LEOPARDS
| Leopards are a part of the big cat family. They live across most of the African continent, with the exception of the Sahara Desert region. They also live in parts of Asia Minor and the Middle East. There are 20 other subspecies of leopards. The Leopards are one of the four big cats that roar. They have a deep roar similar to a jaguar. |
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They have a coat also similar to a jaguar. Leopards have dark spots also called rosettes. The sizes of the spots are different depending on where the leopard lives. Leopards have a background including either a yellowish color to a reddish-brownish color or sometimes even some albino, but most leopards aren’t an albino color. In some tropical rainforests the coat of a leopard is a darker color. |
Leopards are about 5 feet- 8 feet long and anywhere from 60 pounds- 210 pounds in the wild. Leopards hunt animals like insects and rodents to giraffe and buffalo. When scavengers like lions and hyenas start taking leopards prey, the leopards put there prey up in a tree and feast up there so the lions and hyenas won’t take it. The breeding season for leopards is in January and February. Female leopards have about 2 cubs in a litter. The baby leopards are born blind each weighing 1 and a half-pound to 2 pounds. When the cubs become 3 months old they start hunting with their mothers. The cubs leave when they become 18 to 24 months old. Leopards live to be 15 –20 years old.
SNOW LEOPARDS
Snow leopards are one of the smaller leopards. Their coat has a grayish background and white underneath their chest. Snow leopards are usually not seen in their natural habitat. To protect it’s self from the extreme cold the snow leopard has long thick fur. Little is known about this strange cat because of its nocturnal habits. Mating takes place in the winter and the early spring. A litter contains 2 to 3 cubs.