Panthera pardus (Common leopard)
Panthera pardus – Common Leopard captured during day time in GHNP (Click to enlarge)
Common leopard(Click to enlarge)
| Common name | Common leopard |
| Latin name | Panthera pardus Linnaeus 1758 |
| Local name | Cheeta bagh |
| IUCN/WPA/Indian status | Near threatened/I/Occasional |
| Social unit | Solitary |
| Size / weight | HBL : 203-243 cm(male) 180-208 cm (female), HAS: 50-70 cm TL : 76-106 cm. WT : 45-77 kg(male) 30-45 Kg (female) |
| Description | The most adaptable big cat of the Indian subcontinent the leopard has a clear yellow coat marked with black rosettes. It has a small spotted head, powerful jaws and a long tail, and its underside is white. The normal colour of the coat varies considerably in intensity from gold to tawny. The rosettes are unique in individual leopards like the stripes of a tiger. They are more like large spots(solid) on the limbs and the face, and on the body they turn into rosettes with a dark tawny centre as compared to the background. The eye like tiger’s are forward facing and large but eyesight may not be the most powerful sense of the leopard. It uses its hearing and smell more in survival. |
| Behavior | The rasping call of the leopard (called sawing because it resembles the sound of wood being sawed) is a familiar nocturnal call of the Indian jungle and Himalayan foothills. Leopard manage to coexist with tigers by hunting smaller prey( they tend to go for prey that weigh between 10-15 kg.) and hauling carcasses up trees. They also prey upon cattle, dogs and even children at times thus earning notoriety as man eaters As they are often sighted near habitations in rural India. |
| Distribution | Throughout India except the arid parts of Kutch and Rajasthan and the high Himalayas (up to 3000 m.) |
| Habitat | Deciduous and evergreen forests, scrub jungle, open country and fringes of human habitation.There are recent studies that have shown that leopard have colonized erstwhile human habitation( such as sugar fields) and are using them as habitat to breed and feed. Such leopards are therefore, no longer to be considered as stray from the jungle. |
| Best seen | Gir NP, Sanjay Gandhi NP Borivili (Mumbai) Maharashtra |