Read book on leopards today.
Leopards
Got a lot of technical information today. Some of it was repeat: biggest threats to leopards are habitat loss, killings and trapping by farmers and ranchers, and poaching for fur and body parts for medicine. Honestly, it's getting boring.
But some of it was new. Researchers figure that there's only about 50,000 leopards still alive today. That may seem like a lot, but apparently not for an animal species! The rarest leopard is the Amur leopard. This species is extinct in South Korea, where it had once spread throughout the whole Korean Peninsula. Researchers has estimated that less than 50 of this species still lives!
There are a ton of leopard subspecies, some named after their home-place (like Chinese leopard). Though their names seem to imply this, the snow leopard and clouded leopard are not leopards. You can even tell this in the scientific names of the animals. Leopards (part of the Felidae family) have the scientific name of Panthera pardus. The snow leopard shares the first part, but not the second. Their name is Panthera unica. Clouded leopards have a whole separate scientific name: Neofelis nebulosa.
I've covered that leopards live in all sorts of places, and even different temperatures. We all know that they live in grasslands, even dry ones... because we all know of the leopards of the African savanna! And some of you may know about the ones in the rain forests. But some leopards live in mountains! And there's some in woodlands that are open, and even deserts!!!
Leopards eat tons of stuff. Leopards in one part of Africa have been seen to eat 33 different species! And get this... elephant can be one of them! Leopards are not picky like the Cheetah... they even eat already-killed meat. The book tells of one leopard that joined a bunch of lions eating a killed elephant. It was quiet in doing so, but the whole scenario was cool.
Males are usually heavier than males. But the average weight for leopards is 66-176 lbs. (30-80 kg). Their length varies within the average, however, but the average is around 3-6 ft long (91-191 cm). Their tail lengths can differ from 22 inches (58 cm) to 44 inches (110 cm) long! Scientists really know how to get their measurements!
A female leopard is pregnant for about 3 1/2 months, giving birth to a litter of 3-4 cubs (usually). Cubs have a lot of predators (including hyenas and the surprising enemy of the baboon!). And leopards have their usual human threats. But if they survive, the lifespan of a wild leopard is usually 12-17 years. If they're captive leopards, the number of years jumps up to 23 years.
I also learned some of how animals photographers and researchers live. They have tents (apparently, have to double-lock because baboons are smart). Jeeps are needed go through all sorts of places... even deep rivers! Like, up to the seat-belt deep rivers! Yikes! Lots of supplies and stuff are needed... glasses, mosquito nets, water (needed, because the African midday goes up to 130 degrees! Yikes!), writing material, cameras (of course for photographers), and all sorts of stuff. I read about a recording system (with a microphone of course) that can pick up a leopard's panting 50 yards off! Cool! They live a life of adventure.
I've mentioned that people are starting to help the leopards. Every book I've read so far says that learning about leopards is the first step in helping them. Of course, we all know there's multiple ways of doing this... there's books, movies, and shows. There's libraries, bookstores, zoos, and other places to learn about them.
Extra
The younger sibs were watching shows, so I got some extra facts. Mainly, they were on horses today. Horses are big. They're very strong, and can exert a lot of force (hey, they pull heavy carts!). Some wear hats made for horses as well as their equipment for their work. Cool... apparently sometimes horses look nice while working too! We know they wear ribbons and stuff in shows, though, and they have different attitudes too. Talk about similar to us and interesting! And the different-attitudes can apply to all sorts of creatures... pets, leopards, and all sorts of animals! That's very interesting!
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