About Leopards
All the sudden you are running through the African plains when something catches your eye. It's a monkey. You pounce and kill the monkey then drag it up a tree. No you are not a weird human. You are a leopard. As the smallest of the 4 original big cats, leopards only weigh from 80-200 pounds. They live in Africa and some of Asia from rainforest to desert. Leopards also have an uncanny ability to climb trees. Whether it's going for a snooze or hauling a heavy body, leopards climb up trees easily. Speaking of eating (We were, weren't we?) Leopards will eat anything they catch, which is a great deal considering they can move up to 36 miles an hour. Now, this animal is listed as near threatened because it has numbers declining in large parts of its range. Do you really want that? Oh, a leopard is different than a jaguar, in looks, because it spots are more closely packed.
Dinnertime!
Leopards are not picky eaters. They will eat anything from dung beetles to a 2000 pound male common eland. They normally eat things under 440 pounds, that way it makes it easier to haul it up trees. Leopard's favorite foods are ungulates (horses) and primates (monkeys). But they still will eat rodents, reptiles, amphibians, insects, birds (if they are often on the ground), fish and smaller carnivores (like foxes). Leopards specifically will eat adult gorillas and chimpanzees. Hey listen to this! Leopards will eat a sub-adult Nile crocodile on land, antelopes, impala, Thomson's Gazelles, chitals, muntjacs, ibex, tufted deer, bamboo rats, and bushbuck. Once a leopard hauled a baby giraffe up a tree, vertically up 19 feet! That's impressive.
