Felis pardus was the
scientific name used by
Carl Linnaeus in the
10th edition of Systema Naturae in 1758. His description was based on descriptions by earlier naturalists such as
Conrad Gessner. He assumed that the leopard occurred in India.[7]
In the 18th and 19th centuries, several naturalists described various leopard skins and skulls from Africa, including:[8]
Panthera pardus brockmani by Pocock in 1932 from
Somaliland[12]
Results of
genetic analyses indicate that all African leopard populations are generally closely related and represent only one
subspecies, namely P. p. pardus.[5][6] However, results of an
analysis of molecular variance and the pairwise
fixation index of African leopard museum specimens shows differences in the ND-5 locus spanning five major
haplogroups, namely in Central–Southern Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, coastal West–Central Africa, and Central–East Africa. In some cases, fixation indices showed higher diversity than for the
Arabian leopard and Panthera pardus tulliana in
Asia.[13]
Characteristics
The African leopard exhibits great variation in coat color, depending on location and habitat. Coat colour varies from pale yellow to deep gold or tawny, and sometimes
black, and is patterned with black rosettes while the head, lower limbs and belly are spotted with solid black. Male leopards are larger, averaging 58 kg (128 lb) with 90 kg (200 lb) being the maximum weight attained by a male. Females weigh about 37.5 kg (83 lb) on average.[14]
The African leopard is
sexually dimorphic; males are larger and heavier than females.[15] Between 1996 and 2000, 11 adult leopards were radio-collared on
Namibian farmlands. Males weighed 37.5 to 52.3 kg (83 to 115 lb) only, and females 24 to 33.5 kg (53 to 74 lb).[16] The heaviest known leopard weighed about 96 kg (212 lb), and was recorded in
South West Africa.[17]
According to
Alfred Edward Pease, black leopards in North Africa were similar in size to
lions. An
Algerian leopard killed in 1913 was reported to have measured approximately 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m), before being skinned.[18]
Leopards inhabiting the mountains of the
Cape Provinces appear smaller and less heavy than leopards further north.[19] Leopards in Somalia and Ethiopia are also said to be smaller.[20]
The skull of a
West African leopard specimen measured 11.25 in (286 mm) in
basal length, and 7.125 in (181.0 mm) in breadth, and weighed 1 lb 12 oz (0.79 kg). To compare, that of an
Indian leopard measured 11.2 in (280 mm) in basal length, and 7.9 in (20 cm) in breadth, and weighed 2 lb 4 oz (1.0 kg).[21]
Distribution and habitat
The African leopards inhabited a wide range of habitats within
Africa, from mountainous forests to grasslands and
savannahs, excluding only extremely sandy desert. It is most at risk in areas of semi-desert, where scarce resources often result in conflict with nomadic farmers and their livestock.[22][23]
It used to occur in most of
sub-Saharan Africa, occupying both
rainforest and arid
desert habitats. It lived in all habitats with annual rainfall above 50 mm (2.0 in), and can penetrate areas with less than this amount of rainfall along river courses. It ranges up to 5,700 m (18,700 ft), has been sighted on high slopes of the
Ruwenzori and
Virunga volcanoes, and observed when drinking thermal water 37 °C (99 °F) in the
Virunga National Park.[23]
It appears to be successful at adapting to altered natural habitat and settled environments in the absence of intense persecution. It has often been recorded close to major cities. But already in the 1980s, it has become rare throughout much of
West Africa.[24] Now, it remains patchily distributed within historical limits.[3] During surveys in 2013, it was recorded in
Gbarpolu County and
Bong County in the
Upper Guinean forests of
Liberia.[25]
Leopards are rare in North Africa. A
relict population persists in the
Atlas Mountains of
Morocco, in forest and mountain steppe in elevations of 300 to 2,500 m (980 to 8,200 ft), where the climate is temperate to cold.[26][27]
In 2014, a leopard was killed in the
Elba Protected Area in southeastern
Egypt. This was the first sighting of a leopard in the country since the 1950s.[28]
In 2016, a leopard was recorded for the first time in a semi-arid area of Yechilay in northern
Ethiopia.[29]
Behavior and ecology
In
Kruger National Park, male leopards and female leopards with cubs were more active at night than solitary females. The highest rates of daytime activity were recorded for leopards using thorn thickets during the wet season, when
impala also used them.[30] Leopards are generally most active between sunset and sunrise, and kill more
prey at this time.[31]
Diet and hunting
The leopard has an exceptional ability to adapt to changes in prey availability, and has a very broad diet. It takes small prey where large
ungulates are less common. The known prey of leopards ranges from
dung beetles to adult
elands, which can reach 900 kg (2,000 lb).[23] In sub-Saharan Africa, at least 92 prey species have been documented in leopard scat, including
rodents,
birds, small and large
antelopes,
hyraxes,
hares, and
arthropods. Leopards generally focus their hunting activity on locally abundant medium-sized ungulates in the 20 to 80 kg (44 to 176 lb) range, while opportunistically taking other prey. Average intervals between ungulate kills range from seven[30] to 12–13 days.[31]
Leopards often hide large kills in trees, a behavior for which great strength is required. There have been several observations of leopards hoisting carcasses of young
giraffes, estimated to weigh up to 125 kg (276 lb), i.e. 2–3 times the weight of the leopard, up to 5.7 m (19 ft) into trees.[31]
Throughout Africa, the major threats to leopards are habitat conversion and intense persecution,[40] especially in retribution for real and perceived livestock loss.[41]
The Upper Guinean forests in Liberia are considered a
biodiversity hotspot, but have already been fragmented into two blocks. Large tracts are affected by commercial
logging and
mining activities, and are converted for agricultural use including large-scale
oil palmplantations in
concessions obtained by a foreign company.[25]
The impact of
trophy hunting on populations is unclear, but may have impacts at the demographic and population level, especially when females are shot. In
Tanzania, only males are allowed to be hunted, but females comprised 28.6% of 77 trophies shot between 1995 and 1998.[42] Removing an excessively high number of males may produce a cascade of deleterious effects on the population. Although male leopards provide no parental care to cubs, the presence of the sire allows females to raise cubs with a reduced risk of
infanticide by other males. There are few reliable observations of infanticide in leopards, but new males entering the population are likely to kill existing cubs.[43]
Analysis of leopard scats and
camera trapping surveys in contiguous forest landscapes in the
Congo Basin revealed a high dietary niche overlap and an exploitative competition between leopards and
bushmeat hunters. With increasing proximity to settlements and concomitant human hunting pressure, leopards exploit smaller prey and occur at considerably reduced population densities. In the presence of intensive bushmeat hunting surrounding human settlements, leopards appear entirely absent.[44]Transhumantpastoralists from the border area between Sudan and the Central African Republic take their livestock to the
Chinko area. They are accompanied by armed merchants who engage in poaching large herbivores, sale of bushmeat and trading leopard skins in
Am Dafok. Surveys in the area revealed that the leopard population decreased from 97 individuals in 2012 to 50 individuals in 2017. Rangers confiscated large amounts of
poison in the camps of livestock herders, who admitted that they use it for poisoning predators.[45]
Conservation
The leopard is listed in
CITES Appendix I. Hunting is banned in Zambia and Botswana, and was suspended in South Africa for 2016.[3]
Leopard populations are present in several
protected areas, including:
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