readily available prey, on the other hand, the farm owners do everything to destroy the predator. Leopards are very conservative. For many years they live in the same areas, use constant paths, passages and brood dens. At the same time, they absolutely do not tolerate the prolonged presence of a person in such places, and even more so any economic activity (construction of hunting huts, roads, etc.), and when it appears, they always leave them. The worry factor for this hidden beast is very significant. The leopard does not pose a danger directly to humans. Over the past 50 years, not a single case of an unprovoked leopard attack on a person has been recorded. Having excellent hearing and sight, the leopard is the first to detect people and carefully leave (even from prey), remaining unnoticed. Only a few young leopards, out of curiosity, can follow the trail of a person, but they never show signs of aggression.

Taxonomic position:
Class Mammals - Mammalia, Order Carnivores - Carnivora, Felidae - Felidae, Species - Pantera pardus, Subspecies - Pantera pardus orientalis Schlegel.

Countries where the Far Eastern leopard is found:
The total world population of the Far Eastern leopard is not about 40 individuals, most of which live in Russia in the Primorsky Territory -30 individuals, and less than 10 individuals in the Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces in China. V South Korea the last meeting with a leopard was noted in 1969.

Central Asia leopard - Panthera pardus tulliana. An extremely small, endangered, on the territory of Russia, possibly already extinct subspecies. Listed in the IUCN Red List. Body length 90 - 170 cm. Tail up to 100 cm. Body weight - 2 - 80 kg. Great tree frog and rock climber, but does not like water. Distributed in the regions of the Greater Caucasus and in the Transcaucasia, those areas that are involved in hostilities. The main sources that were used in the compilation of this story about the LEOPARD:

Young Naturalist 1992 - 2
Young Naturalist 1980 - 4
"Bird Market" newspaper 1996
WWF Russia website -

Many photos are clickable before 1920 px - take them to the table.

Leopard(Panthera pardus), a feline mammal. Complete classification: subtype Vertebrates (Vertebrata), class Mammals, or Beasts (Mammalia), subclass True animals (Theria), order Carnivores (Carnivora), family Felines (Felidae), subfamily Felines (Felinae), genus Big cats (Pantera). In our country it is known as a leopard.

Highly beautiful cat with an elongated, flexible, slender and at the same time strong body(91-180 cm), rounded head, long tail(75-110 cm), slender, strong legs. Body weight is usually 32-40 kg, sometimes up to 100 kg.
The color is yellow, with one shade or another. Clearly outlined solid black spots in the form of rings are scattered over a yellow background with one shade or another (on the body, tail, legs). The fur of a leopard from tropical countries is thick, but not fluffy, very brightly colored. African leopards have small spots, while Asian leopards have larger spots. The color of the Central Asian is sandy-grayish, the Far East is reddish-yellow. The Far Eastern animal has a fluffy, thicker, rather dull coat in winter. Very bright, rich colors in the color of leopards in dense tropical forests.

Leopards do not like water and rain: they hide if it rains. They bury their droppings like cats. They know how to sleep in a tree, hiding in the branches. Excellent hearing and sight. The sense of smell is weak. Are born, but very rarely albino leopards and so called flavists: for these, as if nature lacked black paint - the spots are faded, ocher, at best chocolate. Forest leopards the largest of their kind. And the smallest - somali leopard.

The leopard lives in a vast area that exceeds that of any other member of the cat family. It inhabits most of Africa (except for the Sahara), the southern half of Asia, and Southeast Europe. Until recently, the leopard was found in the Caucasus, now it occasionally appears only in the Transcaucasia, sometimes in Central Asia, and more often in the southern part of Primorye.

The habitat of the leopard is dense tropical, subtropical and mixed forests of the Manchu type, mountain slopes, plains, savannahs, thickets along the banks of rivers. It happens that the predator lives near settlements, keeps alone and hunts at night. The leopard climbs trees well, often settling there for a day's rest or in ambush, and sometimes even catches monkeys in trees or hides prey from other predators. However, the main hunting ground is the land. Yielding in strength to a tiger or lion, the leopard surpasses them in the ability to silently and deftly sneak up on the victim.

