African leopard#Distribution and habitat

Felis pardus was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae in 1758. His description was based on descriptions by earlier naturalists such as Conrad Gessner. He assumed that the leopard occurred in India.{{cite book |author=Linnaeus, C. |year=1758 |title=Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |volume=Tomus I |edition=decima, reformata |location=Holmiae |publisher=Laurentius Salvius |page=41−42 |chapter=Felis pardus |language=la |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/mobot31753000798865#page/41/mode/2up}}

In the 18th and 19th centuries, several naturalists described various leopard skins and skulls from Africa, including:{{cite book |last=Allen |first=G. M. |year=1939 |url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinofmuseum83harv#page/244/mode/2up |title=A Checklist of African Mammals |series=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College |volume=83 |pages=1–763 |publisher=The Museum |location=Cambridge, Mass.}}

• Felis pardus panthera proposed by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1778 based on descriptions by earlier naturalists{{cite book |author=Schreber, J. C. D. |year=1778 |chapter=Der Panther |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/SaYugthiereAbbiIIISchr#page/384/mode/2up |pages=384–386 |title=Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen |location=Erlangen |publisher=Wolfgang Walther}}
• Felis leopardus var. melanotica by Albert Günther in 1885 from the Cape of Good Hope, Southern Africa
• Felis leopardus suahelicus by Oscar Neumann in 1900 from the Tanganyika territory
• Felis leopardus nanopardus by Oldfield Thomas in 1904 from Italian Somaliland
• Felis pardus ruwenzorii by Lorenzo Camerano in 1906 from the Ruwenzori and Virunga Mountains{{cite journal |last=Camerano |first=L. |year=1906 |title=Spedizione al Ruwenzori di S.A.R. Luigi Amedeo di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi |journal=Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparata della R. Università di Torino |volume=21 |issue=545 |pages=1–6 |url=https://archive.org/details/bollettinodeimus2106univ/page/n209}}
• Felis pardus chui by Edmund Heller in 1913 from Uganda
• Felis pardus iturensis by Joel Asaph Allen in 1924 from the Belgian Congo{{cite journal |last1=Allen |first1=J. A. |year=1924 |title=Carnivora collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=1–281 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/1896/B47a03.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y}}
• Felis pardus reichenowi by Ángel Cabrera in 1927 from Cameroon
• Panthera pardus adusta by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1927 from the Ethiopian Highlands
• Panthera pardus adersi by Pocock in 1932 from Unguja Island, Zanzibar{{cite journal |last1=Pocock |first1=R. I. |date=1932 |title=The Leopards of Africa |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |volume=102 |issue=2 |pages=543–591 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1932.tb01085.x}}
• Panthera pardus brockmani by Pocock in 1932 from Somaliland

