THE LEOPARD 



(Fetis pardus) 



THE Leopard is the third largest of the Old World Cats, but it is a 

 remarkably variable animal, so that it was long believed, and probably 

 is still by many people, that the big spotted Cats, at any rate in India, 

 belonged to two species, the Leopard and the Panther. 



It is now pretty well established, however, that " Panther " is only 

 a courtesy title applied to a big finely-developed Leopard, approaching 

 a Tigress in build, and nearly equalling a small one in size, such animals 

 being naturally more inclined to attack large prey than the smaller and 

 more cat-like individuals which are the typical Leopards. A big 

 " Panther " will measure eight feet from nose to tail-tip, whereas a small 

 " Leopard " may be as much as a yard less in length. 



In addition to showing such great differences in size, Leopards show 

 much variety in colour, though their proverbial inability to change 

 their spots still holds good as a rule. Thus, I have seen a skin in which 

 the black colour of the spots was replaced by fawn, and the well-known 

 Black Leopards owe their colour to a darkening of the ground-tint, on 

 which the spots can still be seen in certain lights. These Black Leopards 

 are not uncommon in certain localities, especially in the Malay Peninsula ; 

 they are mere "freaks," as one may occur in the same litter as a spotted 

 one, but a pair of Black Leopards in captivity will produce black cubs. 



The Leopard has much the widest range of any Old World Cat, 

 being found over Africa generally, including the heavy forests of the 

 west, where the Lion does not venture, and over a large part of Asia 

 also, from Manchuria to Ceylon (where it is called the Cheetah), and 

 from Asia Minor to Sumatra. It ascends the Himalayas to a much 

 greater height than the Tiger. Leopards from colder climates, at any 



