Leopard
(Latin = Pantera pardus, Afrikaans = Luiperd, German = Leopard)
(Latin = Pantera pardus, Afrikaans = Luiperd, German = Leopard)
Numbers: Fairly high
Weight: 30 - 71kg (66 - 156 lb.)
Shoulder height: 70 - 80 cm (28 - 32 in.)
Pregnancy time: 100 days
Cub quantity: Up to 6
Found all over the Northern Province, North West Province and in Mpumalanga, except in the southern parts of the last two provinces mentioned. Also seen in the north of Swaziland, the north eastern coastal, the North Cape Kalahari and west coast, as well as all the coastal areas of the Western and Eastern Cape, except for some areas in the far north east.
One of the much praised big five, this cat may be more than you've expected to encounter. The Leopard is everything you want it to be, and much more : being a animal of the night, it sometimes surprises the tourist by showing his very strong body in broad daylight. This muscular beast is one of the animals able to move a weight which exceeds it's own body weight by far and then takes it as if it's nothing high up in a giant tree in the bushveld. It is a animal that have learned to survive where other became extinct in a vast area of the South African wilderness. In spite of it's beautiful and brilliant camouflaging coat, which have made him a prized trophy, the leopard's numbers is still fairly high. It's a privilege to be able to take a good photograph or shot at this creature, because of his stealthy and superlative phantom ways. Once wounded, the leopard turns into the single most dangerous and unpredictable beast that anyone in the wild can encounter. It have, more than once,ambushed and killed very well equipped hunters. It's a job better left to the absolute professional hunter alone. Many of them, just because of their professionalism, would not take on such an enterprise! He may disturb a large group of sleeping baboons at night for one of the most daring challenges: to make a midnight meal of one of them, knowing that they have the tendency to protect one another. This most incredible cat means power, power, power!
