LEOPARDS: CHARACTERISTICS, SPOTS, SUBSPECIES

LEOPARDS

Leopards (“Panthera pardus”) are solitary hunters found in Africa and Asia. Rarely seen even though they are fairly common, they are masters of stealth and concealment and are much smaller than lions and tigers. But don’t let their size fool you. According to animal trainers leopards are "most dangerous, idiosyncratic and unmanageable of the great cats." A group of leopards is called a leap of leopards. [Source: Kim Wolhuter, National Geographic, October 2001]

Dereck Joubert wrote in National Geographic, “Unlike lions or cheetahs, leopards are secretive, solitary cats. Without a family to depend on, they hunt alone, slinking through the shadows, surviving on stealth and intelligence.”

Leopards are doing quite well compared to other great cats and are not in any serious danger of extinction. They are relatively common in southern and eastern Africa but are endangered in many parts of Asia. An estimated 300,000 to 700,000 of them live in sub-Sahara Africa. In Asia, they range over an area about equal the area they inhabit in Africa but are found in much lower densities. A 2018 estimate counted 12,852 leopards in India. Leopard numbers are often determined by ungulate densities and availability of reliable water sources. Loss of habitat is increasingly pushing these big cats into human populated areas.

Leopards’ lifespans in the wild are typically 10 to 12 years, with a high of 17 years. Their lifespan in captivity is typically 21 to 23 years, with a high of 27 years. Survival rates for cubs range from 41 percent to 50 percent. [Source: Ashley Hunt, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Leopard Specialists: John Cavallo.

Websites and Resources on Animals: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; BBC Earth bbcearth.com; A-Z-Animals.com a-z-animals.com; Live Science Animals livescience.com; Animal Info animalinfo.org ; World Wildlife Fund (WWF) worldwildlife.org the world’s largest independent conservation body; National Geographic National Geographic ; Endangered Animals (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) iucnredlist.org

Leopard Habitats and Where They Live

Leopards are the most widespread of wild cats. They range across most of sub-Sahara Africa and most of Asia south of the former Soviet Union and can be found in Israel, southern Siberia, and islands of Sri Lanka, Java and Borneo. They are also the most adaptable of the big cats, thriving in habitats as diverse as rain forests, cultivated land, swamps, pine forests, deserts, even cities, and have been found alive in all habitats except the driest of deserts and Arctic tundra.

Unlike most other big cats, leopards are very adaptable They can prey on anything from porcupines to dung beetles to a 800-kilogram eland. They have been observed in 43 degree C (110 degrees F) heat in the Kalahari Desert and -23 degrees C (-13 degrees F) degrees in Russia. A perfectly-preserved female leopard was found in crater ice at the summit of 5638-meter (19,300-foot) -high Mount Kilimanjaro.

Leopards are most populous in mesic woodlands (type of habitat with a well-balanced or moderate supply of moisture throughout the growing season), grassland savannas, and forests. They also occupy mountainous, scrub, and desert habitats. They favor trees throughout their entire geographic distribution. [Source: Ashley Hunt, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Leopards have lost 75 percent of their historic range across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, according to a study — A three-year review of data published in the scientific journals — published PeerJ in 2016. Associated Press reported: It finds leopards have almost disappeared from vast ranges in China, Southeast Asia and the Arabian peninsula while African leopards confront mounting challenges in the north and west. [Source: Michelle Faul, Associated Press, May 7, 2016]

“The big cats are threatened by spreading farmlands, declining prey, conflict with livestock owners, trophy hunting and illegal trade in their skins and teeth. Their skins are sometimes worn as a symbol of power by African chiefs, including South Africa's President Jacob Zuma. Their rangelands have shrunk from 35 million square kilometers (13.5 million square miles) in 1750 — before the colonization of Africa and the spread of firearms — to about 8.5 million square kilometers (3.3 million square miles) now, the study estimates.

The study was carried out by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the National Geographic Society's Big Cats Initiative, the wild cat conservation organization Panthera and the Zoological Society of London. It is "the single most authoritative and exhaustive review of this kind," said Guillaume Chapron, associate professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science. Its findings are "a shock as leopards were often believed to be more adaptable to human impacts ... than other species such as tigers and lions."

Leopard Subspecies

Based on DNA evidence, scientists recognize eight leopard subspecies: 1) in Africa, 2) in the Middle East, 3) in India, 4) in Sri Lanka, 5) in Southeast Asia, 6) in southeastern China, 7) in Manchuria and eastern Siberia, and 8) in Java. Using other measures 27 subspecies have been counted — 14 in Asia and 13 in Africa. Some subspecies look noticeably different from other subspecies. The markings on leopards found in Israel, for example, are significantly fainter than those found of leopards that live in rain forests. Three Asian subspecies in danger of eradication, according to the PeerJ study describe above. The data was used to update the endangered species list curated by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The subspecies are:

African leopard (P. p. pardus, Linnaeus, 1758) is the most widespread leopard subspecies and is native to most of Sub-Saharan Africa. [Source: Wikipedia]

Indian leopard (P. p. fusca, Meyer, 1794) occurs in the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar and southern Tibet. It is listed as Near Threatened.

Indochinese leopard (P. p. delacouri, Pocock, 1930) occurs in mainland Southeast Asia and southern China, and is listed as Critically Endangered. It is locally extinct in Hong Kong, Singapore, Laos and Vietnam.

Sri Lankan leopard (P. p. kotiya) Deraniyagala, 1956) is native to Sri Lanka and listed as Vulnerable.

Javan leopard (P. p. melas, Cuvier, 1809) is native to Java in Indonesia and was listed as Endangered in 2021.

