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| Cougar and Leopard Weight Comparisons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 7 2015, 08:12 PM (13,218 Views) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| pckts | Jul 21 2015, 03:21 AM Post #16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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Link about Persian leopards also speaking about the 115kg alleged weight. http://www.rufford.org/files/Persian%20Leopard%20Newsletter,%20No.%207,%20Spring%202014.pdf Edited by Taipan, Sep 16 2015, 09:50 PM.
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| Taipan | Sep 16 2015, 10:00 PM Post #17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Variations in Cougar Weights based on location Adult males : 46 kg to 82 Kg (101 lbs to 181 lbs) Adult females: 30 kg to 58 kg (66 lbs to 128 lbs) ![]() Source: The difference between killing and eating: ecological shortcomings of puma energetic models - L. MARK ELBROCH et. al. 80.2 kg (177 pound) Cougar ![]() ![]() http://www.custercountynews.com/cms/news/story-212715.html A (100 kg) 220 pound Mountain Lion: ![]() http://dnr.state.co.us/newsapp/press.asp?pressid=2081 Edited by Taipan, Mar 10 2018, 02:04 PM.
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| Canadianwildlife | Sep 17 2015, 12:01 AM Post #18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Apex Predator
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Not that it helps in comparing, and this has probably already been posted elsewhere at least once by myself and more probably from others, but most male mountain lions weighted in an Oregon study averaged 140 lbs. Doesn't help much like I said because its only a limited population. http://mountainlion.org/states/OR%20Size%20and%20Reproductive%20Characteristics%20of%20Western%20Oregon%20Cougars%20Study%20Report.pdf Edited by Canadianwildlife, Sep 17 2015, 12:02 AM.
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| chui | Sep 18 2015, 07:12 PM Post #19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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Hello Canadianwildlife, you may find the following interesting with regards to cougar weights from Oregon. This is probably the most extensive data I've seen on the average weight for a population of big cats with the mean weight given for every year of age. Unfortunately, no range is provided so we don't know what the maximum weights recorded in these large samples were which would have been interesting. None the less, this is excellent data illustrating the body mass of a Northern cougar population. From "Body Size Dynamics of Cougars in Oregon" 1999. Here we can see that male cougars grow very rapidly until age 4 after which growth is more gradual until age 7 when body mass stabilizes around 65kg in Oregon. The higher mean weight for 10+ year old males is probably due to the fact that particularly large males are more likely to make it to old age due to increased ability to hold longer territory tenure rather than there being a sudden growth spurt at age 10. https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/wnan/article/view/28219 ![]() Another study which looked at cougar populations from more southern United States (Nevada, California, and Florida) found growth to stabilize between age 3 and 4. The Nevada cougars showed the fastest growth rate and were the heaviest population studied, with the weight of adult males stabilizing at 63.3kg. The California and Florida cougars were similar in weight with an adult male weight of around 55kg for both. The heaviest male was a 3 year old from Nevada at about 75kg or just under (from graph) and one 6 year old male from Nevada weighed around 70kg. The larger size of Nevada cougars was attributed to higher altitude and larger prey. From "Models of Mass Growth for 3 North American Cougar Populations" 1992. ![]()
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| chui | Sep 20 2015, 08:06 PM Post #20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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For those interested, the largest male leopards (2 of them) in the Kruger NP sample were 70kg (154lb) and the largest in the Sri Lankan sample was 77kg (170lb). The latter therefore being the biggest leopard in the data included in this table and only marginally smaller than the biggest cougar at 80kg (176lb) from this dataset. Although the table of measurements from the Sunquists' book, "Wild Cats of the World" 2002 provide a nice summary of data from various different sources for quick reference it is