This is a very cunning cat. A leopard can wallow for hours in the sun, pretending to be dead, writhing, moaning and pretending to be dying, thereby luring inexperienced curious deer or camels. If the leopard hunts from an ambush, it makes a huge jump (the jump height can reach 5.5 m), falling on the victim's back, biting on the scruff of the neck and knocking to the ground. The main prey of leopards are small antelopes, deer, roe deer and other ungulates, but in hard times he can hunt rodents, monkeys, birds, does not disdain reptiles and insects. Among the leopards there are also cannibals, which in their insolence of attack are superior to cannibals-tigers. In India, one leopard has killed 125 people in eight years. Another killed 400 people in 77 mountain villages and terrified local residents at night until he was shot.

Leopards are usually nocturnal. They usually hunt alone. In the southern regions, leopards breed all year round. In the Far East, mating takes place in January. Like other cats, leopards arrange fights at this time, accompanied by a loud roar of males, although at normal times the leopard is silent. Pregnancy lasts 3 months, 1-3 cubs appear. They are born blind and helpless. But very soon they see the light and begin their first forays for frogs and birds. By the time they learn to hunt, their eyesight becomes so sharp that they can see their prey 1.5 km away. Young leopards reach full growth and sexual maturity, with females somewhat earlier than males.

V national park In Chitawan, Nepal, a female tiger accompanied by two half-year-old cubs and a female leopard, who gave birth to kittens after tagging, were marked with radio collars. The radioactive traction of these two predators was carried out from December to April. Both females stayed in the same area of the riverine forest with tall grass vegetation. The individual plot of the tigress was 9.3 km 2, and that of the female leopard was 8 km 2. The plots completely overlapped, but the females avoided encounters, although the distance between them was sometimes from 100 to 500 m. These ecologically close predators were allowed to avoid each other by the fact that the tigress adhered to lands with dense woody vegetation, and the female leopard - more open spaces covered with forbs ... At the same time, the tiger, except for the night, was active in cooler morning hours, and the leopard in the early evening.

The leopard population is small everywhere, therefore it is included in the IUCN Red List. The leopard has recently been one of the favorite trophies of hunters due to its highly prized hide in the fur market.

Amur leopard(Pantera pardus orientalis) is found in the Far East; by 1973, its number was only 20-25 individuals, permanently living there, and 18-21 coming from China and Korea. This subspecies is so rare that rare zoo the world is honored to have it in its collection. According to the latest data, only 30 Amur ( Far Eastern) leopard. In December 2002, a fundraising campaign was launched to carry out conservation work for this leopard subspecies. Will be released computer game, playing which you can set the desired strategy for the survival of the Amur leopard. It is assumed that one of the winning strategies will be taken as the basis for the real restoration of the subspecies.

The harsh conditions of the region with cold snowy winters and a limited food base did not allow the Amur leopard to have a more or less significant number earlier, and in recent decades, active human economic activity has been steadily pushing it from its original habitats and brought it to a very dangerous brink ... The habitats of this graceful graceful cat are annually exposed to a significant degree of destructive effects of forest fires, the breed dies and the food base is undermined. Poaching has not been stopped not only for the main food items of leopards - roe deer, sika deer, raccoon dogs, badgers, hares, but also the leopard itself. And it is not difficult to get it: almost any pack of dogs can drive not only a young, but also an adult animal onto a tree, and when hungry, it goes to any bait and falls into traps. This is what poachers use.

