LEOPARD I3I 



Large leopards will often kill cattle, ponies, asses, and the larger deer, but 

 smaller individuals are contented with smaller prey. Leopards are not particular 

 in the choice of their food ; mammals, birds, and reptiles, which are not too large 

 to be killed, or too small to be caught, are welcome prey, and they will leap on a 

 cow or pounce on a sparrow. If they have any preference, it would seem to be 

 for jackals and dogs, especially the latter. The Indian leopard is also a terrible foe 

 to monkeys, killing many in the rocky hills among which it lives. Leopards seem 

 to kill their prey in a manner different from that of tigers, for they tear open 

 the throat or keep the necks of their victims between their jaws until broken, or 

 the animals are strangled. They never begin, like tigers, on the hind-quarters of 

 their prey, but always attack the under-parts first, and eat the intestines. After a 

 meal they retire to a hiding-place near by, to return to the carcase next day. Like 

 tigers, they carry away their prey and hide what they cannot eat, often among the 

 branches of trees. 



At night leopards often venture over the roofs of huts to the penned goats 

 and calves of the natives, carrying them away with great boldness and quickness. 

 They slink round human habitations for the purpose of stealing cattle, ponies, 

 asses, sheep, and goats, and thus often come in contact with the villagers. They 

 fear man much less than do tigers, at least when not hunting for prey, and although 

 less powerful, are in many respects much more dangerous than the latter, as they 

 attack their adversaries with more courage and persistency, and when driven to 

 bay defend themselves with the greatest fury. Some leopards become man-eaters, 

 and one is said to have killed two hundred persons within the two years before it 

 was shot. 



Leopards are even more silent than tigers, and if undisturbed seldom utter a 

 sound. When surprised, or compelled to defend themselves, they hiss and growl 

 exactly like tigers. The cry, however, is different, consisting of a peculiar half -grunt 

 and half-cough, three or four times repeated, which resembles in its regularity the 

 noise of a saw. 



Leopards are generally found alone, except during the pairing-season. About 

 the same time after this, as in the case of the tigress, the female gives birth to from 

 two to four cubs, which in India are born in February or March, and seem, like 

 young tigers, to take three years to grow up. As leopards have an extremely bad 

 character, they are much hunted, especially by the natives of India. But in spite 

 of their greater abundance they are shot much less frequently than tigers ; the 

 cleverness with which they hide, the quickness of their movements, and the 

 colouring of their fur, rendering them very difficult of detection. Moreover, they 

 often look up into trees, and thus detect the waiting sportsman, who is perchance 

 thinking that his quarry will never appear, while it is all the time watching 

 him from a short distance, and eventually slinks off without Ins being aware of 

 its presence. 



In leopard-shooting, a young goat, calf, or dog is generally tied up near a tree, 

 on which the sportsman is sitting. From time to time a string tied to the live 

 bait is pulled, to keep the animal awake and make it move or cry out. As the 

 leopard is more likely to appear at night, a light is sometimes placed in an earthen 

 pot, so that it may shine on the animal tied to the tree, and the ground strewn with 



