Leopard - Panthera pardus
Found throughout most of Africa and Asia, the leopard inhabits a
variety of regions, such as tropical forests, brush and scrublands,
rocky hillsides or the high, cold slopes of the Himalayas. Powerful
and agile, the leopard is a deadly and efficient hunter. It stalks
its prey, creeps to within a few metres, then leaps or dashes at
the victim, which is dispatched by a bite in the neck or smothered
by a throat bite. In Botswana the leopard can be seen in any wilderness
area, usually early morning or late evening (night time where permissible
to drive at night). Khwai, Mombo and Xaxanaka in Moremi, Savuti
and Serondela in Chobe and Nxai Pan. Their most common prey are
hoofed animals, but they will eat dogs and monkeys as well. The
well-known “black panther,” once thought to be a different
species, is actually just a dark leopard.
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