Results of genetic analyses indicate that all African leopard populations are generally closely related and represent only one subspecies, namely P. p. pardus.{{cite journal |last1=Miththapala |first1=S. |last2=Seidensticker |first2=J. |last3=O'Brien |first3=S. J. |name-list-style=amp |title=Phylogeographic Subspecies Recognition in Leopards (Panthera pardus): Molecular Genetic Variation|journal=Conservation Biology |volume=10 |issue=4 |year=1996 |pages=1115–1132 |issn=0888-8892 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10041115.x|bibcode=1996ConBi..10.1115M }}{{cite journal |last1=Uphyrkina |first1=O. |last2=Johnson |first2=E. W. |last3=Quigley |first3=H. |last4=Miquelle |first4=D. |last5=Marker |first5=L. |last6=Bush |first6=M. |last7=O'Brien |first7=S. J. |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=Phylogenetics, genome diversity and origin of modern leopard, Panthera pardus |journal=Molecular Ecology |volume=10 |issue=11 |pages=2617–2633 |url=http://www.biosoil.ru/files/00001386.pdf |doi=10.1046/j.0962-1083.2001.01350.x |pmid=11883877 |bibcode=2001MolEc..10.2617U |s2cid=304770 |access-date=2012-05-10 |archive-date=2020-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428212741/https://www.biosoil.ru/files/00001386.pdf |url-status=dead}}{{cite journal |author1=Kitchener, A. C. |author2=Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. |author3=Eizirik, E. |author4=Gentry, A. |author5=Werdelin, L. |author6=Wilting, A. |author7=Yamaguchi, N. |author8=Abramov, A. V. |author9=Christiansen, P. |author10=Driscoll, C. |author11=Duckworth, J. W. |author12=Johnson, W. |author13=Luo, S.-J. |author14=Meijaard, E. |author15=O’Donoghue, P. |author16=Sanderson, J. |author17=Seymour, K. |author18=Bruford, M. |author19=Groves, C. |author20=Hoffmann, M. |author21=Nowell, K. |author22=Timmons, Z. |author23=Tobe, S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2017 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group |journal=Cat News |volume=Special Issue 11 |pages=73–75 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=73}} However, results of an analysis of molecular variance and the pairwise fixation index of African leopard museum specimens shows differences in the ND-5 locus spanning five major haplogroups, namely in Central–Southern Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, coastal West–Central Africa, and Central–East Africa. In some cases, fixation indices showed higher diversity than for Panthera pardus nimr and Panthera pardus tulliana in Asia.{{cite journal |last1=Anco |first1=C. |last2=Kolokotronis |first2=S. O. |last3=Henschel |first3=P. |last4=Cunningham |first4=S. W. |last5=Amato |first5=G. |last6=Hekkala |first6=E. |name-list-style=amp |title=Historical mitochondrial diversity in African leopards (Panthera pardus) revealed by archival museum specimens |journal=Mitochondrial DNA Part A |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=455–473 |doi=10.1080/24701394.2017.1307973 |year=2017 |pmid=28423965|s2cid=4348541}}

File:Panthera pardus (Leopard (Kongo)).jpg

File:Leopard (Panthera pardus).jpg]]

The African leopard exhibits great variation in coat color, depending on location and habitat. Coat colour varies from pale yellow to deep gold or tawny, and sometimes black, and is patterned with black rosettes while the head, lower limbs and belly are spotted with solid black. Male leopards are larger, averaging {{cvt|58|kg}} with {{cvt|90|kg}} being the maximum weight attained by a male. Females weigh about {{cvt|37.5|kg}} on average.{{Cite web |title=African leopard |url=https://www.sanbi.org/animal-of-the-week/african-leopard/ |access-date=2022-11-12 |website=SANBI |date=24 May 2018 |language=en-US}}

The African leopard is sexually dimorphic; males are larger and heavier than females.{{cite book |first=R. |last=Hoath |title=A Field Guide to the Mammals of Egypt |chapter=Leopard (Panthera pardus) Linnaeus, 1758 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=agWfg6oEKKkC&pg=PA106 |year=2009|publisher=American University in Cairo Press |location=Cairo |isbn=978-977-416-254-1 |pages=106–107}} Between 1996 and 2000, 11 adult leopards were radio-collared on Namibian farmlands. Males weighed {{cvt|37.5|to|52.3|kg}} only, and females {{cvt|24|to|33.5|kg}}.{{cite journal |last1=Marker |first1=L. L. |last2=Dickman |first2=A. J. |date=2005 |title=Factors affecting leopard (Panthera pardus) spatial ecology, with particular reference to Namibian farmlands |url=http://cheetah.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2005/10/leopard.pdf |journal=South African Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=105–115 |hdl=10520/EJC117223 |issn=2410-7220 |access-date=2015-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516060609/http://cheetah.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2005/10/leopard.pdf |archive-date=2015-05-16 |url-status=dead }} The heaviest known leopard weighed about {{Cvt|96|kg}}, and was recorded in South West Africa.{{cite book |last=Brain |first=C. K. |title=The Hunters Or the Hunted?: An Introduction to African Cave Taphonomy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E4JyZgr8y50C&pg=PA84 |date=1983 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-07090-2 |pages=84–102}}

According to Alfred Edward Pease, black leopards in North Africa were similar in size to lions. An Algerian leopard killed in 1913 was reported to have measured approximately {{cvt|8|ft|10|in}}, before being skinned.{{cite book |last=Pease |first=A. E. |author-link=Alfred Edward Pease |title=The Book of the Lion |publisher=John Murray |chapter=Of dangerous game |pages=46–68 |location=London |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/bookoflion1913alfr#page/54/mode/2up |year=1913}}

