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We had been hoping to spot this female leopard for a few days. She had been seen recently at her regular Kopje haunt the day of our arrival moving her two new born cubs around. It took 3 days of regular visits to get a glimpse of her. On our final morning game drive we found her in a tree with a freshly killed wildebeest calf. We watched her for about 25 minutes moving the carcass further and further up into the tree.
Namiri Plains is located an hour and a half's drive due east from the game-rich core of the Serengeti – Seronera. The camp opened in July 2014 in an area that for more than 20 years had been closed to the public. Previously this region had exclusively been used for cheetah conservation and the number of big cats found here, especially lion prides and cheetahs, is astonishing.
I didn't get many photos of the snow leopard but the few I did I really liked.
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
This is one of the snow leopards at the zoo at Karlsruhe, Germany. I think it's the male. When I arrived he was just about to leave the front area of the enclosure. I was lucky, though, as before he disappeared out of sight he turned around once again and I managed to take this photo.
The capture was taken through glass.
Building on the Danes' experiences with the Leopard 2s in Afghanistan in the early 21st century, the Leopard 2A8Ns deployed to Al-Dabir is to serve mainly as fire support during infantry operations.
Latest version of my semi-fictional Leopard 2A8N model.
Se retrouver à quelques mètres de ce magnifique félin c'est tout simplement WAHOUOOUUUU !!!
Son pelage fauve tacheté constitue un excellent camouflage qu'il soit au sol au milieu des buissons ou perché dans les branches d'un arbre. Il peut être juste à côté de vous et vous n'y voyez que du feu !
Réf. SA2015-B2
Photo non libre de droits - Pour tout achat (fichier numérique, tirage papier ou tableaux) merci de me contacter en privé
The leopard sat down at this vegetation about 45-50 feet away, and gave us several nice poses.
Each pose is unique and interesting in its own way, and I decided to upload several of these.
Maasai Mara, Kenya
Image taken in Botswana in the Okavango Delta.
Once again, this is the only leopard I saw on this African trip. We saw the leopard sleeping about eight pm, just before we finished the game drive. It was just past sundown, and I needed to use a flash to get a relatively clear image.
I have been on four African trips now, and still have yet to see a leopard awake. These trips are about ten days long, and they are not inexpensive especially if you are coming from the United States. The cost per trip plus airfair is about ten thousand to twelve thousand dollars each. Not to mention flying close to seventeen hours, one way.
I now have two African trips for 2015 and after that, I think I will have to end all of my foreign traveling. I will definitely miss them.
The leopard, Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its range of distribution has decreased radically because of hunting and loss of habitat. It is now chiefly found in sub-Saharan Africa; there are also fragmented populations in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Malaysia, and China. Because of its declining range and population, it is listed as a "Near Threatened" species by the IUCN - Leopard, Wikipedia
Amur leopard can run at speeds of up to 37 miles per hour. This incredible animal has been reported to leap more than 19 feet horizontally and up to 10 feet vertically.
The leopard is so strong and comfortable in trees that it often hauls its kills into the branches. By dragging the bodies of large animals aloft it hopes to keep them safe from scavengers such as hyenas. Leopards can also hunt from trees, where their spotted coats allow them to blend with the leaves until they spring with a deadly pounce.
Leopards are strong swimmers and very much at home in the water, where they sometimes eat fish or crabs.
The Amur Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is critically endangered. It is one of the rarest felids in the world with an estimated 27 to 32 individuals remaining in the wild (2007 snow track count).
Its common names are Amur leopard from Amur River or Far Eastern Leopard.
Appearance;
Of the eight subspecies the Amur, or Far Eastern leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) shows the strongest divergence in coat pattern. The coat is light cream (especially in winter) and has widely spaced rosettes with thick, black rings and darkened centres. The length of the coat varies between 2.5cm in summer and 7.5cm in winter.They have light pale blue eyes which seems to make them look more calm then most big cats.there habitat is mostly russia chinakore and china.
Status in the wild and in zoos;
The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is the northernmost of the eight leopard subspecies. The Amur leopard's range is overlapping with that of the Amur tiger or Siberian Tiger which range extends further to the north. The Amur leopard's historic range extended throughout northeastern ("Manchurian") China, the southern part of Primorsky Krai in Russia and the Korean Peninsula. This range shrank dramatically during the 20th century, due primarily to habitat loss and hunting. Today, it is critically endangered with only 27 to 34 individuals remaining in Southwest Primorye. There are probably up to 10 animals scattered throughout the Chinese Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces, with the majority of animals concentrated near the Russian border.
