430 CAT TRIBE 



into creamy buff above. The length of the flat skin of a male is less 

 than six feet. Larger leopards from some parts of East Africa have 

 the same type of colouring and marking as the pigmy Somali race. 

 They probably indicate at least one distinct local subspecies. 



Of the leopards of South Africa little or nothing appears to be 

 knoxvn, except that Dr. A. Giinther (Proc. ZooL Soc. for 1885 and 

 1886) described skins from the Grahamstovvn district in which the 

 rosettes are completely broken up into small, widely separated spots, 

 while the ground-colour of the back is deep tawny, with, in some 

 cases, a distinct tendency to melanism ; the under-parts being white 

 and the tail marked like the back. As " ordinary leopards " are stated 

 to occur in the same district the coloration of the specimens described 

 would seem to be more or less abnormal, and analogous to that of the 

 black leopards of south-western Asia. Nevertheless, if they indicate 

 a distinct local race, the name F. pardus melanosticta^ suggested by 

 Dr. Giinther, is available. 



It should be added that even the large-spotted African leopards 

 have the lines of the light network between the rosettes relatively 

 narrow, whereas in Asiatic leopards they are wider. 



The record length in African leopards appears to be 7 feet 

 io| inches (in an East African specimen), next to which comes a 

 female from Matabililand with a length of 7 feet 9 inches ; the 

 measurements in both instances being taken previous to skinning. 

 The maximum recorded weight (whether actual or estimated not 

 stated) is 140 Ib. 



The following notes on the leopard in South Africa are condensed 

 from an account supplied by Mr. F. Vaughan Kirby in 1899 : 



" Leopards are distributed throughout the greater part of Africa 

 wherever the country is suitable to their habits rough hill-country 

 intersected by deep kloofs, grassy plains, thin forest, or thickly matted 

 jungle or river-banks ; in all such places, if there is sufficient small 

 game to provide them with food, leopards may be found. They are 

 perhaps more strictly nocturnal in their habits than lions, seldom 

 leaving their lairs before it is quite dark, and returning before dawn. 

 Occasionally, however, they may be seen sunning themselves high up 

 on a rocky kopje or on some mountain-spur. Their lairs are often 

 made at a considerable distance from water ; and as they do not seem 

 to evince partiality for any particular surroundings, they turn up at 

 times and in places where least expected. When disturbed, they creep 

 away so stealthily that it is difficult to obtain a shot at them ; and they 

 are far more silent than lions. Occasionally they utter low moaning 



