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LEOPARD – THE SILENT STALKER

If you have seen a leopard, Panthera pardus, in the wild, you are one of the very few extremely lucky persons alive! The leopard is a top predator, meaning it is right at the top of the food chain. It has one enemy and that is mankind. Other enemies on a lesser scale when compared to man are lion, Hyena and baboons.

A short video of some fresh leopard tracks

A leopard is a stocky and strongly built specimen of pure muscle and power. With its strong sharp teeth and lethal claws it is a cat built for killing. Its fur is covered with rosettes, and it has excellent vision to boot. A leopard can weigh anything from 30 to 75 kilograms. A huge male in Namibia has been weighed in at 85 kilograms.

leopard

A Leopard is a solitary animal. Each adult has a home range or territory. In Namibia these home ranges differ from area to area. In the semi-arid areas of the west these home ranges are quite big, while in the north and north east with its higher rainfall and more prey, these home ranges are much smaller. When a female leopard is in heat she will scent mark the boundaries of her home range in order for males to find her. Once a male has approached and is accepted leopards will mate over the next couple of days. Gestation is 90 to 112 days. Like all cats the young are born with eyes closed, and the eyes only opens after a week or more. This is dangerous times, because now the cubs are very vulnerable to attack by other leopards as well as other predators. For the first 8 weeks the mother will hide her cubs. After this time the cubs will slowly make their appearance and start to play in the area surrounding the hiding spot. After about 11 months the cubs are finally grown enough to fend on their own, but they still stay in the vicinity of the mother.

Leopards are excellent stalkers, and the ambush is their main weapon. Lying in wait or in the branches of trees they jump on unsuspecting pray and strangle them by grabbing hold of the muzzle, suffocating them. Sometimes a clean broken neck is also possible. A leopard is one of the few predators that carry its kill into trees, thus making sure no other predator can reach it. Prey for leopards will differ from area to area. Leopards living in plains will favour springbuck, Steen buck, rabbits and calves of Oryx or red hartebeest. Leopards living in mountainous terrain will focus on baboons, Dassies, and Klipspringer for example.

To see a leopard in the wild is something very very few people will ever witness. The leopard is such a secretive animal, and adds to that it is mainly a nocturnal predator. In places like Etosha National Park it is probable to see a leopard in its natural environment, but one will have to be very good to see them.

Like previously said, man is the number one enemy of the leopard. In commercial farmland, leopard will take cattle calves and sheep or goats if around. It is such easy prey for this magnificent animal that it cannot be passed by. For this they are shot if found. In communal areas the same will happen, as livestock is very precious for the local populace. Even with all the odds stacked against them, leopards will continue to survive and thrive. They are the master of their domain, and adaptable to the extreme, hence making them the perfect predator.



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