LEOPARD (OF. leopard, Fr. leopard, from Lat. leopa•dus. from Gk. Atorapdoc, XfovrGrapdoc, leontopardos, leopard, front Ricry, lean, lion + Tr apd0c, pard). The leopard (Felis pardus) ranks third in size among the Old World cats, but has the widest distribution of all. In all its history the name 'leopard' has been con fused with the words 'pant' and 'panther,' and even at the present day it is a common belief that a pard is a panther and that the latter is a different animal from the leopard. Among sportsmen it has been customary to use the term 'panther' for all unusually large leopards. As a matter of fact the leopard was called 'pard' or 'panther' by the ancients, and the word leop ard was probably originally applied to the cheeta (q.v.). but was incorrectly transferred to the panther and has now ahnost wholly super seded that name.
Although exceeded in dimensions by the lion and tiger, the leopard ranks with them in grace, quickness, and ferocity. It is the most variable in color and size of any of the large cats, a fact no doubt due to its extensive range, for the leop ard is found throughout the continent of Africa, and from Palestine to Northern China and Japan, and in Borneo, though it does not occur north of the Ilimalayas. ?Ail-art gives the aver age length of the body and head as about three feet ten inches, and of the tail as three feet eight inches. The pupil is round. The color is buff of some shade, sometimes tawny, some times rufous, passing into white on the under parts and on the inner sides of the limbs; every: where are spotg, comparatively small, roundish. and very black on the under parts, but browner and collected into rings and rosettes on the back and sides. These differ from the spottings of the jaguar (q,v.) in being less definitely ar ranged, and in not falling into rings inclosing one or more spots. But the distinctness of the markings varies greatly, and they are less evi dent in cubs than in the adults. The tail is ringed. The so-called 'black' leopard is a not uncommon thelanistic variety in which the ground color has become so nearly black that the markings can be detected only with difficulty. Blaek leopards are found most commonly in Southern Asia. They are oecasionally bred in captivity, frequently born in the same litter with spotted ones; and they seem invariably to manifest a far more savage and irreconcilable disposition than even the normal variety. A Malaysian variety is black with fulvous spots— a reversal of the normal coloration. Great vari ability exists in the length of the coat: and some naturalists regard the snow-leopard of the high Himalayas as merely a variety, while a 'maned' form is said to exist in Central Africa.
The haunts of the leopard are usually in wooded districts, but, although it climbs trees easily, it prefers the ground or the large limbs of low trees, whence it can spring easily on its prey. Both haunt and habits vary greatly ac
cording to the region in which the animal lives and the sort of prey upon which it depends. The leopard of the East Indian or West African jungles is different in many ways from that of the rocky but comparatively open districts of South Africa or Somaliland, or the high plains of Persia. Everywhere it sustains its reputa tion for a quickness. ferocity. cunning, and de structiveness greater than that of either lion or tiger; yet its strength is by no means equal to theirs. Individuals, however, exhibit con trasting temperaments, as in other species.
Leopards feed chiefly upon mammals, as ante lopes, deer, monkeys, goats. and dogs, and of the last named, like other great cats, they are espe cially fond. There is no other enemy so feared by monkeys, and none to which they so often fall a prey. Leopards also capture large ground-birds. such as pea-fowl; persistently raid herds of cat tle and goats; and occasionally attack human beings, chiefly women and children. Rarely an old leopard becomes a true 'man-eater.' but once having discovered how easily it can secure hu man victims, is more dangerous than a man eating tiger or lion, for it is far more stealthy, cunning, and persistent. Hunters find the pur suit of the leopard not only as exciting, but often as dangerous, as that of the tiger, and the meth ods pursued are in India substantially the same. See TIGER-HUNTING; compare CIIEETA.
The leopard is usually regarded as among the most intractable of animals, yet a few have al ways been among the tamed and performing troupes of the animal-trainers: but as grow old they are far less trustworthy than any other of the big cats. The leopard makes its home in a cave or dense thicket, or huge hollow stump; and there the female annually bears three or four young. They thrive and breed well in captivity. Their hides are in constant demand in the fur market, and command a high price. Throughout the whole of Central Africa the skin of the leopard is deemed a suitable ornament for persons of princely rank, and nowhere is it more readily admitted among the insignia of royalty than with the Niam Niani Fossil remains of the leopard have been found in Pleistocene deposits in various parts of Eu rope, and there is even sonic evidence of its former occurrence in Great Britain.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. The best general account is Bibliography. The best general account is "The Leopard and Panther." in Porter's Wild Beasts (New York, 189-1) : beyond that consult the authorities referred to under LION and TIGER.