All leopards are classified in the Panthera pardus species, however these arboreal predators can be divided into several subspecies.
The leopard is the smallest of the big cats, known for its beautiful painted pattern. Leopards live in Asia and Africa, although numbers have declined since the early 20th century due to habitat encroachment. While there is technically only one species of leopard, called Panthera pardus, there are many different subspecies of leopard, each with their own fascinating habits, behavior, and home.
Leopards can be found throughout Asia.
The African leopard species is one of the most variable, inhabiting arid deserts, vast savannas, and even mountains. Common throughout central Africa, this species of leopard has the unique ability to drag carcasses many times the size of the leopard into the trees. An opportunistic hunter, the African leopard eats just about anything, from insects and birds to giant wildebeest and cattle.
African leopards live in arid desert environments.
Unable to match the success of its African cousins, the Amur leopard is a critically endangered species of leopard endemic to North Asia. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), there may be fewer than 30 Amur leopards in the wild at the beginning of the 21st century. Habitat loss and fur poaching appear to be the main threats to this declining population. However, there may be hope for the Amur species; a coalition of organizations called the Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance maintains a major conservation effort to restore leopard numbers through breeding programs and habitat protection.
In Asia and Africa, several leopard species are subject to a color anomaly that creates completely black fur. Called black panthers or black leopards, these animals show a slight rosette pattern when examined closely, clearly identifying them as leopards. Black leopards have been a favorite animal in exotic zoos for more than a century, although the animals do not do well in captivity and are subject to depression and attacks. Due to the inbreeding of captive black leopards, temperament problems appear to have become inbred in many captive animals.
In 2007, scientists were shocked to discover an entirely new species of leopard on the island of Borneo. Originally thought to be identical to its mainland Asian cousins, the Borneo clouded leopard was found to have diverged genetically more than a million years earlier, creating a distinct species. One of the island’s top predators, the Borneo leopard is known for its extremely long fangs, which are proportionally larger than any other big cat in existence.
Perhaps the best known and most mysterious of the leopard species is the ghostly snow leopard, native to the mountainous regions of Asia. There has been a great deal of taxonomic confusion about this species, with some genetic evidence linking it more closely to tigers than leopards. This incredible animal is known for its jumping ability, capable of leaping more than 50 feet (15.24 meters). Due to extensive poaching, the snow leopard has almost become extinct, although various conservation unions have done their best to save the creature in the wild.