always best to look at the first hand sources from which this data is taken. This can often reveal errors or misinterpretation by the second hand source as well as additional info which is not carried over. In this post I'll provide some additional info from the original sources for some of the leopard samples. Kruger NP First of all, it is important to point out an error in Sunquist's table with regards to the Kruger NP leopard sample. The average weight of male leopards from this sample was actually 61.3kg and not 60.6kg. The original source of this data (no. 13) is Ted Bailey's book, "The African Leopard" 1993. Bailey captured a total of 30 leopards in the southern part of Kruger NP for his research in the 1970s. The measurements of these leopards are provided on page 82 of his book as follows. As it can be seen the average measurements of prime adults and old adults are given separately. For males, the average weight of 3 prime adults was 58.2kg and of 5 old adults it was 63.1kg, the average of all 8 works out to 61.3kg when calculated properly [(58.2x3)+(63.1x5)/8]. Unfortunately, Sunquist lazily just took the mean of the average weights for the 2 age groups to arrive at his incorrect figure of 60.6kg [(58.2+63.1)/2]. A minor difference but poor science nonetheless. Also, though the range is not provided for the Kruger NP sample, in the original source Bailey does state that his 2 biggest male leopards weighed 70kg "ungorged". Thus we know the maximum recorded in this sample was 70kg and also that he did take into account stomach content to some degree at least. From "The African Leopard" 1993 by Ted Bailey. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Sri Lanka The source for the Sri Lankan sample (no. 77) is listed as Pocock's 1939 publication, "The Fauna of British India". However, the original source of this data is the book,"A Guide to the Mammals of Ceylon" 1935 by naturalist, WWA Phillips. Again though the range of weights is not provided for this sample it is stated that the biggest male was 77kg. All of Phillips leopards were of course dead animals and although he did not specify, I suspect his weights may have been with stomach content subtracted based on the corresponding length and chest girth measurements. From "The Fauna of British India" 1939 by R.I. Pocock. ![]() From "A Guide to the Mammals of Ceylon" 1935 by WWA Phillips. ![]() Zambia The source for the Zambian sample (no. 116) is listed as V.J. Wilson's paper, "The Leopard in Eastern Zambia" 1976. I haven't read this particular paper but I do have Wilson's 1968 paper, "Weights of Mammals from Eastern Zambia", the original source of this data. Once again there seems to be an inconsistency between the average as provided in Sunquist's table and that reported by the original source. In this case, I'm not sure where Sunsquist made the error but the average weight of the 9 adult males should be 47.7kg not 49kg. As it is noted by Wilson in this paper, the weights she provided for leopards and other carnivores were with emptied stomach (ie. stomach content subtracted) and thus of particularly high standard. From "Weights of Mammals from Eastern Zambia" 1968 by V.J. Wilson. ![]() ![]() Thailand The small Thailand sample in Sunquist's table is from two separate papers (no. 48 and 49), "Ecology and Behavior of the Indochinese Leopard" 1999 by L.I. Grassman and "The Density and Behavior of Large Cats in a Dry Tropical Forest Mosaic" 1989 by Alan Rabinowitz. It's interesting to note the difference in weight recorded for male leopards in these studies which was 40kg for the single adult male in Grassman's sample compared to 60kg and 70kg for Rabinowitz 2 males. The difference may at least in part be due to difference in stomach content. For his study, Grassman baited leopards with live chickens thus stomach content was likely negligible (~1-2kg). However, Rabinowitz used live pigs as bait to capture the female and 1 male in his sample, while the second male weighed at 70kg was caught on a sambar kill. However, even if fully gorged the two males caught by Rabinowitz must have been around 50kg and 60kg at least, still quite impressive for East Asian leopards which generally tend to be fairly small. Also interesting to note the very extreme sexual dimorphism in this sample, the bigger of the 2 males would have been at least 3x the weight of the adult female at 21kg. From "Ecology and Behavior of the Indochinese Leopard" 1999 by L.I. Grassman. ![]() From "The Density and Behavior of Large Cats in a Dry Tropical Forest Mosaic" 1989 by Alan Rabinowitz.
Edited by chui, Oct 1 2015, 03:55 AM.
