Leopard Facts
A Few Leopard Facts You May Not Know
Here are some interesting leopard facts – I bet you haven't heard them all before.
Leopards are the most cunning and successful hunters among the big cats.
Leopards like to hunt at night, and usually are solitary animals. Leopards will sometimes go out of their way to avoid others of their own species. Each one has its own home range, and they don't usually stray into another's area. Boundaries are rarely crossed, except for purposes of breeding.
Leopards boast a lovely coat with a tawny-colored background and a rosette pattern that helps them blend in with their surroundings.
The snow leopard, facts state, lives in the most difficult country of all the big cats. The climate is also the most extreme, where he lives – in the Himalayan Mountains.
The clouded leopard has the longest canine teeth of the cat species.
The Amur leopard is a very endangered animal – one of the most endangered on earth.
The Bornean Clouded Leopard is one of the newest mammal species to be discovered.
The leopard, facts say, are very difficult to follow or trace in the wild, as they are stealthy and clever.
Leopards are the strongest of the big cats, pound for pound, beating out even tigers and lions.
Leopards are the best at climbing trees of any of the big cats, and they can carry prey twice their weight into a tree to guard and eat it.
Leopards with no spots are black leopards – also known as panthers.
Leopards are animals who tend to be very territorial, and they defend and mark their domain.
The Swahili name for the leopard, facts state, is Chui. The scientific name for the leopard is Panthera pardus.
The leopard can grow to a bit over two feet in height, measured at the shoulder. They may weigh up to one hundred and forty pounds, and they have no predators to fear – except humans.
The leopard is shrewd, elusive and secretive, and is very capable of killing prey larger than himself.
Leopard colors can vary by location and weather – from a tawny or light buff in warm areas to a darker color of tawny in forests that are deep. The rosettes, or spots, are square on South African leopards, but are circular on East African leopards.
Leopards usually hide in dense brush, in rocky areas or in forests along riverlines. They can adapt to other places, cold and warm. This adaptability has helped them stay alive even when humans are encroaching on their lands.
When a leopard is stalking its prey, it stays low to the ground and slinks through the brush or grass until it is close enough to leap. Few people know that leopards can pass through herds of antelope without disturbing them, by revealing a sign that they are not hunting prey – their tail flipped over their back is the sign.