Leopards inhabiting the mountains of the Cape Provinces appear smaller and less heavy than leopards further north.{{cite journal |last1=Martins |first1=Q. |last2=Martins |first2=N. |name-list-style=amp |title=Leopards of the Cape: conservation and conservation concerns |journal=International Journal of Environmental Studies |volume=63 |issue=5 |year=2006 |pages=579–585 |doi=10.1080/00207230600963486|bibcode=2006IJEnS..63..579M |s2cid=95270721 }} Leopards in Somalia and Ethiopia are also said to be smaller.{{cite book|last=Brakefield |first=T. |title=Big Cats |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=szBm5kPeC-cC&pg=PA82 |publisher=Voyageur Press|isbn=978-1-61060-354-6 |page=82|chapter=The Somali Leopard |date=1993}}

The skull of a West African leopard specimen measured {{cvt|11.25|in}} in basal length, and {{cvt|7.125|in}} in breadth, and weighed {{cvt|1|lb|12|oz}}. To compare, that of an Indian leopard measured {{cvt|11.2|in}} in basal length, and {{cvt|7.9|in|cm}} in breadth, and weighed {{cvt|2|lb|4|oz}}.{{cite journal |author=Prater, S. H. |title=Record Panther Skull (P. p. pardus) |journal=The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=XXVII |issue=1, part IV |pages=933–935 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/95740#page/1055/mode/1up |date=1921}}

File:Leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) young female Kruger.jpg]]

The African leopards inhabited a wide range of habitats within Africa, from mountainous forests to grasslands and savannahs, excluding only extremely sandy desert. It is most at risk in areas of semi-desert, where scarce resources often result in conflict with nomadic farmers and their livestock.{{cite book |editor=Bryden, H. A. |author=Kirby, F. V. |year=1899 |chapter=The Leopard (Felis pardus) |pages=568–574 |title=Great and small game of Africa |location=London |publisher=Rowland Ward Ltd. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/greatsmallgameof00majo#page/544/mode/2up}}{{Cite book |author1=Nowell, K. |author2=Jackson, P. |name-list-style=amp |title=Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan |chapter-url=http://carnivoractionplans1.free.fr/wildcats.pdf |year=1996 |publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group |location=Gland, Switzerland |isbn=2-8317-0045-0 |pages=1–334 |chapter=Leopard Panthera pardus}}

It used to occur in most of sub-Saharan Africa, occupying both rainforest and arid desert habitats. It lived in all habitats with annual rainfall above {{cvt|50|mm}}, and can penetrate areas with less than this amount of rainfall along river courses. It ranges up to {{cvt|5700|m}}, has been sighted on high slopes of the Ruwenzori and Virunga volcanoes, and observed when drinking thermal water {{cvt|37|°C|°F}} in the Virunga National Park.

The African leopard appears to be successful at adapting to altered natural habitat and settled environments in the absence of intense persecution. It has often been recorded close to major cities. But already in the 1980s, it has become rare throughout much of West Africa.{{cite report |last1=Martin |first1=R. B. |name-list-style=amp |last2=De Meulenaer |first2=T. |year=1988 |title=Survey of the status of the leopard (Panthera pardus) in sub-Saharan Africa |publisher=CITES Secretariat |location=Lausanne}} Now, it remains patchily distributed within historical limits.{{cite iucn |author=Stein, A.B. |author2=Gerngross, P. |author3=Al Hikmani, H. |author4=Balme, G. |author5=Bertola, L. |author6=Drouilly, M. |author7=Farhadinia, M.S. |author8=Feng, L. |author9=Ghoddousi, A. |author10=Henschel, P. |author11=Jhala, Y. |author12=Khorozyan, I. |author13=Kittle, A. |author14=Laguardia, A. |author15=Luo, S.-J. |author16=Mann, G. |author17=Miquelle, D. |author18=Moheb, Z. |author19=Raza, H. |author20=Rostro-García, S. |author21=Shivakumar, S. |author22=Song, D. |author23=Wibisono, H. |year=2024 |title=Panthera pardus |page=e.T15954A254576956 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-1.RLTS.T15954A254576956.en}} During surveys in 2013, it was recorded in Gbarpolu County and Bong County in the Upper Guinean forests of Liberia.{{cite journal |author1=Bene, J.C.K. |author2=Bitty, E.A. |author3=Bohoussou, K.H. |author4=Abedilartey, M. |author5=Gamys, J. |author6=Soribah, P.A. |name-list-style=amp |year=2013 |title=Current conservation status of large mammals in Sime Darby Oil Palm Concession in Liberia |journal=Global Journal of Biology, Agriculture & Health Sciences |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=93–102 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266133991}}