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| WaveRiders_ | Sep 22 2015, 08:22 AM Post #21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Autotrophic Organism
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I agree with you and I too would have presented the mathematical average of N=8 adult males of the two age classes (prime and old ones). However I do not think it is conceptually such a relevant mistake for you to be so severe with Sunquist & Sunquist (2002) as they might have thought those two sub-classes were skewed in sample size (5 vs 3) and they believed the median value could have been more appropriated. I mean if there would have been 10 old (and big) males and 1 prime (and still not so big) male the sample could have easily been judged biased towards the biggest males. In a population the adult age class, once agreed what it is, should include random and homogenous sampling. Do you think that my extreme example of 10 big old males and 1 prime and not so big male would correctly represent the whole population of what can be retained in sensu latu the adult age class (>= 3 or 4 years old like in most big cat samples)? A relevant point in my opinion is that one very often does not know how screwed other samples might be as details in samples often are lacking. This is why it is so importance consistency and random sampling without intentional and unintentional skewing. I say again I would have presented the mathematical average either because the two sub-classes include what can be simply classified as prime males and older (which would already be substantially more appropriated with respect of the age partitioning in most other big cat samples) and for consistency to what is retained the adult age class in most other big cat samples (and consistency is fundamental when making comparison as you well know). WaveRiders Edited by WaveRiders_, Sep 22 2015, 08:28 AM.
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| 1977marc | Sep 22 2015, 10:07 PM Post #22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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I wanted to ad that The Vin Diesel male was weighted at least 2 times by vets, ( Collar on and off) and was weighed 84 kg and 97 kg when they took it off. And the people who followed that procedure told me he was still growing by then. Mbombi male was also weighted ( grandfather of Camp Pan male) when he was ill, tubercelose if I remeber correctly, when he was old and not in top shape anymore weighing 107 kg. The old rangers told me that he was the biggest with the Ottawa male ever roaming the Sabi Sands. We are talking about SA Kruger leopards Edited by 1977marc, Sep 22 2015, 10:08 PM.
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| chui | Sep 23 2015, 06:05 AM Post #23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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I understand your point, however, the weights provided in Sunquists' tables are raw averages derived from different sources and therefore it only makes sense this particular sample for leopards be represented as such. I'm fully aware that the relative proportion at which different age groups are represented will influence the overall average and for a truly representative average of the adult population the sampling must be random and homogeneous. Also, I have always felt and have expressed that mean weights from different samples are not always directly comparable due to the issue of how the animals are aged and what age is considered adult etc. As male big cats appear to grow in mass well into adulthood (generally appear to reach full size around age 7) I would be most interested in averages derived specifically from fully grown males only. However, this type of data is difficult to find as I'm sure you are aware. |
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| pckts | Sep 26 2015, 03:40 AM Post #24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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Do you have any data on this? The Vin Diesel male is awesome and I was told that he may have weighed 90kg but the person was not certain. |
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| 1977marc | Sep 28 2015, 07:15 PM Post #25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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PCKTS, all this info was given to me by the rangers who were worked there and were involved when the leopard weighed weighted by the vets. Marc ![]() ![]() AfriCat Namibia heeft 4 nieuwe foto's toegevoegd. 26 september om 10:17 · Bewerkt · THERE'S A NEW BOY ON THE BLOCK! Last night Team AfriCat was able to collar a new leopard for research purposes. After weeks of patiently waiting we managed to put a radio-collar on an adult male leopard who was repeatedly seen by the team and Okonjima guides within the last few weeks and who was found to be a regular visitor on our camera traps. http://www.africat.org/…/the-africat-predator-population-de… With 59 kilogram, the male - who hasn't got a name yet - is not quite yet joining the line-up of Okonjima’s big male leopards Madiba (76 kg), Nkozi (65 kg) and Bwana (65 kg). This young male of approximate 3 - 4 years is in excellent health condition (shoulder height: 72 cm; body length: 99 cm; upper canines: 38 mm; lower canines: 31 mm) and is easily recognizable via his large dark rosettes almost resembling those of a jaguar. Edited by 1977marc, Sep 28 2015, 08:00 PM.
