The leopard is one of the five "big cats" in the genus "Panthera". It is a member of the Felidae family with a wide range in regions of sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia to Siberia. Fossil records found in Italy suggest that in the Pleistocene it ranged as far as Europe.
Similar species: Carnivorans
By Mohammed Salman
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Uploaded May 1, 2020. Captured Sep 9, 2018 17:15.
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You might not want to interrupt this rendezvous! Leopards (Panthera pardus) spend a lot of their time in trees. They are extremely graceful and have the perfect physiology for climbing trees. They are lightweight, powerful, have a low center of gravity and a high power-to-weight ratio. Plus, their front limbs are only joined to their collarbone by some ligament and muscle, which allows for free movement. They can twist their bodies 180 degrees, while keeping their balance! Lastly, they have fabulous, long tails that aid in balance. They are the ultimate climbing predators!
Aside from being physically built for climbing, why hang out in trees? Well, sometimes they may just want to rest in the shady canopy, taking advantage of a cool breeze blowing through the trees. As lovely as that sounds, there’s another reason that climbing benefits the leopard. They hoist their kill up into the tree branches! This keeps their meals safe from being stolen by lions and hyenas. A leopard can drag a carcass three times its own weight 10 meters up a tree! Impressive!! {Spotted in India by JungleDragon user, Mohammed Salman} #JungleDragon #Leopard #Pantherapardus
https://www.facebook.com/jungledragonwildlife/ Posted 5 years ago