• About
  • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Disclosure
    • Disclaimer
  • Contact
  • Advertise
    • Cat Clout! Top Influencer.
    • Awards
    • Demographics
  • PR Friendly
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

The Tiniest Tiger

  • Home
  • Gracey’s Story
    • Gracey’s Blog
    • The Tiniest Tiger’s Habitat
      • Bad Kitty
      • Lazy Leopard
      • Bossy Backyard Blue Jay
      • Great Horned Owl
    • Gracey’s Place of Refuge
    • Bissell MVP 2010
      • Bissell MVP Pet Photo Winner 2010
  • Conservation Cub Club
    • Wildlife Wednesday
    • Big Cat Cousins
      • Tigers
      • African lions
      • Jaguars
      • Leopards
      • Cheetahs
      • Puma
      • Smaller Big Cats
  • Cat News
    • Reader Opinion Polls
    • Cat Health
    • Feline diabetes
    • Feline Nutrition
    • Water!
    • Litter Box News & Issues
  • Shop Triple T Studios
  • Product Reviews
    • Cat Comfort
    • Cat Food and Treats
    • Fountains & Dishes
    • Cat Litter
    • Cat Towers
    • Cat Toys
    • Cat Collars & ID
    • Cat Grooming
    • Cat Travel
    • Cleaning
    • For Cat Parents
      • Apparel
      • Books
  • Giveaways

Leaping Leopards! Happy Leap Day!

Leopards· Uncategorized· Gracey's Blog· Big Cat Cousins

29 Feb

Leaping Leopard Harvey

The Leopard. In Honor of Leap Day

“Secretive, silent, smooth and supple as a piece of silk, he is an animal of darkness, and even in the dark he travels alone.”

This description of the leopard by Maitland Edey captures the very essence of the leopard.  The smallest of the four big cats, the leopard is elusive, solitary and proficient at living in the shadows of its larger cousins the tiger and the African lion. Leopards are also adept at surviving in environments occupied by humans but live secretive lives rarely seen making the cat difficult to observe and complicating the ability to make estimates of the leopard population across Africa.

Leaping Leopard NatGeo

Leaping Leopard image courtesy of NatGeo

The body size and color patterns of leopards vary geographically and probably reflect adaptations to the different habitats. Leopards have short legs relative to their long body. They have a broad head with powerful jaw muscles.  The leopards’ scapula is uniquely attached to its muscles allowing the spotted cat to be a more proficient at climbing.  The leopard also has a unique locking wrist that allows for the cats adept tree climbing (Joubert B. a., 2009).  Leopards have small round ears, long whiskers extending from dark spots on the upper lip and long whiskers in their eyebrows that protect their eyes while moving through dense vegetation.

The Leopard’s Coat Is Unique and Often Used for Identification

Leopard

The leopard’s coat ranges from tawny or light yellow in warm, dry habitats to reddish orange in dense forests.  There are nine subspecies of Leopards (Panthera pardus).  Subspecies are distinguished by unique pelage characteristics.  Their body is covered with black rosettes, which are circular in East Africa and square in South Africa. Leopards have solid black spots on their chest, feet, face and rings on their tail. Each individual leopard has a unique coat, and this unique coat is often used for identification.

Melanistic Leopard

Melanistic Leopard, the most commonly known as Black Panthers

 

Black panthers, which are often found in humid forests, are leopards with recessive melanistic genes.

The Leopard Has The Widest Habitat Tolerance of Any Old World Felid

Panthera Leopard range

Panthera Leopard Range Map

The leopard has the widest habitat tolerance of any Old World Felid, making it the most versatile of the big cats. The leopard’s wide range and ability to survive in areas where other large carnivores have been extirpated has given the impression that the leopard’s conservation status is secure and therefore leopards are often given a lower conservation priority than the tiger and the African lion.

I hope you liked my post about leopards.  They are amazing cats.  My goal is to leap like a leopard some day.

Thank you for caring for all cats, big and small!

Joubert, B. a. (2009). Eye of the Leopard. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.

Joubert, B. J. (Director). (2006). Eye of the Leopard [Motion Picture]. National Geographic.

Previous Post: « Cat on The Red Carpet. The Tiniest Tiger in Beverly Hills.
Next Post: Fancy Feast Introduces New Entree and Free Samples Too! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Layla Morgan Wilde says

    March 10, 2012 at 12:50 pm

    Loved this!

  2. Elizabeth Flynn says

    March 8, 2012 at 5:39 pm

    I almost missed this article, Gracey. I am so glad that I didn’t. Thank you for sharing. I learned a lot today about our cousins, the Leopards. Great job, as always. XOXOXO

  3. Megan says

    March 3, 2012 at 4:54 am

    Great picture

  4. Michele says

    March 1, 2012 at 8:22 am

    They way you are moving Gracey, you will be leaping over leopards!

  5. Magwhisk says

    February 29, 2012 at 5:14 pm

    Gracey, you are amazing, with all your knowledge!  Thanks for sharing!  xoxox  Happy Leap Day to you, and all the kitty’s!!!

  6. Maxthequiltcat says

    February 29, 2012 at 10:19 am

    That’s a great photo for Leap Day.  Perfect.

    Happy Leap Day.

    pawhugs, Max

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to The Tiniest Tiger

Gracey for TTT
Hi, I'm Joanne and I love all cats. With a Global Field Master of Zoology degree focused on big cat conservation, I like to learn and talk about big cats too. I share my habitat with Paul and we were adopted by our cats Annie, Eddie and Mercy. The Tiniest Tiger has a fierce following of cat lovers and we'd love it, if you'd join us.

Triple T Studios ~ Fashion With a Passion®

Join Team Cat!


Our Books

our books ad with border

Light-a-Candle Memorial

candlelight vigil image
Light A Candle

The Tiniest Tiger

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2023 · Refined theme by Restored 316