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| pckts | Sep 29 2015, 07:00 AM Post #26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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Thanks for the info Marc. What parts of africa have you been to? |
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| ImperialDino | Oct 11 2015, 03:31 PM Post #27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Omnivore
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One thing alot of people don't know about Cougars is that they go independent around about 18 months. When they are about HALF of their mass weight. Alot of captured cougars are young Cougars. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| chui | Oct 20 2015, 03:55 AM Post #28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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Additional data on the weight of male cougars from scientific studies. Alberta, Canada A large male cougar from Alberta weighing 82kg is reported by MM Bacon in the paper, "The Ecology of a Re-established Cougar (Puma concolor) Population in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan" 2010 . This is one of the very biggest documented by a scientific source. This huge male was apparently killed by an elk in an unsuccessful predation attempt. ![]() Some additional weights of Albertan cougars are provided in the paper, "Carnivores and corridors Crowsnest Pass. Alberta" 2002 by CL Chetkiewicz. Two males weighed 58kg and 55kg but they were only 30 and 33 months old, respectively. The paper also provides the average dimensions of Alberta cougars from another sample, with the average weight of 5 males being 64kg. Although labelled as adult it isn't stated what the exact ages in this sample were. ![]() ![]() Utah - "Growth curve models and age estimation of young cougars in the Northern Great Basin" 2007 by JW Laundre. This paper looked at the growth curve in cougars in northern Utah. It suggests that full body mass in male cougars in this region is attained at around 40 months of age. This sample consisted of 15 adult males which had an average weight of 57.2kg with the highest weight in the sample being about 65kg. ![]() ![]() ![]() Wyoming - "Immobilizing wild mountain lions (Felis concolor) with ketamine hydrochloride and xylazine hydrochloride" 1986 by KA Logan. This sample consisted of 6 male cougars (2 to 6 years old) captured in Wyoming which ranged in weight from 56.7 to 74.8kg. ![]() Texas - "Ecology of the mountain lion in Big Bend State Park" 1999 by MT Pittman. A total of 6 adult males (4 years or older) captured for this study in Texas averaged 58.6kg with the biggest one at 63.5kg. ![]() California - "Ecological and allometric determinants of home-range size for mountain lions (Puma concolor)" 2002 by MM Grigione. This study provides info on cougars captured at 3 different study sites in California. The average weight of 3 adult males (4-8 years old) from the Diablo range was 54kg (range 50-59kg). From the Santa Ana Mountains, 2 adult males (6 and 7 years old) weighed 54kg and 56kg. The third sample included 11 males but they ranged in age from 1 to 8 years old, so not all were adult. The biggest male in this sample was 68kg. ![]() Another paper, "Feeding and spatial ecology of mountain lions in the Mendocino National Forest, California" 2015 by ML Allen provides the weights of 7 captured cougars in California. A single adult male (7 years old) captured weighed 59.1kg. ![]() New Mexico - Desert Puma 2001 The weights and measurements of all the cougars captured by these researchers in New Mexico are provided in appendix 1 at the end of the book. As most of the cougars were captured multiple times at different ages, this book provides very good data for this population of cougars. A total of 19 adult males (4 years or older) are recorded with a mean weight of about 59kg, the heaviest being 71.7kg. Chile - "Puma spatial ecology in open habitats with aggregate prey" 2012 by LM Elbroch. This study gives the weight of 3 adult males (aged 5-8 years) from the Chilean Patagonia averaging 73.8kg, with the biggest male at 82kg. A fourth male aged at only 2.5 years weighed 72kg. This is the same sample which is included in the table posted by Taipan at the top of this page. These Patagonian pumas seem to be really big, easily matching those from the northern most states and Canada. ![]() Paraguay - "Project Jaguar Final Report" 2007 by R McBride. Further north in the Paraguayan Chaco, cougars are much smaller. The average weight of 6 adult males (aged 4-8 years) was 41kg and the biggest male weighed 49.1kg. The weights in the table are given in pounds. The lowest adult male weight in the sample at only 25.9kg (57lb) is the lowest I've seen for the species. In fact, it seems very small even for a tropical male cougar. ![]() Venezuela - "Coexistence of jaguar (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma concolor) in a mosaic landscape in the Venezuelan llanos" 2003 by D Scognamillo. Similarly, in the Llanos region of Venezuela, 2 adult males weighed 50kg and 52kg. Interesting to note the very extreme sexual dimorphism in these South American pumas, the males seem to be almost twice the weight of the females on average.
Edited by chui, Oct 24 2015, 05:36 AM.