Arabian leopard (P. p. nimr, Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1830) is the smallest leopard subspecies and considered endemic to the Arabian Peninsula. As of 2023, the population was estimated to comprise 100–120 individuals in Oman and Yemen and was therefore assessed as Critically Endangered in 2023.

Persian leopard (P. p. tulliana, Valenciennes, 1856) is also known as the Anatolian leopard, and Caucasian leopard. It occurs from eastern Turkey and the Caucasus to the Iranian Plateau and the Hindu Kush into the western Himalayas. It is listed as Endangered. It is locally extinct in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The Balochistan leopard population in the south of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan is separated from the northern population by the Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut deserts.

Amur leopard (P. p. orientalis, Schlegel, 1857) is native to the Russian Far East and northern China, but is locally extinct in the Korean peninsula.

Leopard Characteristics

Leopards range in weight from 17 to 65 kilograms (37.4 to 143.2 pounds) and range in length from 1.6 to 2.3 meters (5.25 to 7.55 feet). Sexual Dimorphism (differences between males and females) is present: Males are larger than females. Females range in weight from 17 to 58 kilograms and range in length from 1.7 to 1.9 meters. Males range in weight from 31 to 65 kilograms and in range in length from 1.6 to 2.3 meters. [Source: Ashley Hunt, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Leopards are much smaller and weaker than lions and tigers and have larger heads, shorter legs and more powerful bodies than cheetahs. Adults stand about one meter to 1.5 meters (39 inches to 60 inches). at the shoulder. Their head and body measures about one to two meters in length. The tail is between 80 and 110 centimeters long. The largest males have a two-meter-long body and a one-meter-long tail, which curls and has a black tip. The body size of leopards varies geographically and probably reflects adaptations to particular habitats. Savannah and woodland leopards tend to be relatively large while mountain and desert leopards tend to be relatively small.

Leopards have short legs relative to their long body. They have a broad head, and their massive skull allows for powerful jaw muscles. They have small round ears, long whiskers extending from dark spots on the upper lip, and long whiskers in their eyebrows that protect their eyes while moving through dense vegetation. Like lions, leopards are adapted to night. Their yellow-green eyes are filled with light-sensitive cones that allow them to see well in the dark but limits their vision to black and white in the day.

Much of a leopard’s body weight is made up of muscles. Powerful jaw, neck and chest muscles allow them to drag their prey a long way and up trees. The leopard's scapula (shoulder blades) has specialized attachment sites for climbing muscles. The animal’s large head houses powerful jaw muscles that give it the power to kill and dismember prey. The heavily muscled shoulders and forelimbs allow it to bring down prey and hold it down while it delivers a suffocating bite

Leopard Spots and Coloration

Leopards have yellowish fur covered by closely-grouped spots that look like rosettes. The patterns are unique to each animal and are regarded as the most beautiful among the great cats. Sudanese believe the markings represent the foot prints of every animal they hunt. Most leopards have: 1) solid black patches and spots on their limbs and head; 2) pale-centered rosettes on their body; 3) pale background color on their underparts; and 4) a ringed tail.

In deserts, leopards are pale yellow. In grasslands they have a deeper yellow color. According to Animal Diversity Web: Color patterns of leopards varies geographically and probably reflects adaptations to particular habitats. Their coat ranges from tawny or light yellow in warm, dry habitats to reddish-orange in dense forests. Subspecies are distinguished according to unique fur characteristics. Their body is covered with black rosettes, which are circular in East Africa and square in South Africa. They have solid black spots on their chest, feet, and face and rings on their tail. Cubs have a smoky gray coat and their rosettes are not yet distinct. Each individual has a unique coat, which can be used for identification. Black panthers, which are most populous in humid forests, are leopards with recessive melanistic genes. [Source: Ashley Hunt, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

The spots serve as camouflage and are especially effective against animals like themselves whose vision is adapted for the night and who see black and white during the day. The spots blend in with surroundings, helping the leopard disappear in the mix of light and shade in the forest and sometimes create an illusion of movement even when a leopard is standing still.

Erin Friar McDermott wrote in National Geographic: “Rudyard Kipling imagined a leopard’s spots came from fingertips of a human to help blend in with the jungle. William Allen of the University of Bristol took a digital approach to breaking the camouflage code...After comparing photos of the cats with a mathematical model of pattern development on their flanks, Allen and colleagues concluded that the complexity of many coat patterns was related to habitat. Spotted cats are typical of closed environments like forests; plain-coated ones tend to inhabit open spaces. Behavior also plays a role. The more time a cat spends in trees and is active at night, for instance, the more elaborately marked its coat is likely to be. “In evolutionary time perhaps cats can change their patterning relatively easily,” says Allen.”

Black Panthers

Black leopard

Black panthers are leopards that are black. It was once thought they were a separate species but they actually are leopards with normal spots on a dark background. The spots and rosettes are visible in direct sunlight. There are some completely black jaguars but most large black cats are leopards. It is possible for a spotted leopard and black panther to be born in the same litter.

Both jaguars and leopards can be black or nearly so. The trait is most common in dense forests. David Attenborough wrote: “This particularly so among the leopards of Malaysia, where almost half the population is virtually black. Particularly dark individuals are known as black panthers. They are, however, true leopards and their spots are often just detectable beneath their jet veil.” Black panthers can be viewed as examples of melanism, a genetic change that causes the amount of dark pigment (melanin) to increase in the skin or fur.

Black leopards (black panthers) are particularly well adapted for night hunting. Their black color makes them almost impossible to see in the dark. Their eyes have huge pupils and dense concentrations of light-reflecting cells.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated January 2025