Leopards are extremely rare in North Africa. A relict population persisted in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco until the 1990s, in forest and mountain steppe in elevations of {{cvt|300|to|2500|m}}, where the climate is temperate to cold.{{cite thesis |author=Cuzin, F. |year=2003 |title=Les grands mammifères du Maroc méridional (Haut Atlas, Anti Atlas et Sahara): Distribution, Ecologie et Conservation |location=Université Montpellier II |type=Ph.D. Thesis |publisher=Laboratoire de Biogéographie et Ecologie des Vertèbrés, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes |url=http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/cuzin_2003_phd.pdf}} The last individual in the area was recorded in 1996.Rossi, L., Scuzzarella, C. M., & Angelici, F. M. (2020). "Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict Populations of Big Cats: Their Controversial Stories and Implications for Conservation". In Problematic Wildlife II (pp. 393-417). Springer, Cham.

In 2005, leopard DNA was detected in the Hoggar Mountains of southern Algeria, in the central Sahara.{{cite book |author1=Busby, G. B. J. |name-list-style=amp |author2= Gottelli, D.|author3= Durant, S. |author4= Wacher, T.|author5= Marker, L.|author6= Belbachir, F.|author7= de Smet, K. |author8=Belbachir-Bazi, A. |author9= Fellous, A.|author10=Belghoul, M. |year=2006 |title=A Report from the Sahelo Saharan Interest Group |location=Algeria |publisher=Parc National de l'Ahaggar Survey |chapter=Part 5: Using Molecular Genetics to study the presence of Endangered carnivores}}

In 2014, a leopard was killed in the Elba Protected Area in southeastern Egypt. This was the first sighting of a leopard in the country since the 1950s.{{Cite journal |last1=Soultan |first1=A. |last2=Attum |first2=O. |last3=Hamada |first3=A. |last4=Hatab |first4=E.-B. |last5=Ahmed |first5=S. E. |last6=Eisa |first6=A. |last7=Sharif |first7=I. A. |last8=Nagy |first8=A. |last9=Shohdi |first9=W. |name-list-style=amp |date=2017 |title=Recent observation for leopard Panthera pardus in Egypt |journal=Mammalia |volume=81 |issue=1 |doi=10.1515/mammalia-2015-0089 |pages=115–117|s2cid=90676105}}

In 2016, a leopard was recorded for the first time in a semi-arid area of Yechilay in northern Ethiopia.{{cite journal |last1=Westerberg |first1=M. |name-list-style=amp |last2=Craig|first2=E. |last3=Meheretu |first3=Y. |title=First record of African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus L.) in semi-arid area of Yechilay, northern Ethiopia |journal=African Journal of Ecology |year=2017 |doi=10.1111/aje.12436 |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=375–377}}

In Kruger National Park, male leopards and female leopards with cubs were more active at night than solitary females. The highest rates of daytime activity were recorded for leopards using thorn thickets during the wet season, when impala also used them.{{cite book|last=Bailey|first=T. N. |title=The African Leopard: Ecology and Behavior of a Solitary Felid|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0HyXAAAACAAJ |year=2005 |publisher=Blackburn Press |isbn=978-1-932846-11-9 |orig-year=1993 |edition=Illustrated, reprint}} Leopards are generally most active between sunset and sunrise, and kill more prey at this time.{{cite thesis |last=Hamilton|first=P. H. |title=The Movements of Leopards in Tsavo National Park, Kenya as Determined by Radio-tracking |type=PhD |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYrYMgEACAAJ |year=1976 |publisher=University of Nairobi |location=Nairobi}}

File:Needlemouth.jpg kill in Kruger National Park]]

File:African Leopard, Botswana imported from iNaturalist photo 10355594.jpg]]

The leopard has an exceptional ability to adapt to changes in prey availability, and has a very broad diet. It takes small prey where large ungulates are less common. The known prey of leopards ranges from dung beetles to adult elands, which can reach {{cvt|900|kg}}. In sub-Saharan Africa, at least 92 prey species have been documented in leopard scat, including rodents, birds, small and large antelopes, hyraxes, hares, and arthropods. Leopards generally focus their hunting activity on locally abundant medium-sized ungulates in the {{cvt|20|to|80|kg}} range, while opportunistically taking other prey. Average intervals between ungulate kills range from seven to 12–13 days.