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| chui | Oct 21 2015, 06:18 AM Post #29 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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Additional data on the weight of male leopards from scientific studies. West Asia - "The Leopard in the Arabian Peninsula – Distribution and Subspecies Status" 2006 by JA Spalton. Some weights of leopards from West Asia. The leopards found in the Arabian deserts likely represent the smallest size in the species along with those from the nearby Somali desert in Africa. Three adult males captured in Oman averaged only 28kg with the heaviest weight being 34kg. Similarly, an adult male captured in the Judean desert weighed 29.5kg. In contrast, 2 male leopards from Iran were much heavier at 66kg and 86kg, these weights were originally published by Kiabi and were probably included in Farhadinia's sample for Persian leopards already discussed. Interesting to note the huge variation in size in West Asia. ![]() India V Atherya of Project Waghoba based in Maharashtra, central India has published some weights of leopards captured in the region. From the weights provided in 2 different papers, it can be seen that the average for 5 adult males is 63.4kg and the biggest male in this sample was 75kg. From "Morphometry of Leopards From Maharashtra, India." 2008 by V. Athreya and A. Belsare. ![]() From "Using GPS-GSM collars to understand leopard movement in a human dominated landscape in Ahmednagar district" 2010 by V. Athreya. ![]() According to this paper, "Human and Leopard Conflict Guidelines", the heaviest leopard recorded by these researchers weighed 83kg, the weight was confirmed by co-author, Aniruddha Belsare. This is the highest documented weight I'm aware of for an Indian leopard. Some weights of leopards killed in and around Mumbai are reported in this paper, "Mumbaikars for SGNP". Five males listed in the table ranged from 48kg to 65kg and one additional male described in the paper weighed 58kg. The average of all 6 works out to 57.3kg however it isn't stated whether all males were adult. ![]() ![]() Another male leopard killed in Sanjay Gandhi NP (near Mumbai) weighed 63kg reported in the 1998 paper, "A premliminary study on the ecology of the leopard in the Sanjay Gandhi NP" by Edgaonkar and Chellam. ![]() Malaysia An adult male leopard from Malaysia with a weight of 52kg was reported by Sanei in the paper, "Prey composition in the Persian leopard distribution range in Iran" 2011. ![]() Java An adult male leopard captured in Java weighed 38kg. Javan leopards are generally said to be among the smallest, this single individual appears to be larger than the norm for Arabian leopards but similar to Cape leopards. From "Ecological Research on Leopards in Cikaniki GN Halimun NP" by N. Sakaguchi. ![]() Russia One adult male from the Russian Far East was weighed at 45kg and while a second was weighed 3 times at 56, 57, and 61kg. Both males were quite old at 14-16 years for the 45kg male and 10-11 years for the second male. From "Amur tigers and Far Eastern leopards in Russia: final-report" 2010 by D. Miquelle. ![]() Ivory Coast The average weight for a total of 6 males from two different regions of Ivory Coast is given as 51.4kg with the biggest male weighing 61kg. This sample included data from Comoe NP from the savanna belt in the north of the country as well as from Tai NP located in the coastal forest. I don't have the specifics for the Comoe sample but the ones from Tai NP would have included 2 males weighing 49kg and 56kg which have been reported in other papers as well. Both animals were fairly young with the estimated age for the 56kg male being 3-5 years and for the 49kg male 3-4 years. From "Mammals of Africa" 2013 by J. Kingdon. ![]() From "Primate Anti-Predator Strategies" 2007 by Gursky-Doyen and Nekaris. ![]() D.R. Congo Two adult males killed in the Ituri region on the eastern end of the Congo Basin forest weighed 43kg and 48kg. However, both these males had lost a paw and were in poor condition after being caught in poachers' snares. Alive and well they could've weighed significantly more. "Diet, prey selection and ecological relations of leopard and golden cat in the Ituri Forest, Zaire" 1996 by JA Hart. ![]() Gabon In the book, "Wild Cats:Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan" 1996 by Nowell and Jackson, the weight of 2 male leopards from north east Gabon is given as 34kg and 42kg. The original source of this data is S. Lahm who weighed these leopards after they had been killed in snares set by poachers. The 34kg male was assessed to be a subadult and the 42kg male was described as a prime adult. According to Dr. Philipp Henschel, no carnivore has ever been captured and immobilized alive in the Congo Basin by researchers (as per 2008). So unfortunately no weights of healthy live leopards seem to be available from this region as of yet. From "The conservation biology of the leopard Panthera pardus in Gabon" 2008 by P. Henschel ![]() Kenya In his 1981 paper, "The leopard and Cheetah in Kenya", PH Hamilton provided some weights of leopards captured for translocation in Kenya. Seven males described as adult from different parts of Kenya averaged 55.6kg. However, it appears the smallest male at 40kg was in very poor condition after having been in captivity for some time which may be the reason for this particularly low weight. If excluded the average weight for the remaining 6 males is 58.2kg with the biggest weighing 73kg. