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Leopard - Panthera pardus
Topic Started: Jan 7 2012, 08:52 PM (43,043 Views)
Taipan
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Hyaenidae
 
Cite your sources, Rebel! >:(

Just kidding, good idea posting it here.


Leopard Prey Preference in Southern India:

Spelling error in the first snippet - oh well!
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Red Dog


These accounts are from TL Bailey's book "The African Leopard." Two hyenas were killed - one was a subadult and the other's age was unknown. He also found a case where leopard may have been killed by a hyena. Bailey seems to think that male leopard can defend their kills from hyenas in the book (mentioned elsewhere). The book is from 1993 and lots of new observations have of course occurred since then.

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Canidae
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Omnivore
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Just checked Carnivora for them but found them online anyway, I could have sworn we had intraspecifc accounts back on the old forum!

I monitor and patrol the Conservation area in West Gate Community Conservancy on a daily basis, recording all sightings of not only predators but wild prey too and even livestock, who at times encroach into this small area in the middle of the conservancy.

A few days ago, during my morning drive, I saw a huge leopard just about to cross the road in front of me. I turned off the engine and waited as the leopard, as most animals in West Gate are, was very nervous. The leopard sat on the road and watched me nervously and it was then that I realized it was actually holding onto something. It was hard to see what it was but as I tried to get closer the leopard moved off with it. It was then clear what was being dragged – another leopard.


The leopard dragged the other one across the road holding onto its prey and moved off into the nearby bushes. It disappeared from sight as it hid in the thick Salvadora bushes on the side of the road.


The leopard dragged its prey and disappeared into the nearby thick bushes

I was confused -what was going on? Was this a female with her dead young one? Did the lions kill this leopard (3 lions were in the area the previous night) and another leopard found it and was dragging it away? Or did this leopard actually kill this other one?

It became clear that this was indeed a male leopard and not a female one. A few hours later we returned with the scouts from the conservancy and went into the bushes on foot. The scouts spotted the dead leopard hidden deep in the Salvadora thicket. It was a younger male leopard and it had been clearly suffocated by the older leopard. The killer had eaten a large chunk of the stomach but left the rest.

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Remains of the leopard’s prey

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The younger leopard had been suffocated


The killer leopard was seen again the following morning in the same area but there were very few remains of the younger dead leopard.

I was and still am pretty shocked. About a year ago I saw a leopard kill and eat a cheetah in Samburu, but this was the first time I had heard of a leopard killing and eating another leopard. The reasons are obvious – territoriality, competition. However, eating it was what shocked me.

The scouts of the conservancy are all intrigued by this occurrence and Stephen, the Head of Security of the conservancy, said “Anything is possible here in West Gate”.

It sure is!

From here - http://ewasolions.wildlifedirect.org/2009/01/07/leopard-cannibalism/


Leopard food habits in the Lopé National Park, Gabon, Central Africa is said to have records of Leopard remains appearing in Leopard scats too, as does Diet, prey selection and ecological relations of leopard and golden cat in the Ituri Forest, Zaire. Don't suppose anyone has an Wiley Online Library account? :)
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Vita
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The rare encounter was captured by wildlife photographer Andrew Batchelor, 27, while on an expedition at MalaMala Game Reserve in South Africa's Lowveld region.

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When two younger, fitter males bent on domination arrived on the scene, the current boss, an older male, named by locals as 'Manyelethi' sensed trouble.
'With three big male leopards in the area the scene was set for fireworks,' Mr Batchelor said.
'Manyelethi decided that both younger males were too much of a match for him and snuck off up the Mlowathi River roaring his disgust at having his territory invaded.'
What followed was a tense stalemate to the sound of growling and hissing and pacing up and down as the rivals sized each other up.
But while there was a lot of bad noise between the two that night, it wasn't until the next evening that tensions turned into all out war as these images reveal.
When Mr Batchelor returned to the same spot he realized the deadly rivals were preparing to fight.
At first it was more of the same bravado as before, both posturing as and snarling and pacing threateningly, Mr Batchelor said.
But then out of nowhere the situation exploded.


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The photographer, who witnessed the drama from metres away, said: 'Diving through the air the males crashed into each other, both going immediately for the head and neck area.
'With teeth bared and claws outstretched they came to the ground in a death lock both trapped in the grasp of the other.'
After several minutes of fighting the leopards were exhausted and bleeding, and as quickly as it had started, the combat ended.
According to Mr Batchelor, who is based in Durban in South Africa, this kind of intense confrontation is rare.
Despite tense close encounters being fairly common, normally disputes are settled by the weaker male submitting to the dominant male and leaving the scene.
After the clash, the two male leopards kept just ten yards apart and with a watchful eye on each other, both were still growling menacingly, as they sat and licked their wounds.
When Mr Batchelor returned later in the day he was surprised to find that only one of the leopards was still at the scene and assumed the other had conceded defeat and grudgingly turned away.
But he later found out, unusually for leopards, the two males had reached a power sharing deal.
Now the leopards share the territory, using the river as the frontier none should dare cross.