Leopards often hide large kills in trees, a behavior for which great strength is required. There have been several observations of leopards hoisting carcasses of young giraffes, estimated to weigh up to {{cvt|125|kg}}, i.e. 2–3 times the weight of the leopard, up to {{cvt|5.7|m}} into trees.

In Serengeti National Park, leopards were radio-collared for the first time in the early 1970s. Their hunting at night was difficult to watch; the best time for observing them was after dawn. Of their 64 daytime hunts, only three were successful. In this woodland area, they preyed mostly on impalas, both adult and young, and caught some Thomson's gazelles in the dry season. Occasionally, they successfully hunted warthogs, dik-diks, reedbucks, duikers, steenboks, blue wildebeest and topi calves, jackals, Cape hares, guineafowl and starlings. They were less successful in hunting plains zebras, Coke's hartebeests, giraffes, mongooses, genets, hyraxes and small birds. Scavenging from the carcasses of large animals made up a small proportion of their food.{{cite journal |last=Bertram |first= B. |date=1974 |title=Radio-Tracking Leopards in the Serengeti |journal=African Wildlife Leadership Foundation News 1974 |issue=9 |pages=8–10}} In the tropical rainforests of Central Africa, their diet consists of duikers and primates. Some individual leopards have shown a strong preference for pangolins and porcupines.{{cite journal|last=Jenny|first= D. |date=1993|title=Leopard research in Ivory Coast rain forest |journal=Cat News |issue=18|pages=12–13}}

In North Africa, the leopard preys on Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus).{{cite journal |last=Fa |first=J. E. |title=A survey of population and habitat of the Barbary macaque Macaca sylvanus L. in north Morocco |journal=Biological Conservation |date=1982 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=45–66 |doi=10.1016/0006-3207(82)90046-5|bibcode=1982BCons..24...45F }}{{cite journal|last=Van Lavieren|first= E. |date=2012 |title=The Barbary Macaque (Macaca sylvanus); A unique endangered primate species struggling to survive |journal=Revista Eubacteria |issue=3 0|url=http://mpcfoundation.nl/site/wp-content/uploads/Artikel-Spaans-blad-evl.pdf |pages=1–4}}

Analysis of leopard scat in Taï National Park revealed that primates are primary leopard prey during the day.{{cite journal |last1=Zuberbühler|first1=K. |last2=Jenny |first2=D. |title=Leopard predation and primate evolution |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |date=2002 |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=873–886 |pmid=12473487 |doi=10.1006/jhev.2002.0605 |bibcode=2002JHumE..43..873Z |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/278634/files/Zuberbuhler_K.-Leopard_predation_20170202124152-KH.pdf}}

In Gabon's Lope National Park, the most important prey species was found to be the red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) and greater cane rats (Thryonomys swinderianus), comprised 13% each of the consumed biomass.{{cite journal |last1=Henschel |first1=P. |last2=Abernethy |first2=K. A. |last3=White |first3=L. J. T. |name-list-style=amp |title=Leopard food habits in the Lope National Park, Gabon, Central Africa |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=43 |issue=1 |year=2005 |pages=21–28 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.2004.00518.x|bibcode=2005AfJEc..43...21H}}

In the Central African Republic's Dzanga-Sangha Complex of Protected Areas, a leopard reportedly attacked and pursued a large western lowland gorilla, but did not catch it. Gorilla parts found in leopard scat indicates that the leopard either scavenged on gorilla remains or killed it.{{cite journal |last1=Fay |first1= J. M. |last2=Carroll |first2=R. |last3=Kerbis Peterhans |first3=J. C. |last4=Harris |first4= D. |year=1995 |title=Leopard attack on and consumption of gorillas in the Central African Republic |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=93–99 |doi=10.1006/jhev.1995.1048|bibcode= 1995JHumE..29...93F }} African leopards were observed preying on adult eastern gorillas in the Kisoro area near Uganda's borders with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.{{cite book |last=Schaller |first=G. B. |author-link=George Schaller |date=2010 |title=The Year of the Gorilla |publisher=University of Chicago Press |chapter=7: A Home in the Highlands |page=139 |isbn=978-0-2267-3647-1 |location=Chicago |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8ca5WXqkMAC&pg=PA139}}

