Leopard

Large wild cat found in Africa and Asia. The background colour of the fur is golden, and the black spots form rosettes that differ according to the mixture; black panthers are simply a colour distinction and retain the patterning as a ‘watered-silk’ effect. The leopard is 1.5–2.5 m/5–8 ft long, including the tail, which may measure 1 m/3 ft. (Species Panthera pardus, family Felidae.)

The snow leopard or ounce (Panthera uncia), which has irregular rosettes of much larger black spots on a light cream or grey background, is a native of mountains in central Asia. The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is rather smaller, about 1.75 m/5.8 ft overall, with large blotchy markings rather than rosettes, and is found in Southeast Asia. There are seven species, of which six are in danger of extinction, including the Amur leopard and the South Arabian leopard. One subspecies, the Zanzibar leopard, may already be extinct. The last Judean desert leopard died May 1995, although a small population survives in the Negev Desert.