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Leopard
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is a member of the cat family (Felidae). The leopard's coat has a background color of pale, cream-yellow on its underside that darkens slightly to an orange-brown on its back. Solid black spots adorn its limbs and head, smaller and denser than the golden, umber-centered rosettes that cover its back and sides. The leopard's tale has irregular patches that, at the tip of the tale, become dark-ringed bands.
Zoological name: Panthera pardus
Species: Panthera pardus is a member of the pantherine lineage, which also includes P. leo (lion), P. tigris (tiger), P. onca (jaguar), Neofelis nebulosa (clouded leopard), and Uncia uncia (snow leopard). Fossils of their most recent common ancestor have yet to be identified, but mitochondrial gene sequence data suggest that species divergence began 6 million years ago. Phylogenetic analyses of the subspecies of P. pardus indicate an African origin, which corroborates the paleontological evidence. The earliest record of P. pardus is from Laetoli, Tanzania, with a date of roughly 3.8 million years before present. By 900,000 years ago, P. pardus reached Eurasia.
Presence on the planet: Pantera pardus could at one time be found from British Isles to Japan and throughout most of Asia. Today they can still be found in Africa, except for the true deserts of Sahara and Kalahari, and some parts of Asia such as Sri Lanka. Leopards are more common in Eastern and Central Africa. Conversely, they are rare in Western and Northern Africa and most of Asia.
Habitat: Leopards live in highly variable habitats. They feel just as secure in swampy tropical forests as in rugged mountains. They live in lowland forests, mountains, grasslands, brush country, and deserts. A corpse of a leopard was once found at an elevation of 5,630 meters on Kilimanjaro, and not frozen into the ice as some people had suggested.
Physical appearance: The leopard's coat has a background color of pale, cream-yellow on its underside that darkens slightly to an orange-brown on its back. Solid black spots adorn its limbs and head, smaller and denser than the golden, umber-centered rosettes that cover its back and sides. The leopard's tale has irregular patches that, at the tip of the tale, become dark-ringed bands.
Diet: Leopards are opportunistic hunters. They will eat just about anything. Their diet consists of monkeys, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, wild pigs, and ungulates. It stalks its prey silently and at the last minute pounces on its prey and cuts its throat with a quick bite. It hunts during the day to avoid contact with lions and hyenas, who hunt mainly at night. When it kills animals such as gazelle, it carries them up into the trees to eat it. Leopards are capable of carrying animals up to twice their own weight into the trees.
Reproduction & Offspring: Depending on the region, leopards may mate all year round (India and Africa) or seasonally during January to February (Manchuria and Siberia). The estrous cycle lasts about 46 days and the female usually isin heat for 6-7 days. Cubs are usually born in a litter of 2-3, but infant mortality is high and mothers are not commonly seen with more than 1-2 cubs. The pregnant females find a cave, crevice among boulders, hollow tree, or thicket to give birth and make a den. Cubs open their eyes after a period of 10 days. The fur of the young tends to be longer and thicker than that of adults. Their pelage is also more gray in color with less defined spots. Around 3 months the infants begin to follow the mother out on hunts. At one year of age leopard young can probably fend for themselves but they remain with the mother for 18-24 months.
Conservation status: Hunting for their beautifully spotted fur, habitat encroachment, and hunting have taken their toll on the leoaprd, making many subspecies endangered. They are killed by farmers because they pose a threat to their livestock. They can be easily poisoned because they feed on carrion.
The status of P. pardus ranges from endangered to critically endangered to threatened depending on the geographic region. Even though these cats are highly adaptable, they still face many problems. These include habitat destruction, being hunted as trophies and for their fur, and persecution as killers. Illegal hunting of leopards for their fur became so common in the 1960s that as many as 50,000 skins were marked annually.
IUCN Lists as Critically Endangered
Beautiful leopard photographed at the WHF Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Kent.
www.whf.org.uk a must for photography and big cat lovers!
snow leopard
Snow Leopards are one of the most beautiful and mystical wild cats.
Snow leopards are between 86 – 125 cm (34 – 50 inches) long – and that’s not including the tail.Their
tails are between 80 to 105 cm (31 – 41 inches) long.
They weigh between 22 – 52 kilograms (48 – 115 pounds), but males will be around a third larger than
females.
Snow leopards have long, thick fur, and their base color varies from smoky gray to yellowish tan, with whitish underparts. They have dark grey to black open rosettes on their bodies, with small spots of the same color on their heads and larger spots on their legs and tails.
Snow leopards have light green or gray eyes, unusual for big cats, who usually have yellow or gold
eyes.snow-leopard-green-eyes
Snow leopards are very rare in most of their range, an estimated 3,500 to 7,000 snow leopards are left in the wild, with 600 – 700 in zoos around the world.
Snow Leopards are an endangered species.
Snow leopards are found at altitudes between 3000 and 5,200 meters (9,800 and 17,000 feet) in the
high, rugged mountains of Central Asia including the Himalayan Mountains in the countries of Nepal,
India, Pakistan, Mongolia, China Afghanistan and Russia.
Snow Leopards like steep, rocky terrain.
steep rocky terrain
Snow Leopards a solitary animals meaning they like to live alone.
In the Summer months snow leopards will stay high up in the mountains, in the Winter months they will
come down from the mountains and enter forests.