The only reserve where the Far Eastern leopard breeds is Kedrovaya Pad ', but it is so small - about 18 thousand hectares, that it does not play a significant role in the preservation of this wonderful cat - only one male lives here constantly, and usually no more than two females. Almost every year the reserve "releases" from two to four young leopards beyond its limits, but the surroundings of the reserve are so mastered by humans and unsuitable for the life of animals that they are doomed to die from a poacher's bullet, or from starvation. an area of southwestern Primorye with a length of about 200 kilometers from the Razdolnaya River to Posyet Bay. But here, too, it keeps only in a narrow, undeveloped mountainous strip of coniferous-deciduous and deciduous forests along the border with China.

Central Asian leopard(Pantera pardus ciscaucasica) has a population of no more than 10 individuals in the Caucasus (or maybe it does not exist at all), and in the Kopetdag - 10. The place of life of the Persian leopard is Armenia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Now about two thousand individuals live in the wild, in 72 zoos of the world - 174. In the summer of 2007, three Persian leopard kittens were born in the Budapest zoo: 2 females and a male.

Even in the last century, the Central Asian leopard could be found in all mountainous regions of Turkmenistan, southern Uzbekistan, southwestern Tajikistan, as well as in Iran, Turkey and some regions of the Caucasus. At that time, the leopard's range was several million hectares, now it has decreased to 600-800 thousand hectares. In some areas, the leopard has completely disappeared, in others its numbers are very low. Even in areas where the leopard still lives - in the Kopetdag mountains in Turkmenistan - it faces the problem of a lack of food resources - wild ungulates, which forces it to hunt domestic animals and thus come into conflict with the local population.

Until 1940-1950, when the leopard population plummeted, its population in the Western Kopetdag was relatively stable. By the early 1990s. the population has declined dramatically following a decline in the populations of animals that serve as the main objects of its food - argali, bezoar goat and wild boar. There was a real threat of the population disintegration into isolated groups and even its complete disappearance, as happened with the population of the Turanian tiger.

Clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), contrary to its name, has nothing to do with real leopards. It is distinguished by significant morphological and ecological originality and occupies an intermediate position between small and large cats. The pupil of the clouded leopard is not round, like that of big cats, but ovoid. In addition, the larynx is structured like a small cat. He is able to purr like small cats. Sometimes it is distinguished into a special genus (Neofelis).

Clouded leopard has a body 62-106 cm long, a tail long (60-90 cm). The mass of this predator is in the range of 16-30 kg, so it cannot be attributed to big cats but it is the largest representative of medium-sized cats. It has an elongated, lithe body, short legs, wide paws and tough naked calluses, convenient for climbing trees. Thick wool of a grayish or yellowish color is decorated with an elegant pattern of wide and narrow markings in the form of circles, rosettes, ovals, the rear edges of which are outlined more clearly than the front ones, which enhances the spectacular coloring. Very beautiful black marble pattern on a bright yellow or yellow-gray background. The chest and belly are light or white with few spots. On the neck and back there are dark brown or black elongated spots. The tail is heavy, furry, colored with indelible black rings. The eyes are yellow.

The skull of the clouded leopard is elongated, which distinguishes it from other cats. His fangs are larger than those of other cats in proportion to body size. Sometimes it is referred to as the modern "saber-toothed". It feeds on deer, large cattle, goats, wild pigs, reptiles, birds and monkeys. It can hunt, both day and night, tracking its game on the ground or overtaking it in a jump from a tree.

The range of the clouded leopard is South Asia from Nepal, Sikkim, South China south to Sumatra and Kalimantan. Habitat - dense tropical forests, bushes, swamps. The Clouded Leopard spends most of its time in the trees. It hunts mostly birds at night, but also attacks monkeys, pigs, sika deer, goats, porcupines. Sometimes it jumps on its prey from branches hanging over the ground, but quite often it hunts right on the ground.

There are four species of clouded leopards in total. Their color varies from darkish yellow-brown (in the southern part of the range) to light yellow (such are found in southern China).

Pregnancy of females lasts 86-92 days. There are 2 to 5 kittens in a litter. Cubs are born in hollows, develop relatively slowly. Clouded leopard - rare beast, it is listed in the IUCN Red List.

