Leopard (feline)

Leopard (feline)

Leopard (scientific name: Panthera pardus), one of four large cats (the remaining three are lions, tigers and jaguar), Chinese folk commonly known as leopard, silver money leopard, Wen leopard. Inhabits forest thickets, tropical rain forests, mountains, hills, plains, arid lands, wetlands, and even deserts. Leopards mostly refer to Asian subspecies, and African subspecies mostly refer to leopards.

The body is the smallest, with an average total length of about 2 meters, male weight is 25-100 kg, female weight is 18-60 kg, the largest subspecies male Caucasian leopard average weight is 67 kg. It can run up to 80 kilometers per hour. The body is yellow or orange yellow, and the whole body is covered with black spots of different sizes or black rings like ancient money. Leopard can be said to be an agile hunter, with a sturdy body, flexible movements, and a fast running speed. Can swim and climb trees. He has a quick temperament, good sense of smell, hearing, vision, extraordinary intelligence, and strong concealment. A long tail can help the leopard maintain balance when running. It is also one of the few cats that can adapt to different environments.

In September 2016, the Environmental Forest Bureau of Xinlong County and the Cat League CFCA jointly launched a new phase of wild cat investigation. As of November 2017, it was investigated and confirmed that leopards were distributed in Xinlong County, Ganzi Prefecture.

Name	leopard	Eye	Carnivorous
Latin name	Panthera pardus	Suborder	Cleftfoot
Nickname	Leopard, Leopard, Wen Leopard, Silver Money Leopard	Section	Feline
boundary	animal world	Subfamily	Pantherae
door	Notochords	Genus	Panthera
Asia Gate	Vertebrate subphylum	Species	leopard
Gang	Mammalia	Name and year	Linnaeus，1758
Subclass	True Beast	English name	leopard、panther

Appearance feature

The head is rounded, the neck is slightly shorter, the limbs are strong, the forelimbs are slightly wider than the hind limbs, the forefoot has 5 toes, the hind feet have 4 toes, and all have gray-white sharp claws on the toes. There are thick short hairs between the toes and between the toe pads.

Hair color: The head is short and the nose is naked. Nose hair is very short, yellow, with no black spots. The shape of the leopard on the side of the mouth has 5 rows of oblique white beards. The forehead, between the eyes, under the eyes and cheeks are covered with small black spots. The back of the ear is black, the tip of the ear is yellow, the base of the ear is also yellow, and there are sparse black spots. The back of the neck is slightly darker, with black spots and black rings, and often has hair swirls in the center of the back of the neck. Under the neck is light yellow, there are several black spots that are not formed, and the hair is slightly longer. The forelegs are brownish brown on the outside, creamy on the inside, black rings on the shoulders, and black spots on the inside and outside of the legs. The upper spots are large and sparse, and the lower spots are small and dense. The back is the deepest yellow, the black ring in the center of the back is not clear, the long black spots are arranged like vertical lines, the black rings on both sides of the back are mostly oval, and the black circles on the chest and ventral sides are round and plum shaped. The chest and abdomen have long hair, milky white or yellowish color, with a small number of large black spots. The hind limbs are yellow on the outside and yellow on the inside, the black loops on the thighs and black spots are alternated, and the inside of the shin is dark brown. The tail color is dark yellow, the black spots near the base are striped, the black spots in the middle are larger, some black spots form a circle, the ends are black, and there are 2 to 4 narrow white rings. The tail is creamy white with dark spots. The tip of the tail is white. There are more than ten white eyebrows on the eyes.

The eye iris is yellow. The pupil shrunk into a circle under the strong light. Phosphorescent eyes may shine at night.

There are many horny thorns on the surface of the tongue, which are inverted. There are 3 pairs of nipples under the abdomen.

There is a pair of gland holes in the anal fold.

