LEOPARD. 



' 



THE LEOPARD 



nat. size). 



THE LEOPARD (Fells pardus). 



The third in point of size of the Old World cats is the leopard, or panther, 

 a species closely allied to the lion and tiger, from whom it is at once dis- 

 tinguished by its coloration and inferior dimensions. In many works, written 

 more from the sporting than the purely zoological point of view, it will be found 

 that two species of large spotted cats are recognised as inhabiting Africa and 

 India, to the smaller of which the name leopard is restricted, while the larger is 

 known as the panther. Although there is an enormous amount of difference 

 between the smallest and the largest of such spotted cats in point of size, yet, in 

 the opinion of those who have paid most attention to the subject, the transition 

 from the one to the other is so gradual and complete that, in a large series of 

 specimens, it is quite impossible to say where leopards end and panthers begin. 

 Hence it is concluded that there is but a single species, for which the name 

 leopard should be adopted. The spotted coat of the leopard being its most 

 distinctive feature, the animal (in common with the hunting-leopard) is known to 

 the natives of India as the chita, meaning spotted ; the leopard, on account of its 

 larger size being often distinguished as the chita-bagh, or spotted tiger. By 

 Europeans the name chita (or cheetah) has been very generally restricted to the 

 hunting-leopard ; but, as the above remarks show, there is no justification for this 