In 2007 identified the new kind clouded leopards in Sumatra and Borneo. The discovery was made by genetic scientists from National Institute cancer in the United States (US National Cancer Institute) and a group of representatives of the World Fund wildlife(WWF). Until now, clouded leopards have been classified as belonging to a species found in mainland Southeast Asia. Now scientists believe that the two species diverged more than a million years ago, and have evolved separately since then.

Clouded leopard(Felis nebulosa) Borneo is the most large predator territory, it is similar in size to a small leopard. Its weight is about 20 kg, and its body length is 1.6-1.9 m, and almost half is taken by the tail. That the species were divided was established by scientists at the National Cancer Institute in the United States using a DNA test, which showed about 40 differences between them. Another confirmation was obtained in the study of the characteristics of animal fur. Leopards from Borneo and Sumatra have small “clouds” with many distinct dots in them, gray or dark fur, and double stripes along their backs.

The spots are separated from each other by thin strips of bright brown (slightly reddish) wool. The spots of mainland leopards differ large size... In addition, the animal is much lighter in color, the main range of Asian leopard fur is brownish-yellow. Their mainland cousins have dark spots on their skins with smaller, often poorly distinguishable dots, their fur is lighter and its color is more reddish-brown. According to WWF, there are 5 to 11 thousand leopards on the island, and in addition, there are from 3 to 7 thousand animals in Sumatra.

Mountain leopard lives in the Alps. There are literally units of this subspecies in the world. On May 14, 2003, there was a short report on television that one specimen of a mountain alpine leopard was acquired by the Buenos Aires Zoo. During the moments of the plot, it was possible to note a short body, thick, long, fluffy, spotted coat. This should be the case for animals living in harsh high-altitude conditions. I was struck by the cat's extreme sympathy and gentleness. The mountain leopard species is found in the mountains of Africa.

V tropical countries sometimes there are dark-colored leopards, which are called black panthers... If you look closely, you can see even darker spots on the black background. Scientists have recently established that the panther and the black leopard are the same species. Black panthers are commonly found in Java. Black individuals can be born in the same brood with normally colored cubs.

The main victims of the leopard are roe deer, medium-sized antelopes, deer, wild boars, monkeys, and hares. Average weight prey is usually 25 - 50 kilograms, but the leopard is able to crush a horse, zebra, cow and even a gorilla. And with all this, he is not averse to eating locusts, voles or frogs. And you can imagine - he catches and feasts on fish!

In Primorye, until the beginning of the 20th century, sika deer and goral were his favorite prey. Now these animals in the wild have become very rare, but there are many deer in fur farms. And the predator uses every opportunity to enter the reindeer farm park and take his soul away on his favorite hunt. The leopard is a smart beast, he understands well how a visit to reindeer state farms can end, and still goes for it.

The leopard has a keen hearing and keen eyesight, and he sees well in the seemingly impenetrable darkness. With its bright color, the super cat perfectly disguises itself on the ground. In a rare clean forest, you can walk past a motionless beast a few meters away and not notice it. He invisibly sneaks even in the grass 30 - 40 centimeters high, as if squeezing into the ground. Especially well masks its color in autumn or drought, when everywhere yellow and brown leaves and withered grasses.

Even an experienced and vigilant local hunter often cannot notice a leopard lying motionless in a fork or on a thick suna on a tree - before that, the animal merges with the general background of the tree bark, shimmering in the glare of the sun. Only the tail gives out the supercat: she forgets about him, and he hangs down, and when the animal is worried, the tip of the tail moves.

Like the tiger, the leopard has an irresistible hatred for jackals, wolves, dogs and a passion for their meat.

A large hungry leopard can eat medium-sized prey in two days, and when well-fed, it lasts for almost a week. Hides uneaten food in reserve. In Africa and South Asia, this animal, fearing jackals, hyenas and other lovers of profit from strangers, usually drags its prey onto a rock or into a fork in a large tree and settles itself here.

