20 Facts About Leopards

1. Leopards have longer, leaner bodies than their compact, jaguar counterparts. They are more agile but less powerful, giving them different types of edges in different fights.

2. You can tell leopard spots from jaguars because they have rosettes without an extra dot in the middle. Leopard coats are sought after on the black market, which is why they are such a protected species.

3. Leopards can leap far in the air. With their long, springy, limbs, they can pounce from great distances. They can jump over three, 6”5 people standing on top of each other. That’s a circus act if I’ve ever heard of one.

4. Leopards don’t have a very strict diet. They aren’t the pickiest eaters, as long as it’s all meat based. They will eat bugs, antelope, deer, monkeys, rodents, and anything else they can get their jaws on. A perfect dinner guest. You can feed them whatever you’d like!

5. Leopards will stalk their prey quietly before ending their life. They’ll keep their head low, camouflaged, until they are five to ten feet away. Then, they will rush their prey and bite their throat. For smaller animals, they’ll just hit them in the head with their paw.

6. Leopards will carry their prey high into a tree to avoid other predators taking their meal. Since leopards are such strong and mighty climbers, they’re able to go higher in the tree than other animals. It will save their food mainly from scavengers who can’t climb, such as hyenas.

7. Leopards will hang out in trees for most of the day, then go out and hunt at night. Their spots help them blend into the foliage. They’ll conserve their energy and snack on last night’s prey, then get up at night to do it all over again.

8. Leopards will use different calls for different purposes. Male leopards will use a hoarse roar to alert others they’re in the area. It sounds like a saw going through a tree. This low and hoarse call is rare, however. They’ll stay silent for the majority of their life, as to not attract attention.

9. A leopard’s roar is individualistic. Other leopards will be able to tell who is roaring at them without seeing who it is. Leopards can easily stake their claim with a roar and let all the others know who’s there. It’s like giving someone a personalized ringtone!

10. Leopards don’t have a specific breeding season. They will give birth at any time of the year. Female leopards will have two to three babies at a time and stay with them until they’re around two. Isn’t it crazy that humans are still full-on babies at two, and leopards can go off on their own?!

11. Leopards live in many different parts of the world. Quite the adaptable animal. They can be found in India, China, Sub-Saharan Africa, northeast Africa, and Central Asia. However, leopards are still endangered and classified as such.

12. Leopards are strong swimmers. They genuinely like being in the water, which is rare for cats. Their long, lanky, but extremely powerful limbs can propel them quickly through the water. They can go as fast as 15km per hour in the water.

13. Despite the hot demand for leopard skins on the black market, leopards are difficult to find. They are good at hiding and can remain quite elusive in the wild. They’re difficult to track, but somehow evil poachers still find a way.

14. Baby leopards are born blind and almost completely hairless. They will weigh from 17 to 21 ounces and won’t leave their den until they’re three months old. Their mother must protect them from other predators until they’re able to go off on their own.

15. Leopards will live around 23 years in captivity, but only 12 to 12 years in the wild. This is because they have access to healthcare and protection in zoos. In the wild, they must deal with disease, predators, poachers, and reduction of land.

16. The rarest breed of big cat is most likely the Amur leopard, as subspecies of leopard. There are only around 60 left in the wild. They live in Russia and China. The fines and jail time on poachers are increasing to try to get the population back on track.

17. A male leopard will look quite a bit bigger and stockier than a female leopard. They will have noticeably bigger paws and heads. A male leopard will weigh around 10 kg more than his counterparts, however their weight can vary drastically. Females will range from 17 to 65 kg, while males will be 31 to 75 kg.

18. Leopards can be dark as well, which is what we’d call black panthers. Panthers are not their own species, but just the darkened fur of either a leopard or a jaguar. It happens when melanin is the dominant pigmentation in the skin. It can also happen with albinism.

19. Consumption of food depends greatly on where a leopard lives. If a leopard is in captivity, it will eat around a kg of meat a day. However, if they’re in an area with lots of prey, such as Kalahari, they will eat much more. Male leopards will eat 3.5 kg, and female leopards with cubs will eat 4.9 kg. That’s a hefty amount of meat.

20. Leopards can live across both countries and climates. They can live in rainforests, regular forests, woodlands, savannahs, shrublands, deserts, and mountains. They don’t discriminate and can easily adapt to different environments and altitudes. You can spot these amazing creatures in a myriad of locations.