Skull: The skull is slightly longer. The snout is short. The nasal bone is longer, and the frontal process of the nasal bone is as long as the frontal process of the maxilla. The frontal surface is relatively flat, the posterior orbital process is blunt than the cheekbones, and the eye sockets are round. Adults have developed herringbone crests and sagittal crests. There is a more obvious occipital process in the center of the upper occipital bone. The pillow is an equilateral triangle. The auditory bulb is long and tall, and the protrusion of the wing bone protrudes backward like a hook. The lower edge of the mandible is slightly curved.

Teeth: The incisors are in a row, the central pair of incisors is smaller, the second incisor is slightly larger, and the outermost incisors are large and pointed. The canine teeth are developed, sharp, and conical. The maxillary first premolar is absent, the second premolar is the smallest, and the individual is absent. The third premolar is in the shape of a "mountain", the central tooth tip is tall, and there is a small tooth tip before and after. The fourth premolar (upper split tooth) is the largest, with 5 tooth tips, of which 4 tooth tips are in a line, the second tooth tip is tall, and there is a lower tooth tip near the medial side. The molars are small, only one, and the position is horizontal. There are only 2 premolars in the lower jaw, all of which are in the shape of a "mountain", with 3 tooth tips, with the largest middle tooth tip. The molars are large in shape and have a "concave" shape, with front and rear teeth of almost equal size. The tooth type is: (piece).

Habitat

The leopard is very adaptable. It can survive in a variety of environments, including forests, shrubs, tropical rainforests, mountains, hills, plains, aridlands, wetlands, and even deserts. In China, leopards mainly live in forested mountains, and some leopards live in hilly areas. Northeast leopards can move in the snow at minus 30 degrees Celsius, while leopards in southern China can also adapt to the hot climate. Leopards in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau generally live in mountainous areas with an altitude of 2000-3000 meters.

Lifestyle

The leopard is lonely and usually alone. Lurking in trees or in caves during the day, starting to wander out at dusk and rest until dawn. Where food is abundant, the range of activities is relatively fixed. In the case of lack of food, they often move tens of kilometers. Leopards usually don't have a fixed nest, and often climb to higher trees when resting. They choose to crawl and lie on fork branches and horizontal branches. Sometimes they also sleep in the grass or in the cliff caves. Although the leopard can swim, it does not like water and never plays in the water.

Field

Leopard has its own field of activity, and the size of the field varies according to the environment of each place. The range of activities in the northern field (China) is larger than in the south, the male leopard is larger than the female leopard, and the environment with sufficient food is relatively small. The scope of the field is mainly marked by its feces or urination. Leopards of the same sex are not allowed to live together in their own fields. In areas of greater density, the edges of the field can overlap. Within its own domain, it can allow other beasts to coexist.

Prey

Leopards have strong limbs, flexible movements, strong jumping power, and are better at climbing. It often lies on a tree branch with dense leaves. When the prey passes by, it leaps down, hugs its back, bites its throat, and eats after it dies. Chasing while hunting

Hunting method; concealed in the grass when prey is found, with the cover of trees, gradually approaching gently, when diving to a certain distance, suddenly jumped, after a few jumps, you can capture prey. The leopard's character is very brutal, and he has the courage to attack large, ferocious animals such as stags and male wild boars. Its food includes ungulates such as deer and sheep. It also eats cats, ferrets, and monkeys, rabbits, and rodents. In addition, they also accidentally prey on birds and fish. When food is scarce, they also eat frogs, mole crickets, locusts, etc. Sometimes, they eat sweeter plant fruits. Some leopards often stay outside the village and wait until the night to sneak into the village to eat pigs, sheep and other livestock and poultry. When medium or large animals are caught, the remaining flesh is concealed and covered with leaves, weeds, etc., to be eaten next time. Sometimes the prey is attached to a tall tree to eat, and the remaining bones are hung on the branches. It dares not attack beasts such as bison, elephants, and tigers, and rarely attacks large ungulates such as cattle, horses, mules, and deer.

