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The Indian leopard is a leopard
subspecies widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent and
classified as Near Threatened by IUCN since 2008.
Scientific name: Panthera pardus fusca
Higher classification: Leopard
Rank: Subspecies
Mass: 50 – 77 kg (Male), 29 – 34 kg (Female)
Tail length: 76 – 87.6 cm (Female), 76 – 91 cm (Male)
Body length: 104 – 117 cm (Female), 127 – 142 cm (Male)
Size of territory: 5 – 7 km²
1) Leopards are nocturnal.
2) Male leopards are up to 50 per cent larger than females.
3) They don't roar as loud as Tigers, but leopards can also purr.
4) Leopards can take prey as large as antelopes, but will also eat
dung beetles and other insects.
5) They are famously good at climbing up trees, and down – they
often descend head first.
A male leopard can drag a carcass three times its own weight six
meters up at tree. Watercourses attract antelopes wild bores
live-stock and other creatures. Rocky outcrops and caves provide
cover for resting leopards and their young. The babul trees that
surround the Rocky desert make a good view of the terrain, as well
as providing a place to stash kills away from scavenging hyenas and
offering protection from direct human contact.
They use the full terrain of the Aravali to their advantage. They
are good swimmers, excellent climbers and hunt the widest variety of
prey in the indian sub continent.
A leopard's diet can include insects, common langur, hare, peafowl,
fish and reptiles, as well as grazing animals. They are as happy to
scavenge a meal as hunt one. Leopards are superbly camouflaged
hunters that creep to within a few meters of their unsuspecting
quarry before lunging, using powerful jaw muscles, to exert a lethal
hold.
Leopards are stealthy in other ways, too. They are solitary, elusive
creatures, and – despite being the most geographically widespread of
the big cats – the hardest to find and film. Leopards are known to
spend most of the day hidden in trees or caves. Still, leopards have
a few tricks of their own, and – again – stealth is chief among
them. They hunt, kill and feed quickly and quietly, to avoid drawing
undue attention to their presence. Their spots and rosettes can be
either round or square to make the very best use of the camouflage
available. In different habitats around the world, leopards have
evolved darker or paler markings to make the best use of their
surroundings.
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