Indian Leopard documentary. The Indian Leopard (Panthera paradus fusca) is a subspecies of the Leopard family and is located across the Indian continent. This big cat has distinctive yellow fur with large black spots which makes its fur highly desirable for poachers in their illegal trade of animal skins, as a result the Indian Leopard is soon going to find itself classed as an endangered species. The number of these animals has dwindled in recent years and as a result the estimated 2015 population is 12,000 which sounds like a lot but it isn't when you think about it for such a graceful and powerful creature.
Unlike Lions the Indian leopard chooses to live life pretty much on its own in a nocturnal existance. The big cat is a highly adapted and formidable hunter and climber where you will probably find it resting in a tree, they even drag caught prey up trees and hang them there. As well as being excellent climbers Leopards are also very strong swimmers, although compared to other big cats they are not as strong. Another feature of the Leopard is its amazing ability to run a distance of 58 kilometres at around 36 mph, an important feature for them since their prey has adapted to flee at a rapid rate.
The natural habitat of the Indian Leopard is being lost due to a rising human population. This has caused problems for both the tigers and people since it has put them very close together as we see in this documentary. There have been a number of incidents of leopards encountering humans and since they are opportunistic hunters it comes as no surprise. The leopards diet is extremely broad, consisting for the most part of Axis deer, Sambar deer, Nilgai, wild pig and hares, as aforementioned it extends far beyond this.
Man eating Leopards are on the rise as we see in this leopard documentary, this is especially a problem in rural areas where cattle is attached and children are being killed.
Leopard facts:
Scientific name: Panthera pardus
Speed: 58 km/h (Running)
Conservation status: Near Threatened (Population decreasing) Encyclopedia of Life
Lifespan: 12 – 17 years
Height: 45 – 80 cm (Adult, At Shoulder)
Mass: Male: 31 kg (South Africa's coastal mountains population),Female: 23 – 27 kg (Somalia population)
