View allAll Photos Tagged leopard
Scientific Name: Uncia uncia
Description : The snow leopard is a soft gray colour, shading to white on the belly. The head, neck, and lower limbs are marked with solid dark brown blotches or spots, and on the back, sides and tail the spots are large open rings or rosettes. The coat is long and thick, up to 12 cm in length. The head is relatively small and rounded. Forelimbs are shorter than the hind limbs. Paws are large and the bottoms are covered with fur. The most characteristic feature is the long, thick tail, which is almost the same length as the body. The tip of the tail is black dorsally and almost white ventrally.
Body Length: 1.0 - 1.3 m
Length of Tail: 0.8 - 1.0 m
Shoulder Height:60 cm
Weight: 25 - 75 kg (the male is generally heavier)
Distribution : Primarily in the Himalayan Mountains, from Myanmar moving west through China, Nepal, India, Pakistan and back east through Kazakstan, Mongolia and the Gobi Desert.
Habitat : Found in areas of rocky wilderness, snow fields, glaciers, and alpine meadows on the edge of juniper and spruce forests. They live in mountain steppes and coniferous forest scrub at altitudes ranging from 900 to 6000 metres. They are known to migrate seasonally from higher to lower zones (summer to winter). In the summer they frequent alpine meadows and rocky areas, and in the winter they may follow prey into forests below 1800 metres.
Food : Chiefly ungulates: prey includes wild sheep (blue sheep or bharal) ibex, wild boar, gazelles, hares, pikas, markhor, bobak, tahr, marmots, mice, deer, and ground-dwelling birds (pheasants, partridges and snowcocks).
Reproduction and Development : Snow leopards are reclusive except during the breeding season. This runs from early January to mid-March, when long-drawn-out wailing calls can be heard echoing amongst the cliffs. This is when the female comes into oestrus and males and females need to find each other. Scent marking is very prominent during this mating season. When the male snow leopard locates the female, there is usually a prolonged courtship. Initially, the female resists the male's advances even though she acts provocatively towards him. Reassuring that their intentions towards each other are mutual is accomplished by increased amounts of visual and vocal communications and copulation occurs. Interaction may include hunting together.
After a gestation period of 90 - 103 days, the female gives birth to two to four cubs. Births occur between April and June. Cubs are born in a rocky shelter lined with the mother’s fur. The cubs weigh about 450 grams each at birth and are born with their eyes closed. They open their eyes after seven days and start to crawl within ten days, and can run by two months of age. They nurse for about three to four months, but eat their first solid food at two. They begin to follow their mother to hunt and will continue to do so during their first winter of life. They stay with her until they are nearly two years old. Snow leopards are fully-grown at about one and a half years, and reach sexual maturity at two years of age for females and at three years for males. Snow leopards live about 15 years in the wild, 19-20 years in captivity.
Adaptations : The snow leopard is a powerful, agile animal capable of making huge leaps, measuring as far as 15 metres. Short forelimbs and long hind limbs provide increased agility in the steep and rugged habitat and the long tail aids in balance when jumping from rock to rock. Snow leopards stalk their prey and usually spring from a distance of 6 to 15 m. They prefer to kill male ungulates because their large horns make them easy to unbalance when attacked from uphill. These cats eat slowly and remain by the kill for several days, protecting it from scavengers such as vultures or ravens until all meat is consumed.
Snow leopards are well adapted to living in the cold mountain temperatures. They have a very long outer fur coat and a shorter undercoat that helps them stay warm and dry in the cold. It has a long, very thick tail that may be curled around the face and body acting as a scarf in cold weather. Thick fur pads on the back legs above the ankle protect it against cold and ice. Large broad paws with furry bottoms act as snowshoes enabling the animal to walk on the snow without sinking. Small rounded ears and head reduce heat loss. A well-developed chest and enlarged nasal cavity are adaptations to the cold thin air of their high altitude home. Hearing and vision are well developed. They can endure a temperature range of - 40oC to 40oC.
