Truly Monstrous: The Leopard

Copyright 2020 by Gary L. Pullman

According to The Complete Book of Southern African Mammals (178-180), in hunting, the leopard relies mostly upon two of its senses: hearing and sight, both of which are keen.

The leopard has a number of natural “enemies and competitors,” including the tiger, the lion, the cheetah, the spotted hyena, the striped hyena, the brown hyena, the African wild dog, the dhole, the Nile crocodile, the Burmese python, and several species of bear. However, it remains an apex predator in its habitats in Sri Lanka, Central Asian and Middle Eastern “preserves,” and African rainforests.

The leopard has, on occasion, eaten people. In hunting, it employs hiding, stalking, and ambushing, which is aided by its camouflaged fur pattern, and, according to big game hunter Jim Corbett, has been known to terrify a herd of elephants into stampeding, despite the pachyderms' indifference to the presence of the larger tiger (The Temple Tiger and More Man-Eaters of Kumaon). It is possible, also, that the leopard is a predator to the gorilla: “Gorilla remains have been found in leopard scat, but this may be the result of scavenging.”

The male tiger is a lone wolf, so to speak, rather than a pack or herd animal, associating only with the opposite sex during mating season. Its solitary nature benefits it by reducing the leopard's need to feed an entire group, but weakens its survivability by preventing both the safety that comes with numbers and the multiple  defenses that a group provides. The female tiger, on the other hand, maintains a relationship with her cubs even after they have been weaned. Adept at climbing trees, the leopard can run at a rate of fifty-eight miles per hour and will distance itself from a threat by up to forty-five miles.

Like the other predators we've considered in earlier posts, the tiger's abilities make it an apex predator in various habitats:

• Acute hearing and vision
• Great speed and agility
• Climbing skill
• Ambush and stalking skills
• Camouflage
• Independence
• Avoidance of threats

 Its own predators have superior physical size and strength or numerical superiority.