Panthera pardus

The English name of leopard is Leopard. It is a large carnivorous animal with 9 subspecies. The pattern on its body is quite similar to ancient copper coins, so it is also called "golden leopard".

Due to the wide distribution of leopards, leopards in different regions show very different weight characteristics, so that people once believed that there were two kinds of animals, the big one was called "leopard" and the small one was called "panther". The leopards in northern Iran can weigh up to 90 kg (adult male leopards); while the Arabian leopards in the mountains of the Middle East may only weigh 31 kg (adult male leopards), a size difference of 3 times. Such a size difference is rare among cats. The size difference between different subspecies of tigers and lions rarely exceeds 2 times. Only cougars have similar situations. The largest wild leopard record comes from a male Far Eastern leopard, which weighs 108 kg, almost as big as a Sumatran tiger. Generally speaking, male leopards weigh about 30-50% more than female leopards, and the largest female leopard weighs no more than 42 kg.

Leopards live solitary lives and often move at night. In places where food is abundant, their activity range is relatively fixed; when food is scarce, they wander for dozens of kilometers to find food. Males have larger territories than females. They sleep in dens or bushes during the day. The sun shines through the forest and sprinkles on their spotted fur, making it difficult to detect their existence even from a few meters away. They come out to roam in the evening to find food and rest until dawn. The territory of a male leopard can reach 40 square kilometers, which usually overlaps with the territories of multiple female leopards. They have well-developed senses, extremely keen sense of smell and vision, and are agile. They are good at climbing trees and can catch monkeys and birds on trees. They are also good at jumping, and can jump up to 6 meters high and 12 meters away. But they don't like swimming.

Although leopards are basically solitary animals, sometimes newly adult male leopard brothers will live together for a period of time. In addition to communicating with smell, sound is also an important means of communication for leopards. Leopards can make many sounds that can convey various information. Leopards, tigers, and lions are all "throat-calling big cats". They have incompletely ossified hyoid bones, and the middle part of the hyoid bones has elastic cartilage tendons, which can make the unique roar of large cats. The leopard's call that is usually heard is a hoarse and harsh repeated roar similar to sawing wood, which can be heard 2-3 kilometers away. In addition, leopards can also make loud coughs and hoarse sounds, which are mainly used to express threats and fear; similar to the meows and purrs of domestic cats, they usually express friendliness and closeness. Similar to lions, leopards have a way of making sounds by exhaling from their noses. This is usually a sound that expresses friendliness between different individuals at a very close distance. It contains multiple information elements such as welcome, goodwill, and pursuit.

Leopards are extremely ferocious, with large and sharp canine teeth and particularly developed carnassial teeth, which are conducive to capturing and tearing prey. There are two main ways of attack when hunting. One is to hide in a tree, so that the prey can be found from a high position, and the smell will also be dispersed by the wind, which is not easy to be discovered by the prey, but it is necessary to wait for the prey to pass under the tree; the other is to sneak up on the prey first, and then suddenly jump out to capture it. The prey that cannot be eaten at that time is hung on high branches, so that it is not easy to rot and is not easy to be eaten by other animals. When food is scarce, it will come back and eat it slowly. It has amazing strength and can catch a prey that is half heavier than itself on the tree. When it cannot find food, it can also endure hunger for several days. The leopard can chase its prey at a speed of up to 80 kilometers per hour. The long and sensitive whiskers make the leopard suitable for hunting at night. A few long hairs on the eyebrows help protect the eyes as it moves through the bushes without being scratched.

The main threat to the leopard is man-made. Habitat fragmentation, reduced prey base, and conflicts with livestock and prey farming have led to a decline in the number of leopards in most of their range. The conversion of forest habitats and savanna systems to agriculture, animal husbandry and urban sprawl has greatly reduced the range of leopards. This conversion often leads to the depletion of natural prey species through poaching, thereby reducing the natural prey base in these areas.

Listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) ver3.1: 2019 - Vulnerable (VU).

Listed in the 2019 Level I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Listed in the Level I of China's National List of Key Protected Wildlife (February 5, 2021).

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Origin: Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, United Republic of, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Possibly extinct: Gambia, Israel, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Tajikistan and Vietnam.
Extinct: Hong Kong, Jordan, South Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Singapore, Syrian Arab Republic, Togo, Tu

The head is small and round, the ears are short, the backs of the ears are black, the tips of the ears are yellow, and the bases are also yellow with sparse small black spots. The iris is yellow, and the pupil shrinks into a round shape under strong light, and emits sparkling phosphorescence in the dark. The canine teeth are well developed, and the surface of the tongue is covered with many small, keratinized, inverted spines. There are 5 rows of oblique beards on each side of the mouth. The forehead, between and below the eyes, and cheeks are covered with small black spots. The fur on the body is brightly colored, the back of the body is apricot, the under the neck, chest, abdomen and the inside of the limbs are white, the back of the ears is black, there is a significant white spot, the tip of the tail is black, the whole body is covered with black spots, and the spots on the head Small and dense, the spots on the back are dense and larger.
The body is uniform, the limbs are mediu