Although the leopard's temperament is brutal, it rarely attacks the people. It only counterattacks when it is forced to despair; occasionally, leopards with personality abnormalities will actively attack people, but generally hurt children and women. Leopards are occasionally attacked by jackals, except for jackals, there are few other natural enemies.

Speak

The leopard also roared at night. Although its roar was not as loud and magnificent as that of a lion or a tiger, but it roared in the deep valley of the quiet night. Leopard also screamed during courtship, and the screams were not as loud as usual.

Reproduction

The mating period of leopards is in winter and spring (December to May). At this time, the male and female seek each other, the spouse period is a few days or more than ten days, the male and female mate together more than ten times a day, each mating time is very short, only a few seconds. After the spouse period, the male and female are separated. If there is no conception, the female animal continues to estrus after more than 20 days or more than a month to find a spouse. The pregnancy period is about 96 days (90 to 105 days), and the litter is born from March to August. The mother animal looks for a den of rock caves, rubble, fallen wood or grass before giving birth as a nest. The nest structure is very simple, just a gentle concave, with a little dry grass and hair falling on her body. Each litter has 2 to 4 litters, and the newborn pups weigh 550 to 750 grams. The newly born pups have eyes closed, and their eyes open until about 10 days. The mother beast is not long-lived, and the cub can leave the parent camp for an independent life in about 1 year. The cubs are sexually mature after two or three years. The life span is 10~20 years.

Subspecies differentiation

From Linnaeus in the 18th century to Pocock in the early 20th century, there were as many as 27 leopard subspecies named by zoologists in the past. However, according to the latest molecular biology research, in 1996 Miththapala et al. established 8 of these subspecies as effective, and in 2001 Uphyrina et al. further added an Arab leopard, for a total of 9 effective subspecies.

Traditional division

Leopard (27 subspecies)

Serial No.	Name	Scientific Name	Name and year
1.	Leopard Zanzibar Island subspecies (Zanzibar Leopard)	Panthera pardus adersi	Pocock，1932
2.	Leopard Eritrean subspecies (Eritrean panther)	Panthera pardus antinorii	De Beaux, 1932
3.	Leopard Caucasian subspecies (Caucasus leopard)	Panthera pardus ciscaucasicus	Satunin,    1914
4.	Leopard Indochinese subspecies (Indochina leopard)	Panthera pardus delacouri	Pocock,   1930
5.	Leopard Uganda subspecies (Uganda leopard)	Panthera purdua	Heller,  1913
6.	Leopard Iran subspecies (Iranian leopard)	Panthera pardus dathei	Zukowsky,   1959
7.	Leopard South Asia subspecies (South China Leopard, Indian Leopard)	Panthera pardus fusca	Meyer,     1794
8.	Leopard Congo subspecies (Congo leopard)	Panthera pardus iturensis	J.A.Allen,  1924
9.	Leopard subspecies (Northern Leopard)	Panthera pardus japonensis	Gray,       1862
10.	Leopard Sinai Subspecies (Sinai Leopard)	Panthera pardus jarvisi	Pocock,    1932
11.	Leopard subspecies Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka leopard)	Panthera Purdue Cotia	Deraniyagala,      1956
12.	Leopard West African subspecies (West African Leopard)	Panthera pardus leopardus	Schreber,     1775
13.	Leopard South African subspecies (South African Leopard)	Panthera pardus melanotica	Gunther,     1885
14.	Leopard Java Island Subspecies (Java Leopard)	Panthera pardus melas	G.Cuvier,      1809
15.	Leopard Kashmir subspecies (Kashmir leopard)	Panthera pardus millardi	Pocock,      1930
16.	Leopard Somali species (Somali leopard)	Panthera pardus nanopardus	Thomas,        1904
17.	Leopard Arabian subspecies (Arabic leopard)	Panthera pardus nimr	Hemprich et al.,   1833
18.	Leopard Northeast Asian Species (Far East Leopard)	Panthera pardus orientalis	Schlegel,        1857
19.	Common Leopard Subspecies (Barbary Leopard)	Panthera pardus panthera	Schreber,      1777
20.	Leopard named subspecies (Sudan leopard)	Panthera pardus pardus	Linnaeus,       1758
21.	Leopard Cameroon subspecies (Cameroon leopard)	Panthera pardus reichenowi	Cabrera,     1918
22.	Leopard Persian subspecies (Persian leopard)	Panthera pardus saxicolor	Pocock,        1927
23.	Leopard Central African Subspecies (Central African Leopard)	Panthera pardus shortridgei	Pocock,          1932
24.	Leopard Baluchistan subspecies (Balochian leopard)	Panthera pardus sindica	Pocock,        1930
25.	Leopard East African subspecies (East African Leopard)	Panthera pardus suahelicus	Neumann,     1900
26.	Leopard Anatolian subspecies (Anatolian leopard)	Panthera pardus tulliana	Valenciennes,      1856
27.	Leopard of Nepal subspecies (Nibel Leopard)	Panthera pardus perniger	Hodgson,        1863