The snow leopard is a solitary creature, only pairing during the breeding season or when females are accompanied by their young. Snow leopards occupy large territories, denning in rocky caverns and crevices. They can live on slopes of 30 degrees and sometimes steeper. Snow leopards are considered nocturnal, but seem to be most active in the early morning and late afternoon (crepuscular). They do not roar, but have several vocalizations, including a loud moaning associated with attracting a mate
The home ranges of males and females overlap extensively. Both the male and female will scent their territories. Scent marking patterns of the snow leopard include urine spraying, scraping with the hind feet, and head and neck rubbing. The areas scent marked serve as "road signs" to the snow leopards. The addition of sex hormonal products to the urine and body secretions brings about a change in their odour to tell the male that the female is ready to mate. The male snow leopard also increases his rate of urine spraying at this time. The male will expand his home range in search of females during the breeding season. The leopards test the urine marks of others by drawing the odor over the vomeronasal organ in the roof of the mouth. The facial expression caused by this action is called "flehmen".
Threats to Survival : Snow leopards are hunted for their pelts; bones, and body parts are taken for use in traditional Asian medicine. They are threatened by the depletion of their natural prey base due to competition with livestock and from humans hunting wild mountain sheep and goats for trophies and food. Snow leopards are persecuted by herders who retaliate by trapping, poisoning, or shooting them. Snow leopards also suffer from the degradation, loss, and fragmentation of their habitat.
Status : IUCN: Endangered; CITES: Appendix I
Zoo Diet : Toronto Zoo feline meat diet, rabbits, horse meat strips, bone, and neck bone.
Toronto Zoo Website
As usual poking tongue out! it was hard to photograph this day, as the sun was aiming at our view of the Leopard, so not as clear as I would wish it to be
Snow leopard at Paradise Wildlife Park, Broxbourne
PERMISSION TO USE: Please check the licence for this photo on Flickr. If the photo is marked with the Creative Commons licence, you are welcome to use this photo free of charge for any purpose including commercial. I am not concerned with how attribution is provided - a link to my flickr page or my name is fine. If used in a context where attribution is impractical, that's fine too. I enjoy seeing where my photos have been used so please send me links, screenshots or photos where possible. If the photo is not marked with the Creative Commons licence, only my friends and family are permitted to use it.
Snow Leopard Cub, Welsh Mountain Zoo, Colwyn Bay.
Born 28 May 2009. The cub and it's sibling died aged 5 months from a virus.
Meng 1/35 German MBT
Inbox review:
www.themodellingnews.com/2016/06/in-boxed-mengs-leopard-2...
Build Pt. 1:
www.themodellingnews.com/2016/08/construction-review-ptii...
Build Pt. 2
www.themodellingnews.com/2016/08/construction-review-pt-i...
Paint & Weathering Pt.1:
www.themodellingnews.com/2016/10/andy-gets-to-painting-bi...
Paint & Weathering Pt. 2:
www.themodellingnews.com/2016/10/done-and-dusted-andy-fin...
Le léopard (Panthera pardus) ou panthère est une espèce de félins de la sous-famille des panthérinés. Ce félin présente un pelage fauve tacheté de rosettes ; une forme mélanique existe également. Excellent grimpeur et sauteur, le léopard a la particularité de hisser ses proies à la fourche d'un arbre pour les mettre hors de portée des autres prédateurs.
Félin solitaire et opportuniste, le léopard est largement distribué en Afrique et en Asie du Sud-Est sur de nombreux types d'habitats. La taille de la population est toutefois considérée comme en baisse par l'Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature, qui classe l'espèce comme quasi-menacée. Cinq sous-espèces sont considérées comme en danger ou en danger critique d'extinction : le léopard d'Arabie, le léopard de l'Amour, le léopard de Java, le léopard de Ceylan et le léopard de Perse.
Le léopard a une place importante dans la culture africaine où l'animal, considéré comme le roi des animaux, est l'attribut des chefs. La société secrète Aniota peut être considérée comme l'origine de légendes sur les hommes-léopards, équivalents des loups-garous occidentaux. En Europe, le léopard est décrit pour la première fois dans les bestiaires comme un animal vil issu d'un croisement adultère entre le lion (leo) et un félin légendaire, le pard (en). Cette réputation d'animal cruel et sanguinaire perdurera au moins jusqu'au XVIe siècle. L'image du félin est souvent utilisée dans la publicité (Dulux Valentine par exemple) ou dans les arts, comme la célèbre panthère rose.
For other uses, see Leopard (disambiguation) and Leopards (disambiguation).
The black leopard is one of three animals called "panther" – the others are the black jaguar and the cougar.
