View allAll Photos Tagged leopard
Because the snow leopard lives in such inaccessible places the size of the wild population is very difficult to estimate, but could be as low as 600. These are distributed over a vast area including parts of Mongolia, USSR, China, Bhutan, N. India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan. Numbers are few and are restricted to the higher colder regions above the forests, where permanent snow is found.
Seasonal migrations occur, descending from altitudes of over 4000m to around 2000m, where they spend the winter months. Snow leopards prey on mountain goats, ibex, gazelle, boar and smaller mammals and birds which they hunt at night and in the early morning. They retreat to rocky lairs during the day. Snow leopards are usually solitary but have been seen to hunt in pairs (This is usually a mother and cub). Unless they have cubs they do not stay long in an area. The cubs are born in May - June. They receive milk up to 4 months but will also take meat brought to the den after 1.5 - 2 months. The nest is abandoned after about 3 to 4 months, the young staying with the mother through the following winter. They reach their full size at 1½ years.
As demand for more land has increased, domestic stock have been brought into the remote mountain areas, once the sole domain of the snow leopard. Inevitably occasional stock are killed, with the result that the snow leopard is persecuted by farmers. Hunting for the fur trade has also taken its toll, as has the reduction in the populations of its main prey species due to habitat destruction.
Photographed at Marwell Zoo, Thompsons Lane, Colden Common, Winchester, Hampshire, SO21 1JH
This one was sleeping in a tree near Lower Sabie Camp the whole day. We went there four times during the day, as many others did. But just before the gates closed, we were the last to stay, only me and Charlotte, and then the leopard came down and come and lie down right infront of us. It pays to be patient!!
Licking her nose to make it more sensitive to odors, young female Leopard (Panthera pardus) checks out her surroundings. There was a herd of impala nearby - along with several safari vehicles. She went underneath one of the vehicles, and used it as a blind as she stalked the impala. Almost silent and very low to the ground, this female leopard came within striking distance of the impala herd. Unfortunately, one of the "look-out" impala spotted her and sounded the alarm. The herd got away. Masai Mara, Kenya.
A classic cliche for the February 2011 Monthly Scavenger Hunt.
(Seriously; I can't believe that no-one has done this one yet)
(Oh, and Nic; I did try it with the leopard-skin high-heels, but they got lost in the seat of the chair too much, so I went with a blue pair instead.)
Got third place in its category.
Feeling very sorry for himself, this leopard was recovering from having had porcupine quills in his face after catching a porcupine the night before.
A rare Persian Leopard is looking at the tourists at the top of its branch.
Nordens Ark, Bohuslän, Sweden
Nikon D610 + Tamron 70-200 f/2.8.
Edited with Lightroom 5.3.
This Persian Leopard occupies an enclosure right next to the new Snow Leopard family.
This is also an absolutely beautiful cat - even with only one eye.
Just as with the snow leopards it was extremely difficult in capturing clean images.
Please don't look too closely at the pixels! The viewing conditions were extremely harsh - blinding sunshine, close-checked heavy cage wire, fierce back-lighting, heavy tree cover all made for incredibly difficult capture.
And I am very much still learning the appropriate settings on my new Olympus E520 DLSR.
Royal Melbourne Zoo, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
This is Xizi, a female Amur Leopard.
This is the rarest cat sub-species in the world. There are estimated to be 12 female Amur Leopards left in the wild.
www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/planetearth/hd/
More photos at: www.myphotostream.co.uk