View allAll Photos Tagged Leopard
LEOPARD or PANTHER [Panthera Pardus]: The sleek body and color that perfectly blends with its surrounding make the leopard probably the most successful modern predator. In India, it is the third largest cat whose range occurs almost through the entire country. It is also known as the panther and is often confused with the (now extinct) cheetah. The only other similar animal is the jaguar found in South America.
These races occur in India. They have a considerable degree of color variation. Animals from the desert zone are paler, while in high rainfall areas of the Western Ghats and eastern India, black leopard are not uncommon. The most successful and adaptive among the large cats, the leopard live in all types of habitats from open country to thick forest. Leopard will usually avoid confrontations with a tiger or a lion as the latter are bigger and stronger. In addition, have different habits and prey preferences even if both species shared the same area.
Unfortunately, leopards are the world's most persecuted cat. Due to dwindling numbers and also their secretive nature, these big cats are difficult to come across. They have impressive strength in the muscles of the head, neck, shoulders and legs which gives them the ability to carry heavy carcasses up into trees. With luck, they may live 12 to 15 years in the wild whereas in zoos they average about 23 years. Males can weigh between 30 and 90 kg and females 23 to 60 kg.....This photo was taken in Kirkman's Camp in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, province of Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Again - taken through thick, milky glass. I'm surprised it was save-able at all. I love snow leopards!
V1M very kindly organised for me to go to the Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Kent for a Photographers on Safari day. This meant access inside the normal outer barriers that visitors are normally restricted behind, and enabled me to get right up against the inner enclosure, with camera lens as close as could be to the main enclosure. As well as our photographic instructor - John Wright - on hand to advise on technique, we also one of the cats' keepers, Becky, to tempt the animals out of hiding and into more photogenic positions with some tasty bits of meat.
As some of you will know I am a bit of a fan of animals and big cats in particular so I was rather in my element! Not only did I get some rather lovely photos of some gorgeous animals, but just being at such close quarters with them for the whole day was wonderful in itself.
Khavan is one of two critically endangered amur leopards at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Massachusetts.
Leopard Cub grooming itself. In this photo he had just fed off an a female Impala corpse. Cats clean themselves to rid the scent of food from their coat - As to not become food themselves.
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