File:Picture of Carl Akeley.jpg (right) barehanded]]

Throughout Africa, the major threats to leopards are habitat conversion and intense persecution,{{cite journal |last1=Williams|first1=S.T.|last2=Williams|first2=K.S. |last3=Lewis|first3=B.P. |last4=Hill|first4=R.A. |title=Population dynamics and threats to an apex predator outside protected areas: implications for carnivore management|journal=Royal Society Open Science |volume=4 |issue=4 |year=2017|pages=161090 |doi=10.1098/rsos.161090 |pmc=5414262 |pmid=28484625 |bibcode=2017RSOS....461090W}} especially in retribution for real and perceived livestock loss.{{cite book|last1=Ray|first1=J.C. |last2= Hunter|first2=L. |last3=Zigouris|first3=J. |title=Setting Conservation and Research Priorities for Larger African Carnivores |year=2005 |publisher=Wildlife Conservation Society |url=https://canada.wcs.org/Portals/42/Publications/WCS_WorkingPaper_24_web.pdf |location=New York}}

The Upper Guinean forests in Liberia are considered a biodiversity hotspot, but have already been fragmented into two blocks. Large tracts are affected by commercial logging and mining activities, and are converted for agricultural use including large-scale oil palm plantations in concessions obtained by a foreign company.

The impact of trophy hunting on populations is unclear, but may have impacts at the demographic and population level, especially when females are shot. In Tanzania, only males are allowed to be hunted, but females comprised 28.6% of 77 trophies shot between 1995 and 1998.{{cite journal |last1=Spong |first1=G. |last2=Johansson |first2=M. |last3=Björklund |first3=M. |s2cid=14549268 |title=High genetic variation in leopards indicates large and long-term stable effective population size|journal=Molecular Ecology |volume=9 |issue=11 |year=2000|pages=1773–1782 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.01067.x|pmid=11091313|bibcode=2000MolEc...9.1773S }} Removing an excessively high number of males may produce a cascade of deleterious effects on the population. Although male leopards provide no parental care to cubs, the presence of the sire allows females to raise cubs with a reduced risk of infanticide by other males. There are few reliable observations of infanticide in leopards, but new males entering the population are likely to kill existing cubs.Cat Specialist Group (2005). [http://www.catsg.org/catsgportal/project-o-month/02_webarchive/grafics/nov2005.pdf Cat Project of the Month – November 2005: Conservation biology of leopards (Panthera pardus) in a fragmented landscape; spatial ecology, population biology and human threats]. IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group

Analysis of leopard scats and camera trapping surveys in contiguous forest landscapes in the Congo Basin revealed a high dietary niche overlap and an exploitative competition between leopards and bushmeat hunters. With increasing proximity to settlements and concomitant human hunting pressure, leopards exploit smaller prey and occur at considerably reduced population densities. In the presence of intensive bushmeat hunting surrounding human settlements, leopards appear entirely absent.{{cite journal|last1=Henschel|first1=P.|last2=Hunter|first2=L. T. B. |last3=Coad |first3=L. |last4=Abernethy |first4=K. A. |last5=Mühlenberg|first5=M.|title=Leopard prey choice in the Congo Basin rainforest suggests exploitative competition with human bushmeat hunters |journal=Journal of Zoology|year=2011 |volume=285 |pages=11–20 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00826.x |archive-date=2012-03-15 |url=http://www.panthera.org/sites/default/files/Henschel_et_al_2011_Leopard_competition_with_bushmeat_hunters_JZO.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315162624/http://www.panthera.org/sites/default/files/Henschel_et_al_2011_Leopard_competition_with_bushmeat_hunters_JZO.PDF}}

