Leopard

Leopard
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is a member of the Felidae family which means that he is a member of the cat family. Its scientific name   is panthers pardus. The leopard   is the smallest of the four "big cats". The leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. Its fur is covered with rosettes. It is said that the rosettes of each leopard is unique just like the finger prints of we humans.
The leopards’ success in the wild is in part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometres per hour (36 mph) and its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass.
Leopards they are rather shy, secretive and mainly active at night. Leopard can run at about 35 miles per hour. Its diet mainly includes reptiles, fish mammals ranging in size from dung beetles and porcupines to kudu. As they grow, cubs learn to hunt small animals. The leopard is a cunning, stealthy hunter, and its prey ranges from strong-scented carrion, fish, reptiles and birds to mammals such as rodents, hares, hyraxes, warthogs, antelopes, monkeys and baboons.
On the basis of an estimation made, there are about 50000 leopards all over the world. Leopards are usually found in africa and tropical asia. A female leopard can give birth to a litter of 2-4 cubs at a time. The cubs are born with closed eyes, which open after four to nine days after birth.
Dense bush in rocky surroundings and riverine forest are a leopards favorite habitats, but leopards adapt to many places in both warm and cold climates. Their adaptability, in fact, has helped them survive the loss of habitat to increasing human settlement. Leopards are primarily nocturnal, usually resting during the daytime in trees or thick bush.
Although the leopard is an amazingly adaptable species that has an extensive range, the future of this big cat is far from certain, and several subspecies are on the verge of...