The African leopard (or Panthera pardus pardus) is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to Central and Southern Africa. It has a slender build with an elegant head. The base coat colour ranges from yellow to dark golden and is covered in small, tightly spaced rosettes that turn into black spots towards the lower body, face, and tail tip. The underside and inside of the legs are white. The African leopard is sexually dimorphic, with males being larger and heavier than females. Males are 60cm to 70cm tall at the shoulder, 1.52m to 1.83m long, with an extra 66cm added by the tail, and weigh 58kg to 96kg. Females stand 55cm to 65cm tall at the shoulder, are 1.39m to 1.67m long with a 60cm tail, and weigh 24kg to 37.5kg.
Latin Name
Panthera pardus pardus
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african-leopard
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Animal Facts
African leopards are quite arboreal, using trees to cache their kills in order to protect them from other, stronger predators like lions, hyenas or wild dogs.
The African leopard has likely been extirpated from Northern Africa and only the Sub-Saharan populations survive in its original range.
Leopards sometimes occur as a melanistic morph, where the base coat colour is black. The rosettes can still be seen in some lighting circumstances.
The Zulu people revere the leopard as a noble, corageous and honorable create. In their language, it is called 'ingwe'.
Leopards have phenomenal eyesight that supports their nocturnal hunting behaviours. They can see about 7 times better in the dark than humans.
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