Leopard
Temporal range: Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene to Recent
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Species: P. pardus
Binomial name
Panthera pardus
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
9 but see text
Range of the leopard, former (red), uncertain (yellow), highly fragmented (light green), and present (dark green)
Synonyms
Felis pardus Linnaeus, 1758
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is a member of the Felidae family with a wide range in some parts of Africa and tropical Asia, from Siberia, South and West Asia to across most of sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List because it is declining in large parts of its range due to habitat loss and fragmentation, and hunting for trade and pest control. It is regionally extinct in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait, Syrian Arab Republic, Libya and Tunisia.[1]
The leopard /ˈlɛpərd/ is the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera. Compared to other members of the Felidae, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, but is smaller and more slightly built. Its fur is marked with rosettes similar to those of the jaguar, but the leopard's rosettes are smaller and more densely packed, and do not usually have central spots as the jaguars do. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic are known as black panthers.
The species' success in the wild is in part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometres per hour (36 mph), its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass,[2] and its notorious ability for stealth. The leopard consumes virtually any animal that it can hunt down and catch. Its habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains.
Amur Leopard taken at Edinburgh Zoo. The male and female pair here are due to move to a new enclosure at the Highland Wild Park in the near future
Close to the top of the food-chain in Antarctica, the leopard seal has few enemies, and seemed comfortable in allowing us to get within 15 metres or so. This was a yawn, not a roar (thankfully), showing off its impressive teeth.
Visited Turtle Back Zoo (in West Orange, NJ), couple weeks back. Turtle back zoo is pretty small, but great place for a short visit, and really great for little kids. The last time I was there, i was in the 2nd or 3rd grade out on a school field trip. That was many many many years ago!!
For more info on the Zoo go HERE
Le léopard (Panthera pardus) ou panthère est une espèce de félins de la sous-famille des panthérinés. Ce félin présente un pelage fauve tacheté de rosettes ; une forme mélanique existe également. Excellent grimpeur et sauteur, le léopard a la particularité de hisser ses proies à la fourche d'un arbre pour les mettre hors de portée des autres prédateurs.
Félin solitaire et opportuniste, le léopard est largement distribué en Afrique et en Asie du Sud-Est sur de nombreux types d'habitats. La taille de la population est toutefois considérée comme en baisse par l'Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature, qui classe l'espèce comme quasi-menacée. Cinq sous-espèces sont considérées comme en danger ou en danger critique d'extinction : le léopard d'Arabie, le léopard de l'Amour, le léopard de Java, le léopard de Ceylan et le léopard de Perse.
Le léopard a une place importante dans la culture africaine où l'animal, considéré comme le roi des animaux, est l'attribut des chefs. La société secrète Aniota peut être considérée comme l'origine de légendes sur les hommes-léopards, équivalents des loups-garous occidentaux. En Europe, le léopard est décrit pour la première fois dans les bestiaires comme un animal vil issu d'un croisement adultère entre le lion (leo) et un félin légendaire, le pard (en). Cette réputation d'animal cruel et sanguinaire perdurera au moins jusqu'au XVIe siècle. L'image du félin est souvent utilisée dans la publicité (Dulux Valentine par exemple) ou dans les arts, comme la célèbre panthère rose.
For other uses, see Leopard (disambiguation) and Leopards (disambiguation).
The black leopard is one of three animals called "panther" – the others are the black jaguar and the cougar.
Leopard
Temporal range: Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene to Recent
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Species: P. pardus
Binomial name
Panthera pardus
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
9 but see text
Range of the leopard, former (red), uncertain (yellow), highly fragmented (light green), and present (dark green)
Synonyms
Felis pardus Linnaeus, 1758
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is a member of the Felidae family with a wide range in some parts of Africa and tropical Asia, from Siberia, South and West Asia to across most of sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List because it is declining in large parts of its range due to habitat loss and fragmentation, and hunting for trade and pest control. It is regionally extinct in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait, Syrian Arab Republic, Libya and Tunisia.[1]
The leopard /ˈlɛpərd/ is the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera. Compared to other members of the Felidae, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, but is smaller and more slightly built. Its fur is marked with rosettes similar to those of the jaguar, but the leopard's rosettes are smaller and more densely packed, and do not usually have central spots as the jaguars do. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic are known as black panthers.
The species' success in the wild is in part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometres per hour (36 mph), its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass,[2] and its notorious ability for stealth. The leopard consumes virtually any animal that it can hunt down and catch. Its habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains.