leopard – YLoveBigCats https://www.ylovebigcats.com/en Big cats from the world,<br>a world of big cats Mon, 30 Oct 2017 13:58:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Difference between Panther and Leopard https://www.ylovebigcats.com/en/2015/07/23/difference-between-panther-and-leopard/ Thu, 23 Jul 2015 18:21:17 +0000 https://ylovebigcats.com/en/?p=961 It is most common to describe Panther and Leppard (or Leopard) as two distinct species. However, this is more a misconception in the wider public than a recognized biological classification. Both words should be used interchangeably even if old habits never die (For all the kids, Bagheera will always be the black panther of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book and cannot become a black leppard).

More importantly, if the common leopard/panther really is an identifiable species (Panthera pardus), many other species holding a leopard name belong to à completely different order:

  • The Snow leopard should probably be called Uncia (Panthera uncia).
  • The Clouded panther is actually a Neofelis nebulosa and belongs to a distinct genre (Neofelis) which is only remotely linked to lions, tigers and true leopards.

As a matter of fact, the most attentive (or trained) eye could distinguish morphologies between those animals even without looking at their pelt colored patterns (which is still very distinctive for most of them).

Only the China Panther is of the same family as the common leopard and keeps most of its characteristics.

]]> Eagle vs. leopard (in a tree) https://www.ylovebigcats.com/en/2015/05/12/eagle-vs-leopard-in-a-tree/ Tue, 12 May 2015 14:20:10 +0000 https://ylovebigcats.com/en/?p=948 It is quite usual to see a leopard in a tree. After all, these big cats climb up there quite commonly and often bring their dead prey into the high branches to protect them from the competition (like a wandering hyena). But it is quite rare to see a leopard hunt in a treee. When, it is confronting an eagle, we reach great heights of weirdness.

Anyway, Paul Steyn observed such a behaviour (a leopard female trying to enter the nest of an eagle). But, in the end, even if the eagle flew avoding any risk, the leopard did not catch anything.

Acrobatic Leopard Raids Eagle’s Nest

]]> Never turn your back on big cats https://www.ylovebigcats.com/en/2014/04/21/never-turn-your-back-on-big-cats/ Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:07:07 +0000 https://ylovebigcats.com/en/?p=928 The big cats are wild hunters and killing machines, even when held in captivity for a long time. See how these ones (lions, tigers, and all) behave once they notice that a possible pray is not looking.

Ready for a kill at any time.

Tame, you said?

]]> Desertification kills 6000 species per year https://www.ylovebigcats.com/en/2012/02/19/desertification-kills-6000-species-per-year/ Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:08:51 +0000 https://ylovebigcats.com/en/?p=811 desertification kills leopards

A very nice looking poster for a WWF campaign against desertification. With a leopard.

]]> Amur leopards shot in a trap https://www.ylovebigcats.com/en/2011/08/07/amur-leopards-shot-in-a-trap/ Sun, 07 Aug 2011 11:09:01 +0000 https://ylovebigcats.com/en/?p=747 Fortunately, I am referring to a photo-video trap, not hunters’ traps.

The critically endangered Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) has been well observed by the WWF-financed counting operation in Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve and Leopardoviy Federal Wildlife Refuge (Russia). This is very good news since the species is believed to count only about 50 animals in the wild. But the Russian traps appear to have allowed the observation of nothing less than 12 different individuals (instead of the 6 that were believed to live in the area).

Maybe the Amur leopard population is (very slowly) increasing.

The video shows a female and a grown-up cub, which may be a farily good indication that the reproduction may allow a slow recovery in this very small population of Amur leopards.


YouTube link

]]>