Introduction
Leopards are known to be the most
secretive and elusive animal of all the carnivores and also sagacious carnivore.
Pound for pound, it is the strongest climber of the large cats and capable of killing
prey larger than itself because of its powerful muscles
Ecological niche
Leopards mostly live in dense bush with
rocky surroundings, but can also adapt to many places in both warm, humid and
cold climates for its survival. Leopards are primarily nocturnal, usually
resting and relaxing during the daytime in trees or thick bush camouflaging.
With all these behavior are best seen in Kenya Tanzania safaris.
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| The elusive leopard in Kenya safaris |
Morphological characteristics
Leopards have varying coat colors ranging from tawny, light buff or dark shade especially in forested areas. Though in East Africa the spots, or rosettes, are circular like but square in southern African leopards which give them a distinctive feature.
Leopards have varying coat colors ranging from tawny, light buff or dark shade especially in forested areas. Though in East Africa the spots, or rosettes, are circular like but square in southern African leopards which give them a distinctive feature.
Social behavior
Basically
leopards are solitary animals and go out of their way to avoid one another in
time f hunting or resting. Each animal has a home range that overlaps with its
neighbors; the male's range is much larger and generally overlaps with those of
several females. Any intruder into their home range will lead to a strong fight
apart from when they are mating.
Leopards continually move about their
home ranges, seldom staying in an area for more than two or three days at a
time.
In most cases a male will
accompany a female in estrus for a week or so before they part and return to
solitude.
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| Kenya big cats-the elusive leopard of Maasai Mara |
They growl and spit with a screaming
roar of fury when angry and announce their presence to other leopards with a
rasping or sawing cough. They have a good sense of smell and mark their ranges
with urine; they also leave claw marks on trees to warn other leopards to stay
away.
Feeding Behavior
The leopards are cunning guys, stealthy
hunter and their prey ranges such hyraxes, warthogs, antelopes, monkeys and baboons,
hare among others
Threats
Leopards have long been preyed by man
because of their soft and beautiful fur that Africa religions use for
ceremonial robes and coats.
Sharon Sheery
www.soinafricasafaris.com
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