The Leopard

Powerful, graceful and arguably one of the most beautiful of all the large cats, the elusive leopard is a master of stealth and survival. By far the strongest climber, it can haul prey twice its own body weight up into a tree where it can feast without disturbance from other predators. Male leopards usually measure 80 cm high at the shoulder and weigh between 20 – 90 kg. Females are considerably smaller, weighing between 17 – 60 kg.

Solitary, arboreal and nocturnal, they are difficult to spot but can sometimes be seen sunning themselves from their favourite viewpoint. Their nocturnal lifestyle is probably a reaction to human pressures and hunting. In National Parks, large game reserves and remote areas they can be seen moving about more readily during the day. They like to drape themselves over tree branches or rest in caves to escape the midday heat.

Leopards living in golden grasslands have a light buff or tawny coat that is covered with dark, irregular circles called “rosettes,” providing excellent camouflage amongst foliage. In densely forested areas their colouring is much darker, almost black although their spots are still discernable in bright sunlight. Preferring riverine forests and rocky, dense bush, their adaptability has enabled leopards to exist in a wide variety of habitats as increasing human encroachment has forced them away.

In the Cape Province south of the Orange River, they have been largely eradicated by stock farmers except in rugged mountainous areas. The Cape Leopard that lives in the Cape mountain range is much smaller than its big cousins in the Limpopo region. Their diet is probably the contributing factor, consisting mostly of dassies and much smaller prey. Occasionally astonished hikers in the Cederberg mountains have been graced by the rare appearance of a wild leopard joining them at the fireside.

A life of seclusion is the way of the leopard and they tend to avoid one another. Highly territorial, their range overlaps that of their neighbours and they only tolerate a trespasser into its home turf to mate. Leopards mark their territory with urine and leave claw marks on trees. They are constantly on the move within their range and know each others location from these markings and their low, rasping calls.

Females have litters of two or three cubs after a gestation of about 100 days. Leopard cubs are kept hidden for the first 2 months and are suckled for at least 3 months. The mother takes them hunting when they are 4 months old and they may stay together as a family group for up to two years. As cubs are weaned they learn to hunt small animals. Leopards prey on a wide variety of creatures ranging from insects, rodents, birds, fish, dassies, monkeys and baboons to large antelope more than double their own body weight. Efficient and stealthy hunters, they may kill more than their immediate needs and ‘store’ their quarry in trees for several days. Only hyaenas rival the leopard in their readiness to gorge on rotten meat.