 

Genetics-based division

Leopard (9 subspecies)

Serial No.	Name	Scientific Name	Name and year
1.	Leopard Indochinese subspecies (Indochina leopard)	Panthera pardus delacouri	Pocock,   1930
2.	Leopard South Asia subspecies (Southern Leopard)	Panthera pardus fusca	Meyer,    1794
3.	Leopard subspecies (Northern Leopard)	Panthera pardus japonensis	J. E. Gray,     1862
4.	Leopard subspecies Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka leopard)	Panthera pardus kotiya	Deraniyagala,   1956
5.	Leopard Java Island Subspecies (Java Leopard)	Panthera pardus melas	G. Cuvier,      1809
6.	Leopard Arabian subspecies (Arabic leopard)	Panthera pardus nimr	Hemprich et al.,    1833
7.	Leopard Northeast Asian Species (Far East Leopard)	Panthera pardus orienentalis	Schlegel,   1857
8.	Leopard named subspecies (African leopard)	Panthera pardus pardus	Linnaeus,    1758
9.	Leopard Persian subspecies (Persian leopard)	Panthera pardus saxicolour	Pocock,     1927

Population status

Wild population

China

Leopards are large beasts, and they are widely distributed in China. It is difficult to investigate the population of nationwide populations. Leopards are divided into five subspecies in China. Far East leopards are mainly distributed in Jilin (Hunchun, Wangqing and other places); North China leopards are mainly distributed in Shanxi (Taihang Mountain, Zhongtiao Mountain and other mountains), Ningxia Liupan Mountain, northern Shaanxi (Fengxiang, Longxian and other places), Jiaozuo, Henan, southern Shaanxi (Yangxian Changqing Reserve, Foping Guanyinshan Reserve), Ganzi in Sichuan, Changdu in Tibet, and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan have many names, including South China Leopard, Indian Leopard, and Indo-Chinese Leopard. There is also the North China Leopard. A country has so many leopard subspecies differentiation, which is also unique in the world, among which the North China leopard is also a unique subspecies of China. However, due to the lack of domestic investigations on the distribution of leopards and genetic analysis based on individuals, the geographical division of leopard subspecies is not clear, and various data at home and abroad also lack a unified identification, especially the North China leopard The relationship with East China and South China Leopard is still unclear. However, due to the "killing tigers and eliminating pests" as well as the "leopard pests" in the 1950s and 1960s, and the changes in habitats, the leopard population in many areas has declined sharply or disappeared in more than 30 years.

South China Leopard: In the early 1950s, the number of South China Leopards in Jiangnan provinces was still quite large. Due to man-made over-hunting, the population of Leopards declined sharply.