The Amur leopard probably went extinct in the wild in South Korea in the late 1960s, although some recent, unconfirmed reports suggest that a few leopards may remain in and around the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. There are likely still leopards in the rugged northern region of North Korea near the Chinese border, and it is also likely that animals from Southwest Primorye in Russia occasionally cross the border into North Korea, but reliable information is lacking.
The Amur leopard is listed as Endangered by the IUCN and is on CITES Appendix I for protection status.
There are approximately 300 Amur leopards in captivity, mostly in zoos in Europe, North America and countries of the former Soviet Union. And also there are only almost 30 amur leopards were left in the wild. Most, but not all, of these leopards are in zoos participating in managed conservation breeding programmes.
Threats;
· Poaching of leopards and their prey species
Poachers include both poor local villagers and newly rich Russians, mainly from the city of Vladivostok, as well as Chinese nationals who illegally cross the border into Russia. Russian hunters kill many more deer than is officially allowed and Amur leopards are sometimes shot or killed with snares as well. Since 2002 skins or corpses of nine Amur leopards killed by poachers were found in Russia and at least two leopards were killed in China.
· Loss of forest habitat due to frequent fires
The forests on which Amur leopards depend slowly disappear as a result of frequent fires. Local villagers start fires for various reasons, but mainly to stimulate the growth of ferns that are a very popular ingredient in Russian and Chinese dishes.
· Negative impacts of inbreeding
Loss of genetic diversity in the small and isolated Amur leopard population may cause inbreeding depression (reduced numbers due to reduced reproduction and lifespan and increased vulnerability to diseases). However, the results of research so far are inconclusive and additional information on the effects of inbreeding is needed before conclusions can be drawn.
· Development projects
Southwest Primorye is located close to the Russian borders with China and North Korea, making it an attractive area for infrastructure projects such as new railways, gas and oil pipelines and ports. In 2005 and 2006 the Zoological Society of London and other ALTA partners led a successful international campaign against a plan to build an oil pipeline terminal on the coast of the Sea of Japan in the leopard’s range.
· Lack of political commitment to conservation
In recent years nature in Russia has suffered from a lack of political interest in conservation. Negative developments since 2000 include the abolishment of the State Committee for Nature Conservation, revoking the law enforcement rights of Inspection Tiger (an anti-poaching brigade for protection of tigers and leopards), and a reduction of the number of field inspector for protection of forests and animals by approximately 80%.
Conservation;
Significant progress in conserving Amur leopards and tigers has been made over the last decade. A coalition of 13 international and Russian NGOs have pooled resources by creating *ALTA(the Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance). ALTA members have been co-operating for many years in developing, financing and implementing conservation projects in Russia and China. Collectively, ALTA members have developed a comprehensive conservation programme for the Amur leopard’s range in Russia and NE China that includes:
1) Anti-poaching 2) Forest fire-fighting 3) Compensation for livestock killed by tigers and leopards 4) A comprehensive education and public awareness programme 5) Population monitoring (Snow-track counts and camera trapping) 6) Ecological and biomedical research 7) Support for protected areas and hunting leases 8) Lobbying for improved conservation policies and regulations 9) Amur leopard conservation in China
ALTA members are not alone in their work for Amur leopard conservation – the Worldwide Fund for Nature www.wwf.ru *(WWF) is also a major contributor.
Ecology;
Male Amur leopards weigh 32-48 kg, with exceptionally large males up to 60-75 kg. Females are smaller than the males at 25-43 kg.
The main prey species of the Amur leopard are roe and sika deer, along with hares and badgers.
Whilst it has been found in other regions that leopards do not do well in areas where they share territory with tigers, this has not proved to be the case in Russia. Studies have indicated that an increased tiger population in the Southwest Primorye area has not adversely affected the leopard population.
Amur leopards in zoos show some evidence of breeding seasonalilty with a peak in births in late spring/early summer. After a gestation period of around 12 weeks cubs are born in litters of 1-4 individuals, with an average litter size of just over 2. The cubs will stay with their mother for up to two years before becoming fully independent. Females first breed at an age of 3-4 years.
In the wild, leopards live for 10-15 years and they may reach 20 years in captivity.
on a black car roof, after light rain in a caramel sunset...
Shot and processed entirely on the X10 phone, with the Vignette app (it's a camera replacement software, and effect editor)
Amur Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis)
Amur leopards are one of the most critically endangered big cats in the world, with an estimated 35 individuals only left in the Wild. They are hunted for their thick coats and for their bones for the Traditional Chinese Medicine trade.
Enjoy the beauty of these wild cats while you can.. may be the next generation wouldn't be as lucky as we are!