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() PH Hamilton had noted that there was considerable variation in the size of leopards in Kenya due to differences in habitat and prey. According to him leopards from the highland forests (Aberdares and Mt. Kenya) were especially large and he gave the weight range for males from this region as 60-95kg. None of the individual captured male leopards he described appear to be of this highland variety and it's not clear whether the weight range of 60-95kg is from his own data or based on weights reported by others. I suspect it is based on weights recorded for trophy leopards as there are reliable records of some very large leopards of upto 96kg hunted in this region. In contrast, the weight of male leopards in Tsavo NP was much lower, he indicates an average weight of 42kg for males there. ![]() ![]() Tanzania Eight adult male leopards from the Rungwa GR area of southern Tanzania averaged 46kg with the highest weight being 61.4kg. This sample included 3 captured individuals for radio-telemetry and 5 trophy hunted specimens, all were measured by the researchers themselves. This area falls in the Miombo woodland habitat which spans across southern Tanzania, southern DRC, eastern Zambia, and northern Mozambique. This appears to be a relatively less productive environment and leopards here are generally regarded as being fairly small. The figures from this sample are consistent with those provided by Wilson from eastern Zambia posted previously. From "Leopard Pilot Population Study at Rungwa/Piti Ecosystem, Tanzania" 2002. ![]() Zambia Some additional data from eastern Zambia. Three adult males (4 years and over) captured in Luambe NP averaged 52.7kg with the heaviest at 58kg. From "Ecology and population status and the impact of trophy hunting of the leopard in the Luambe National Park" 2011. ![]() Mozambique Leopards from northern Mozambique also appear to be relatively small as this area falls in the Miombo woodland habitat as well. This sample gives an average of 42kg for 3 collared adult males (4 years or older) with the heaviest at 51kg. From "Mitigation of negative human impacts on large carnivore populations: Niassa National Reserve, Mozambique" 2009 ![]() Zimbabwe An adult male leopard (aged 5-6 years) from southern Zimbabwe was weighed at 62kg. The weight is accompanied by details on other body measurements (chest, neck girth etc) which is always useful to assess the accuracy of the weight as it can be hugely impacted by stomach content. In this case the weight seems perfectly reasonable given the other measurements. From "Leopard Population Density, Home Range Size, and Movement Patterns" 2012 by T. Grant. ![]() South Africa Six male leopards captured in the Waterberg region of South Africa averaged 58.8kg with the heaviest at 64.1kg. From "The ecology of the leopard (Panthera pardus)" 1992 by AM Grimbeek.
Edited by chui, Oct 21 2015, 06:40 AM.
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| HugeHyena | Oct 21 2015, 04:05 PM Post #30 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Heterotrophic Organism
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![]() Regular visitors to Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park, especially school children, need no introduction to ‘Balaji’, one of the favourite inmates in the enclosure for the wild. The news of Balaji’s ill-health due to old age has caused concern in those who regularly throng the zoo. It was in February 1998 that the leopard sneaked into the zoo premises from the abutting Tirumala forest, when it was caught in a cage and named as ‘Balaji’. While the life span of a leopard is 12-15 years and the average weight 55-65 kg, Balaji weighed a whopping 113 kg then, when it was around 12 years of age. Now, at the age of 27 years, the big cat weighs 143 kg, which is almost unheard of, especially for animals bred in captivity for such a long period of 15 years. Balaji died on June 11, 2013. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/big-worries-over-big-cat/article4802541.ece |
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9:49 AM Jul 11