North China Leopard: Shanxi-based. It is estimated that there are more than 100 leopards in Shanxi.

The total land area of ​​Shaanxi Province is more than 150,000 square kilometers. The average density of 1750 leopards captured in the 1960s was 1/86km², while the average density of 1224 leopards in the 1970s was 1/122.5km², an average decrease of 60%. The small amount of killing in the 1980s is not unrelated to the education and propaganda for the protection of wild animals, but the sharp decline in the natural population of leopards is also an objective fact. Leopards are found in Yanan, Wuqi, Zhidan, Fuxian, Huangling, Luochuan, Yichuan, Xunyi, Ansai, Ningshan, Shiquan, Longxian, Hanyin, Ziyang, Ankang, Xunyang, Baihe, Pingli, Zhenping, Foping, Zhen'an, Zhashui, Shanyang, Fengxiang and other places.

It has been reported that the leopard in Gansu has disappeared (Chen Jun, 1993).

Northeast Leopard: There were records of leopards in the South of the Greater Xing'an Mountains in the 1930s (Loukashkin, 1936), but for nearly half a century, the entire territory of Heilongjiang Province has disappeared, and the leopards in Jilin Province have basically disappeared (Li Tong et al., 1993; Feng Jiang et al. , 1993). In the 1980s, the wild Northeast leopard in China was on the verge of extinction.

According to analysis and estimates of fur acquisition, by the end of the 1980s there may be hundreds of wild leopard populations across the country.

Global

There is no reliable population statistics of this species on the African continent, the usual estimate is about 700,000 (Martin and de Meulenaar, 1988). In India, according to the wild leopard footprint survey, there are an estimated 9,844 (2001). Many leopard subspecies are slowly growing (Singh 2005), and human-leopard conflict is at high risk (Singh et al., 2008).

Cause of danger

1. Long-term excessive hunting is the main reason. It is believed that leopards are harmful to domestic animals, and their fur or bones are used for tiger bones.

2. The destruction of habitat is another reason for the rapid decline in leopard population.

3. The population is too small and isolated from each other, leading to population degradation, which is also one of the causes of danger.

Feeding situation

The pedigree of the international captive leopard is organized and released by the Riparian Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina. According to records, as of December 31, 1985, a total of 42 units of 105 North China leopards (52 males, 53 females) were kept; a total of 16 units were kept 50 Northeast Leopards (30 males, 20 females) (Shoemaker, 1985). Many zoos in China keep many leopards, and most of them have been able to breed, but for a long time, they have lacked strict lineage management. In the long run, the management of breeding populations is a problem that cannot be ignored.

Safeguard

In China, it is classified as a national first-level protected animal. There is no nature reserve specifically established for the protection of leopards, but the nature reserve in its distribution area actually protects the habitat and food source of leopards, such  Mianshan Reserve (Shanxi), Kongling Mountain Reserve (Shanxi),Sangzhi Badagongshan reserve (Hunan), Qixing Lia (lá) sub-protection zone (Heilongjiang)

Protection measures

1. Strictly enforce the law to stop poaching and ensure that the remaining population is preserved.

2. In areas where the remaining wild leopards are concentrated, a protected area may be added after investigation and research by professionals. In the difficult food season, artificial supplementary feeding and other necessary manual measures may be considered to ensure natural survival and safe reproduction.

3. Investigate the status of leopard raising in various zoos, strengthen the management of breeding populations, establish strict pedigrees and integrate with the international leopard pedigree management system.

Geographical distribution

Distribution of native species: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Asia and America,Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Burundi, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burkina Faso,  Equatorial Guinea , Chad, China, Congo, DRC, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Lithia (Java Island), Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, North Korea, Laos, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali , Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania , Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Extinct areas: Hong Kong, Kuwait, Libya, Singapore, Syria, Tunisia.

It is widely distributed throughout China, with the exception of Taiwan, Liaoning, Shandong, Ningxia and Xinjiang.