But here's another mystery: the leopard eats up its large prey on the fourth or fifth day, when it is already fetid. It also does not shun carrion, And if another predator tastes the prey during his absence, the leopard no longer touches it. Pride? Disgust? Unknown.

The leopard is the storm of the monkeys. Monkeys, chimpanzees, and all monkey relatives are panicky afraid not only of a living predator, but even of its stripped cords. What can you do: they do not always manage to escape from his rapid throws, even in trees. When the supercat walks through the forest, the monkeys, climbing to the tops of the trees, raise an unimaginable hubbub. Baboons - large, brave and strong monkeys - are constantly wary of the leopard: the herd at the transition keeps an all-round defense, and at feeding and rest it is vigilantly guarded by the watchmen.

Our distant ancestors, too, often died in the claws of a leopard. Perhaps that is why this beast is not afraid of people even now. Often found in scientific literature Do not believe the reports of leopard cowardice. Cowardice and prudent caution are not the same thing and should not be confused. The leopard is insanely brave and at the same time cautious.Chunting prey, he sometimes comes close to settlements, however, he began to evade meeting with a modern man, without showing haste and nervousness, There were attacks of leopards on people, but almost all of them were caused pursuit i.e. attacks on a person were justified by the person himself: like the tiger, the leopard does not tolerate this, he is too proud and independent.

Throughout its range, the leopard is protected and listed in the international Red Book; main threat for him it is associated with a change in natural habitats and a reduction in the food supply. The leopard skin trade, once a serious problem, has now receded into the background, and poaching for the needs of oriental medicine is a major concern. The survival of the species can only be guaranteed by large reserves.

The lion and the tiger are relatives of the leopard, but the closest of them in origin, appearance and lifestyle is the jaguar that lives in South and Central America. He is almost the same colored, in dark spots on a yellow background, only slightly larger and slightly stockier in build. And the habits are the same. In a word, native brother leopard and New World super cat.

Yielding to a lion and a tiger in size, the leopard wins with dexterity and swiftness of movement. He perfectly climbs trees, rocks and feels no less free there than on the ground. His reaction is instant, attacks are lightning fast, he does not know fear. And it is not for nothing that many scientists and famous hunters consider the leopard to be the most perfect of cats - a supercat.

HERE HERE showed a lot.- look who has not seen, you will not regret it.

Leopard- one of the representatives of large cats. There are 9 subspecies in total, including both black and white leopards. Several species, like Zanzibar (was seen last time 1980) and European (lived on our planet more than 10,000 years ago) are considered officially extinct. But today we'll talk about Far Eastern leopard, about where he lives, what he looks like, what he eats.

Description of the Far Eastern leopard

Body length Far Eastern (Amur, East Siberian) leopard 107-136 cm with a body weight of 32-48 kg (in rare cases, the weight reaches 75 kg), and the tail grows in length 82-90 cm, shoulder height up to 78 cm. The skull of a leopard is compressed in the interorbital region rather strongly. And the life expectancy of such a predator is 20 years on average.

Leopard fur is 30-50 mm long on the back and belly up to 70 mm. In summer, the color is darker (ranging from golden to cream), in winter it is lightened on the sides, the belly and limbs are white. And, of course, there are peculiar black spots all over the body, which is typical for all leopards.

HABITAT, INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT FAR EASTERN LEOPARDS

Far Eastern leopard habitat

Such cats live in a small area of the territory of three states - China, North Korea and Russia. As of 2014, there are about 50-60 leopards, although a century ago it occupied the entire Korean Peninsula, Primorye and even areas in northern China, and now it is one of the rare individuals. Of course, active measures are being taken to conserve Far Eastern leopards.