Snow leopards first reproduce at around 2 and a half years old. Usually 2 or 3 cubs are born in spring or early summer in a well-concealed den lined with the mother’s fur.
snow leopard cubs in the wild
Cubs are born blind and don’t gain their sight until they’re nine days old. They are fully active by two months old and stay with their mother until they are 2 years old.
Snow leopards can kill prey weighing as much as three times their own body weight. Snow leopards
main prey are the ibex, blue sheep and Himalayan tahr. One blue sheep will provide a snow leopard
with food for one week.
Snow leopards have wide, fur-covered paws that act as natural snowshoes. These help to distribute their weight over soft snow and protect the soles from the freezing cold.
snow leopard paw
Snow leopard’s tails are thought to help them balance, but they also wrap them around themselves to keep warm.
Some snow leopards have been known to leap up to 9 meters (30 feet) – that’s 6 times their body length.
Unlike other big cats – like lions and tigers – snow leopards can’t roar. But they make other sounds such as growling, hissing and meowing.
Marwell Zoo is a 140-acre zoo situated in Colden Common near Winchester, in the English county of Hampshire. It is owned and run by the registered charity Marwell Wildlife. The zoo is home to over 1,200 animals of 135 species.
Address: Thompson's Ln, Colden Common, Winchester SO21 1JH
Opened: 1972
No. of animals: 1707+ (2011)
Notable animals: Luang, Suki, Turkus, Simone, Hale Bop, Juba, Rosh
At Yorkshire Wildlife Park.......we have such a fantastic place right on our doorstep......the animals are all beautifully kept....and are involved in breeding programs......the enclosures are landscaped and spacious, with plenty of variation for the animals. As far as parks go, this is one of the best. I never feel uneasy after I've been here, which for me is a good sign.
Well worth a visit if youre in the area.
Woodstones Coaches BJ14KTD Plaxton Leopard bodied Volvo B8R based at the time at their Kidderminster depot. It was originally new to Woodstones Coaches of Kidderminster as part of a batch of 2 of the first production Plaxton Leopards. Woodstones went on to order a further 4 examples in the following years. It is seen parked up at Kidderminster bus station between duties on a Swimming contract for the now demolished Wyre Forest Glades. This coach along with its sister BJ14KTE have since been sold onto York Pullman and given private plates K5 YPB and R3 YPB.
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Marwell Zoo, UK.
I liked Marwell Zoo. I struggled with the weather on the day, and never really had enough light for any fast exposures. For that reason, I got very few photos that I was happy with. For me, the highlight of Marwell is their snow leopards, and amur leopards. I'm biased though - they're two of my favourite animals in the world.
South Luangwa National Park, Zambia - The image was taken during 5 weeks of traveling on an overlander camping tour through east and south Africa in 2015. - Die Aufnahme entstand bei einer 5-wöchigen Campingtour durch das südliche und östliche Afrika im Jahr 2015.
Shot in the wild on safari in Tsavo East, Kenya.
Leopard getting ready to go to sleep for the day. We managed to get within 20 feet of this cat, and he was truly beautiful.
The snow leopard (Uncia uncia or Panthera uncia) is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of South Asia and Central Asia. The classification of this species has been subject to change and its exact taxonomic position will not be resolved until further studies are conducted.
Snow leopards live between 3,000 and 5,500 metres (9,800 and 18,000 ft) above sea level in the rocky mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. Their secretive nature means that their exact numbers are unknown, but it has been estimated that between 3,500 and 7,000 snow leopards exist in the wild and between 600 and 700 in zoos worldwide.
Snow leopards are smaller than the other big cats but, like them, exhibit a range of sizes, generally weighing between 27 and 55 kg (60 and 120 lb), with an occasional large male reaching 75 kg (170 lb) and small female of under 25 kg (55 lb). Body length ranges from 75 to 130 centimetres (30 to 50 in), with the tail adding a further 80 to 100 cm (31 to 39 in) to that length. These cats stand about 60 cm (24 in) at the shoulder.
Snow leopards have long thick fur, and their base color varies from smoky gray to yellowish tan, with whitish underparts. They have dark gray to black open rosettes on their body with small spots of the same color on their heads and larger spots on their legs and tail. Unusually among cats, their eyes are pale green or gray in color.
Snow leopards show several adaptations for living in a cold mountainous environment. Their bodies are stocky, their fur is thick, and their ears are small and rounded, all of which help to minimize heat loss. Their paws are wide, which distributes their weight better for walking on snow, and have fur on their undersides to increase their grip on steep and unstable surfaces; it also helps to minimize heat loss. Snow leopards' tails are long and flexible, helping them to maintain their balance, which is very important in the rocky terrain they inhabit. Their tails are also very thick due to storage of fats and are very thickly covered with fur which allows them to be used like a blanket to protect their faces when asleep.
The snow leopard has a short muzzle and domed forehead, containing unusual large nasal cavities that help the animal breathe the thin, cold air of their mountainous environment.
Snow leopards cannot roar, despite possessing partial ossification of the hyoid bone. This partial ossification was previously thought to be essential for allowing the big cats to roar, but new studies show that the ability to roar is due to other morphological features, especially of the larynx, which are absent in the snow leopard. Snow leopard vocalizations include hisses, chuffing, mews, growls, and wailing.
One of a litter of 2 snow leopard cubs born to Himani (Mom) and Vijay (Dad) on 4/20/13 at the Cape May County Zoo in Cape May Court House, New Jersey. The male cub named Tushar moved to the Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park in Binghamton, New York on 4/16/14. The female cub named Ramani moved to the Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot, North Dakota on 5/14/14.