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Taipan
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"Strawberry" Leopard Discovered—A First
Rare animal likely has genetic condition that changes fur pigment.

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The pink-hued leopard wanders South Africa's Madikwe Game Reserve.

Christine Dell'Amore
National Geographic News
Published April 12, 2012

A leopard can't change its spots, but apparently it can change its color.

African leopards normally have tawny coats with black spots. But a male leopard with a strawberry-colored coat has been spotted in South Africa's Madikwe Game Reserve, conservationists announced this week.

Tourists in the reserve had occasionally seen the unusual animal. But it wasn't until recently that photographer and safari guide Deon De Villiers sent a photograph to experts at Panthera, a U.S.-based wild cat-conservation group, to ask them about the leopard's odd coloration.

Panthera President Luke Hunter suspects the pale leopard has erythrism, a little-understood genetic condition that's thought to cause either an overproduction of red pigments or an underproduction of dark pigments.

"It's really rare—I don't know of another credible example in leopards," said Hunter, whose group collaborates with National Geographic's Big Cats Initiative.

Hunter added, "it's surprising that [a photo of the leopard] didn't come out sooner, because he's relatively used to vehicles."

Strawberry Leopard Still Successful

Erythrism is very unusual in carnivores, and the condition appears most often in raccoons, Eurasian badgers, and coyotes, Hunter noted.

"There are some spotted leopard skins and melanistic specimens—black panthers—in museums with red undertones, but fading probably contributes to that," he said.

Melanism is an unusual development of black or nearly black color in an animal's skin, fur, or plumage.

The strawberry leopard seems healthy and likely suffers no ill consequences from his pinkish hue, Hunter said: "He's obviously a successful animal."

For instance, the leopard's coat still offers him some camouflage—leopards rely on their spotted fur to sneak up on prey and ambush them from as close as 13 feet (4 meters) away.

More worrisome for the strawberry leopard are the game farms that surround the Madikwe reserve, Hunter said.

If the animal were to leave the reserve, he'd lose the strict protection offered by Madikwe and become fair game for legal trophy hunting, Hunter said.

"It's the fate of a lot of leopards."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/120412-strawberry-leopard-south-africa-animals-science/
Edited by Taipan, Apr 13 2012, 06:34 PM.
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Kurtz
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Applicability of Age-Based Hunting Regulations for
African Leopards:
"Sexing Leopards
The superior ability of respondents to sex rather than age
leopards is unsurprising given the genus Panthera exhibits the
most striking sexual dimorphism among extant wild felids [28].
In our study area, adult male leopards weigh at least 60% more
than females [29] and the same is true across most of the species’
range [30]. Such marked size dimorphism extends to the cranial
morphology (males have longer and broader skulls than females),
body length, neck circumference, chest girth, and shoulder height
of leopards (Table S3). Although it is difficult to gauge body size
from photographs, the relative dimensions are clearly apparent.
Our survey showed that almost all respondents could differentiate
mature ($4 years) male leopards from females. In contrast,
there was considerable confusion in distinguishing females from
,2 year old males. At this age, male leopards superficially
resemble females; they are a similar size (Table S3) and lack
many of the distinctive features of adult males (e.g. welldeveloped
chest and neck musculature, a prominent dewlap,
etc.). None of the photographs in our survey displayed primary
sexual characters (i.e. the scrotum or nipples). Although hunters
may be able to use the external genitalia to distinguish young
male leopards from females, the scrotum tends to become more
conspicuous with age, and it may not be immediately obvious in
males ,2 years old (G. A. Balme personal observation)."

http://www.panthera.org/sites/default/files/Applicability-Age-Based-Hunting-Regulations-African-Leopards-PloSOne.pdf
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Kurtz
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An average 4-5 years old male pulled down an adult fully grown cow kudu
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This male is the Dayone Male started to be terriotorial from only few months in Sabisands.
This is a fully grown male estimated as an average territorial male of about 60 kilos(135 pounds)
Edited by Kurtz, May 23 2012, 06:16 AM.
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Kurtz
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leopards from Maharashtra, India avg 63 kilograms, 1,32 m. lenght for males, avg 40 kilograms, 1,23 m in lenght for females, substantially identical in size to leopards in kruger, Kzn, Zimbobwe:
http://www.projectwaghoba.in/docs/morphometry_of_leopards_from_aharashtra_india.pdf
Edited by Kurtz, May 28 2012, 02:51 AM.
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Dexterous
Autotrophic Organism
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Kurtz.. the average weight for females is 40kg, not 33kg..