These predators choose their homes in subtropical, tropical steppes, savannas, deserts, to the borders of various settlements... But the most important thing for leopards is shelter and a sufficient number of animals that you can profit from.

What does a leopard eat

As you know, the leopard is a predator, therefore it feeds on animals. And since these creatures live almost alone, the hunt is much more difficult for ungulates. In the forests and mountains leopard feeds on roe deer, deer, elk, mountain goats, wild boars, mouflons, taras, cabergs, jeynars. In the deserts feeds on antelopes, giraffes (their babies), camels (cubs), zebras, impalas. But the predator is not limited to large animals, the diet also includes small game - hares, porcupines, foxes, badgers, martens, mice, other rodents, monkeys. As well as birds such as pheasant, snowcock, chukar, black grouse, and reptiles like lizards and snakes, including insects.

Of course from hunger leopard can attack another predator, cubs, and eat crabs and fish. Well, leopards living close to people hunt livestock - goats, sheep, horses, cows, pigs, donkeys, poultry, including, can easily attack a person. He needs about 20 kg of meat per day, and he eats his large prey in 3-4 days, and after that he goes hunting again. Leopards They drink a lot of water, so they try to stay near water bodies, although they drink at night. And the grass is eaten when it is necessary to cleanse the intestines, but this is done by many animals.

Interesting facts about the Far Eastern leopard

Leopard females keep babies with them for a long time, especially males, in order to give birth less

· Males do not touch mothers who are busy raising young

Leopard tail reaches 110 cm in length

· Far Eastern leopard called the Manchu and Korean leopard

The Far Eastern leopard is not the most large view among their own kind

Difference from other individuals in softer and longer fur

In winter, leopard fur is lighter than in summer

The peak of the distribution of the Far Eastern leopard falls on the 20th century

VIDEO: DELNE EAST LEOPARD

IN THIS VIDEO, YOU CAN LEARN A LOT OF INTERESTING ABOUT THE FAR EASTERN LEOPARD IN A DOCUMENTARY FILM

The leopard is a large but very graceful cat that attracts with its unusual spotted color. Latin name leopard - Panthera Pandus (pardgs-panther). The leopard belongs to the genus of panthers, like the lion, tiger and jaguar. The jaguar is the closest relative of the leopard. They are distinguished by their physique: the jaguar is stockier and slightly larger.

Leopard appearance

The body of a leopard is muscular and slender, elongated and flattened on the sides, having a length of 100-170 cm. The tail of a leopard is slightly more than half of its body. Paws are short, but massive with sharp claws. The leopard's gait is graceful and completely inaudible, which makes it an excellent hunter. The head is small, but wide and rounded. The ears are wide, small and rounded. The leopard's coat is thick and short. The color may vary depending on the habitat and weather conditions... The color consists of 2 colors - the main yellow (from red to light yellow) and black (spots). The location and size of leopard spots are individual.

Black leopards (panthers) are also found in nature. They live in East Asia. The black coat is associated with a mutation in a gene that is only found in female leopards.

Livelihoods and habitat

Most of the leopards live in Africa, they are even allowed to hunt there. But in China, India and Russia, the population of leopards is very small, some species are even listed in the Red Book.

Nature has endowed the leopard with sharp eyes, so he hunts at night. Its diet is ungulates, rodents, monkeys, hares, sometimes a leopard can eat a snake or a frog. The leopard loves to feast on fish, which he catches with his paw, like a bear. Leopard jumps up to 10 meters in length.

The leopard has practically no enemies; it can grapple with a tiger or a lion, emerging victorious in this duel thanks to its agility and speed. The leopard is a solitary beast that marks its borders and fiercely defends them. He leaves his prey in the trees so that other predators do not get to her.

The leopard is the best hunter in nature, it helps control the population of monkeys by hunting old or sick individuals. But every year there are fewer and fewer of these hunters. This is due to the invasion of people into their habitat. Some leopard species are already extinct or listed in the Red Book.

Photo of leopards

Views