Transhumant pastoralists from the border area between Sudan and the Central African Republic take their livestock to the Chinko area. They are accompanied by armed merchants who engage in poaching large herbivores, sale of bushmeat and trading leopard skins in Am Dafok. Surveys in the area revealed that the leopard population decreased from 97 individuals in 2012 to 50 individuals in 2017. Rangers confiscated large amounts of poison in the camps of livestock herders, who admitted that they use it for poisoning predators.{{cite journal |author1=Äbischer, T. |author2=Ibrahim, T. |author3=Hickisch, R. |author4=Furrer, R. D. |name-list-style=amp |author5=Leuenberger, C. |author6=Wegmann, D. |year=2020 |title=Apex predators decline after an influx of pastoralists in former Central African Republic hunting zones |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=241 |page=108326 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108326 |bibcode=2020BCons.24108326A |s2cid=213766740 |url=https://doc.rero.ch/record/328409/files/weg_apd.pdf}}

The leopard is listed in CITES Appendix I. Hunting is banned in Zambia and Botswana, and was suspended in South Africa for 2016.

Leopard populations are present in several protected areas, including:

• Taï National Park{{cite journal |author=Jenny, D. |year=1996 |title=Spatial organization of leopards Panthera pardus in Taï National Park, Ivory Coast: is rainforest habitat a 'tropical haven'? |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=240 |issue=3 |pages=427–440 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05296.x}}
• Etosha National Park{{cite journal |last1=Linnell |first1=J. D. C. |last2=Aanes |first2=R. |last3=Swenson |first3=J. E.|last4=Odden |first4=J. |last5=Smith |first5=M. E. |title=Translocation of Carnivores as a Method for Managing Problem Animals: A Review |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=6 |issue=1 |year=1997 |pages=1245–1257 |doi=10.1023/B:BIOC.0000034011.05412.cd |bibcode=1997BiCon...6.1245L |s2cid=32511170}}
• Virunga National Park{{cite report |author=Nixon, S. C. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Lusenge, T. |year=2008 |title=Conservation status of okapi in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. ZSL Conservation Report No. 9 |publisher=The Zoological Society of London |location=London |url=https://www.zsl.org/sites/default/files/Nixon%20and%20Lusenge%202008%20-%20Conservation%20status%20of%20okapi%20in%20Virunga%20National%20Park%2C%20DRC.pdf}}
• Kruger National Park{{cite journal |last1=Maputla |first1=N. W. |last2=Chimimba |first2=C. T. |last3=Ferreira |first3=S. M. |title=Calibrating a camera trap-based biased mark-recapture sampling design to survey the leopard population in the N'wanetsi concession, Kruger National Park, South Africa |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=51 |issue=3 |year=2013 |pages=422–430 |doi=10.1111/aje.12047|bibcode=2013AfJEc..51..422M |url=http://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/2263/31024/1/Maputla_Calibrating_2013.pdf |hdl=2263/31024 |hdl-access=free}}

{{Portal|Cats}}

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• Leopard subspecies
• Chinese leopard
• Zanzibar leopard

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{{Reflist}}

{{Commons}}

• [http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=110 Species portrait African leopard; IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group]
• [http://leopards.wild-cat.org/ Leopards .:. wild-cat.org — Information about research and conservation of leopards]
• [http://www.capeleopard.org.za/ The Cape Leopard Trust, South Africa]
• [http://www.safarinow.com/destinations/south-africa/articles/African-Leopard.aspx Safarinow.com: African Leopard » Panthera pardus » 'Luiperd']
• [http://www.sa-venues.com/wildlife/wildlife_leopard.htm South Africa Wildlife: Leopard {Panthera Pardus}]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140114072551/http://www.carltonward.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=18&p=1&a=4&at=0 Image of a leopard from the Central African forests of Gabon] (archived 14 January 2014)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100220015137/http://www.arkive.org/north-african-leopard/panthera-pardus-panthera/videos.html Video of the Barbary Leopard in the wild (broken link)] (archived 20 February 2010)
• [https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2018-05-07-toddler-eaten-by-leopard-in-ugandas-national-park/ Predation on a child] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926064852/https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2018-05-07-toddler-eaten-by-leopard-in-ugandas-national-park/ |date=2020-09-26 }} at Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda

{{Carnivora|Fe.}}

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African leopard

African leopard

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Mammals of Sub-Saharan Africa