CHAPTER VIII 



LEOPARDS AND CHEETAHS 



None of the big cats is so widely distributed as the 

 leopard. From the sun-scorched African and Indian plains 

 and damp tropical forests, as far as Manchuria and Japan 

 in the north, and up on the lofty Tibetan plateaus, the 

 leopard inhabits to-day the whole of Africa and the greater 

 part of Asia. 



Of the leopard proper there is evidently only one spe- 

 cies. The commonly made distinction between the leopard 

 and the so-called panther is, from a zoological standpoint, 

 untenable, although a good many sportsmen and hunters 

 affirm that there is a great difference in size and markings 

 between the two animals. The panther in such case is 

 supposed to be the larger and more ferocious of the two, 

 but from the zoological point of view no real difference 

 exists, the panther being simply an ordinary, although per- 

 haps somewhat larger, leopard. Both the ordinary leopard 

 and the hunting leopard, existing also in India, are there 

 by the natives called " chita," by most Europeans often 

 spelled " cheetah," the Hindu word simply designating a 

 spotted cat. 



Then there is an almost raven-black variety, which was 

 often described as being a different species of leopard. 

 This black variety, commonly called the " black leopard/* 



114 