In Huai Kha Haeng (Thailand) a much lower sexual dimorphism is recorded, with six males averaging 40.1kg (36-43.5kg), and five females 30.3kg (27-34.9kg). A relatively small sample from Nepal's Royal Bardia NP gives an average of 51kg for males and 36kg for females, and in Israel 29.5kg
for males and 22.7kg for females.
Source: Ecology of leopards in Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife sanctuary

Although males are much larger than females, the degree of dimrophism does seem to vary...
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Dexterous
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Btw... any info on the weight of leopards from Serengeti/Masai Mara??
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Canidae
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Rare Arabian leopard in need of safe corridors
By Sylvia Smith BBC News, Sharjah

Hana Saif Al Suwaidi from the Arabian Wildlife Centre explains how they are trying to protect indigenous animals of the Arabian Peninsula

As the sun rises in the sky and temperatures soar, Mr Spotty - a four-year-old male Arabian leopard - moves slowly back into the shade of his enclosure.

But he moves forward enthusiastically when his keeper, Jane Budd a South African veterinarian approaches.

"The Arabian leopard is the smallest of all the nine subspecies of leopard," Jane explains.

"Experts estimate that there are fewer than 200 left in the wild. These are further endangered because they live in small groups and each has a tiny population so the risk of extinction due to inbreeding is high."

In order to counter this threat The Arabian Wildlife Centre has been breeding the leopard for a decade.


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There are fewer than 200 of the big cats left in the wild

As the only institution in the United Arab Emirates that is solely devoted to the preservation of wildlife indigenous to the Arabian peninsula, this academic institution and visitor centre has raised awareness among the local population about conserving the region's rich natural biodiversity.

According to Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, chairman of the Environment and Protected Areas Authority in Sharjah, the common picture of a desert as endless rolling sand dunes is wrong.

"We have a variety of terrain," she explains. "From mountainous areas, mangroves, coastal regions and wadis, the Arabian desert is vast and complex, It supports a wide variety of biodiversity."


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The wildlife centre is dedicated to preserving the peninsula's unique wildlife

Although there have been no sightings of the Arabian leopard for 15 years in the United Arab Emirates, the known populations are in neighbouring Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. "The Arabian Wildlife Centre is already collaborating with institutions in each of these three countries," Hana says.

"We exchange information on breeding techniques and we also exchange animals so that each centre has a full complement of indigenous mammals."

A short drive away Paul Verkammen, operations manager of the Arabian Wildlife Centre is putting out feed for the four oryx and seven gazelle that have been recently released into the Dulaimah protected area.

"We also released foxes, hare, reptiles and scorpion," Paul explains." Because of the drought we are having to provide food and water for the animals - otherwise they wouldn't survive."

Dulaimah is the only remaining mature woodland in the whole of Sharjah. Although oryx and gazelle were indigenous in the region, rapid urban expansion has encroached onto the desert - reducing habitats and pushing animals to the edge of extinction.


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Rapid urban expansion has encroached on desert habitats, putting species such as the oryx under pressure

The push to repopulate and increase numbers lies at the heart of the work of the Arabian Wildlife Centre. And it isn't just the leopard that is benefitting from the research.

The Centre has large numbers of reptiles and insects. "We also have lots of freshwater fish. There is one with suckers under their chins that allow them to climb upwards in search of fresh water," says Hana Saif Al Suwaidi.

"The eggs can remain without water for as long as five years. And then when it rains they hatch. The desert is full of surprises."

Protecting areas of the desert from the encroaching modern world is just one step in a long process when it comes to the iconic Arabian leopard. Although this graceful and shy creature is doing well in the breeding centre, the release of the first animals bred in captivity back into the wild is surrounded with difficulties.


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The release of captive-bred leopards remains fraught with difficulty

A wild male leopard in Arabia needs a hundred square kilometres to survive," says Paul Verkammen, "a female up to sixty square kilometres. In Sharjah 100 square kilometres is most of the territory of the Emirate."

According to Paul the next step is to achieve closer collaboration with neighbouring countries. "Our best option is to create safe corridors between mountainous areas," he explains.

"We see our first reserves as a kind of stepping stone so that we can create a whole chain of larger areas that the animals can move around in."

Although the team are cautiously optimistic about putting the necessary logistics in place, the biggest challenge will be protecting the leopard against their main predator - man. A problem that only wide-spread education can resolve.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18196350
Edited by Canidae, May 31 2012, 07:37 AM.
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Dexterous
Autotrophic Organism
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I still can't find any info on leopard weight from the Serengeti (male and female)..
Anyone??
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Kurtz
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Dexterous,
try to find some book of Pof. Bernhard Grzimek like "Serengeti Shall Not Die" or some source of Jonathan Scott and Angela Scott.
Without buy some book i'll see hard find on intenret source.
But they seem big leopards

Kurtz
Edited by Kurtz, Jun 2 2012, 08:13 PM.
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Kurtz
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Can anyone confirm tha is from Serengeti?
Marc have you some info??
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ManEater
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Yes , i remember this video , this male is so beautiful and so impressive ! What a head !
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