In what natural zone does the leopard live? Description of a wild cat

Elegant, flexible, cunning animals are leopards. All about leopards, how they live in nature, what they look like, you can learn from books, movies ... It is better, of course, to observe these animals in a natural environment, but there are too few of them left on the planet, some subspecies are already included in the The Red Book. In ancient times it was believed that the animal appeared as a result of the crossing of a lion and a panther, which influenced the name of the beast. If you want to know more about the spotted predator, how it hunts, in which natural zone the leopard lives, read this article.

Description of the leopard

Leopard is a great wild cat. The body of the beast is elongated and muscular, and at the same time flexible and light. A distinctive feature is a beautiful long tail, it exceeds half the length of the entire body. When the animal rests on a tree, hiding in dense foliage, it can be found only on the tail hanging down, although it can easily be confused with a liana. Paws are powerful and wide, the head is not too big, round in shape, with small rounded ears. Eyes small, with round pupils.

Weight and size depend on the natural zone of the leopard. Predators living in forests are much smaller than their relatives from the open area. The average weight of wild cats of this species is 30-40 kg, in Africa and India, individuals weighing 80-90 kg are seen. The length of an adult leopard's body is from one meter to two.

The fur of an adult cat is short, the splendor does not differ even in the cold season. The color of the leopard is light, the basis is a yellow with a red tint of color with scattered black spots. Ring patterns with a light center. These black rings are integral, but are usually of an interrupted character: one black ring forms several single spots.

In what natural zone does the leopard live?

Leopards are common in savannahs and mountainous regions of Africa, as well as in forest and forest-steppe regions. Still these predators are found in the southern part of East Asia. Nowadays, answering the question about which natural zone the leopard inhabits, I would first like to say that the population of the predatory cat is decreasing every year.

The present range of animals of this species is in Manchuria, on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. In addition, it covers Africa, Indochina, the east of Tibet, Burma, the island of Java, Malacca, Kangan, India, Iran, Afghanistan, the Arabian Peninsula.

From the territory of the former Soviet Union, leopards live in the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Far East.

To great regret, beautiful wild cats have completely died out in the Sinai Peninsula, Morocco and Zanzibar. This is a signal that you need to think about preserving the species.

The natural habitat of a leopard: a way of life

Leopard is an animal that prefers to live as an individual. He leads a nocturnal life. The predatory cat easily adapts to the conditions in which it is necessary to exist. The territory of the spotted handsome can be more than 400 square kilometers, but there are individuals that control only eight. In many ways, this depends on the availability of production in the occupied area. A comparatively small predator can hunt game with a weight of up to 800-900 kg.

Leopards, as befits real cats, perfectly climb trees. At the height, they rest and hunt for monkeys. Although preference is given to hunting on the ground. Having planned prey, the predator creeps up to it at a jump distance, then rushes forward and strangles the prey. After the first unsuccessful attempt, the beast does not pursue prey, but goes in search of a new target.

Leopard is rightly called the most cunning wild cat. None of the predators can not so quietly and cunningly sneak up to the victim, as this spotty handsome does. He can pretend to be dead, spend hours lying on the burning sun, or moan and writhe, portraying the patient, in order to lure young deer, camels and other potential victims closer to him.

These animals are born weak, helpless and blind. After a while, out of the little funny kittens, formidable hunters grow up. As soon as the kids begin to see the world around them and keep on their paws, they immediately show interest in pikes and frogs, trying to catch their first prey. Vision in animals since childhood is simply excellent: they can see the goal of hunting for a mile and a half.

Interesting facts about leopards and tigers

Leopards and tigers belong to the cat family. But their habits are so different that I would like to give some facts about these animals so that they can be compared:

• If we take our latitudes, then, considering the question of what natural zone the tiger and leopard inhabit , we can safely note the fact that these beautiful predatory cats do not get along with each other at all. So in the place where the tiger lives, the leopard will not live.
• In our area, tigers and leopards are listed in the Red Data Book, according to approximate estimates, spotty cats remain around 35, and striped handsome - about 400 individuals.
• Leopards feel great both in the scorching sun and at a temperature below zero, the tigers do not tolerate the heat very well, experiencing real anguish with the scorching sun.
• A tiger as a true gentleman before an attack warns a rival with a growl, a leopard is a cunning, he attacks in most cases from behind and silently.
• The tiger does not eat carrion, except for the great famine, and the giblets. With prey, he removes the skin and gutted it, while the interior will take away first away, then only begins to eat a meal of pure meat. The leopard is absolutely indiscriminate in this respect and eats everything.