Sri Lanka Leopard
Taken behind a window
The Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya), colloquially known as Kotiya in Sinhala and Puli in Tamil, is a subspecies of leopard native to Sri Lanka. However, "kotiyā" is now the colloquial Sinhala name for the tiger and "diviyā" is used for the leopard.
A recent study has shown that Yala National Park has one of the highest recorded densities of leopards in the world, although this animal is still considered to be endangered. The Wilpattu National Park in Sri Lanka is also known as a good place to watch leopards. Leopards tend to be more readily observed in parts of Sri Lanka than in other countries where they share their habitat with more dominant competitors, such as lions or hyaenas.
The Sri Lankan leopard is one of the ten known subspecies of leopard. Its coat is tawny or rusty yellow, stamped with dark spots and rosettes. Seven females that were weighed averaged 29 kg; males averaged 56 kg, with the largest being 77 kg.
This leopard is found only in Sri Lanka, and is the country's top predator. Little has been known about it in the past, but ongoing studies (The Leopard Project, run by The Wilderness and Wildlife Conservation Trust, indicate that they are still distributed throughout the island both inside and outside of protected areas. The leopard has been observed in a variety of habitats including dry evergreen monsoon forest, arid scrub jungle, low and upper montane (highland) forest, rainforest, and wet zone intermediate forests.
Sri Lanka Leopard
Taken behind a window
The Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya), colloquially known as Kotiya in Sinhala and Puli in Tamil, is a subspecies of leopard native to Sri Lanka. However, "kotiyā" is now the colloquial Sinhala name for the tiger and "diviyā" is used for the leopard.
A recent study has shown that Yala National Park has one of the highest recorded densities of leopards in the world, although this animal is still considered to be endangered. The Wilpattu National Park in Sri Lanka is also known as a good place to watch leopards. Leopards tend to be more readily observed in parts of Sri Lanka than in other countries where they share their habitat with more dominant competitors, such as lions or hyaenas.
The Sri Lankan leopard is one of the ten known subspecies of leopard. Its coat is tawny or rusty yellow, stamped with dark spots and rosettes. Seven females that were weighed averaged 29 kg; males averaged 56 kg, with the largest being 77 kg.
This leopard is found only in Sri Lanka, and is the country's top predator. Little has been known about it in the past, but ongoing studies (The Leopard Project, run by The Wilderness and Wildlife Conservation Trust, indicate that they are still distributed throughout the island both inside and outside of protected areas. The leopard has been observed in a variety of habitats including dry evergreen monsoon forest, arid scrub jungle, low and upper montane (highland) forest, rainforest, and wet zone intermediate forests.