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Panthera pardus kotiya
Yala National Park - Sri Lanka
Thelabu kema - Jamburagala - Big male
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Text taken from Linton Zoo website: Since the turn of the century leopards have disappeared from much of their former range and several subspecies are under threat. This is due to the encroachment of people who starve them by destroying their habitat and killing their prey. This makes them turn to domestic livestock which of course makes them unpopular and so they are poisoned or shot. The fur trade has also taken its toll and in the 1960-70s 60, 000 skins were sold every year.
Leopards are very adaptable and eat a variety of prey, which include warthog, gazelle, porcupine, wildebeest, impala, ostriches and baboons. They ambush their prey, attacking with a short charge and grabbing it by the throat to suffocate it. They then carry it up the nearest tree to eat in safety. They are able to climb carrying (250lbs) twice their own weight.
After a gestation period of 3.5 months 2-4 cubs are usually born. Cubs are weaned at the age of 3 months. They become independent at 2 years old, but won’t be sexually mature till they are 3 years old. They can live up to 20 years old.
Leopards are born with spots or are black. A black panther is a leopard which is melanistic, this means it has as excess of pigment, as opposed to albino which is a lack of pigment. You can still see the leopard spots if you look closely. Black leopards are rarer than spotted leopards.
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!!
This still remains as one of my favorite photos i took with my D700 since i got it, just love the combo of D700 plus the 80-200 2.8D.
Amur leopards are one of the rarest cats in the world with an estimated 35 to 45 individuals remaining in the wild.
GVVT Open Weekend 2022. Midland Scottish Leyland Leopard themed tour to Kirkintilloch. Seen here are Y Types TMS405X and LMS374W. We were also joined by two other Midland Leopards not in this photo.
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