Leopards are a group of animals that are classified in the Felidae family and the Pantherinae subfamily, which they share, among others, with lions, tigers and jaguars. The species has been identified as Panthera pardus, which in turn has eight subspecies, some under revision, according to taxonomic studies.
Leopards are quite agile animals, with an excellent ability to climb and jump, and large predators, even in some habitats they are the ones who lead the food webs. So in this article on our site we'll explain what leopards eat, so keep reading.
What do baby leopards eat?
Leopards when they are born are totally dependent on their mothers, since they are born blind and open their eyes after at least a week. As for what baby leopards eat, as they are mammals, they feed exclusively on mother's milk, which remains until 6 or 8 weeks of life.
After around 2 months, baby leopards eat solid foods that their mother She provides them with, although she limits the amounts she offers them of the prey she catches. During this time, they can alternate breast milk with the prey that the mother offers, however, at 3 months they are already fully weaned.
Female leopards tend to shelter their cubs in caves, logs, dense bushes and, ultimately, places where they are protected, and can leave them alone for up to 36 hours while looking for food to hunt. During this time, the little leopards are alone without feeding. When the mother returns, she usually moves them to another shelter to avoid possible predators
Adult leopard feeding
Leopards are carnivorous animals, so their diet is mainly based on the consumption of other animals they hunt. Their diet is very varied depending on the species present in the habitat where they develop.
Normally, males hunt larger individuals than females, and this is related to the sexual dimorphism that exists in the species because the former are larger than the latter.
In general, leopards eat gazelles, deer, pigs, monkeys, rodents, birds, reptiles, arthropods, domestic animals and even other felines; They also get to eat carrion. They obtain their hydration mainly from the fluids of their victims, but they drink water every three days, approximately, and to a lesser extent they eat some plants that usually have reserves of this liquid.
As we have mentioned, there are several subspecies of leopards, which live in different habitats and, therefore, can eat different animals. Let's get to know some particular foods of certain types of leopard.
Feeding of the African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus)
As its name suggests, the African leopard is native to Africa, so its diet is based on multiple animals that live on this continent:
- Antelopes
- Hares
- Hyrax (small mammals)
- Boars
- Jackals
- Ñus
- Guinea fowl
- Macacos
- Gorillas
- Porcupines
Feeding of the Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya)
Originally from Sri Lanka, this leopard usually eats:
- Deer
- Porcupines
- Hares
- Domestic animals
Java leopard feeding (Panthera pardus melas)
Native to Indonesia, specifically Java, this leopard usually hunts the following animals:
- Deer
- Boars
- Water buffalo
- Long-tailed Macaques
- Slow Loris
- Domestic animals
Indochin leopard feedinga (Panthera pardus delacouri)
The Indochinese leopard, also known as the Delacour leopard, inhabits Southeast Asia. His diet is based on:
- Banteng
- Northern Red Muntjac
- Primates
- Various ungulates
Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) feeding
We end with the example of the Amur leopard, which lives in northwestern China, Korea and the Russian Far East and feeds on:
- Siberian roe deer
- Deer
- Boars
- Amur Moose
- Hares
- Asian badgers
- Asian black bears
- Mice
- Birds
- Asian badgers
How do leopards eat?
Now that we know what leopards eat, how do they hunt? Leopards are animals that hunt by ambush When they see their prey, they crouch as close to the ground as possible and approach the victim, generally camouflaged by the habitat vegetation. Once they're within a few meters, they swoop in and take her by surprise.
Depending on the size of the prey, leopards use a different technique. In the case of the smaller ones, it kills them all at once by biting them on the neck, on the other hand, when they are larger they usually bite the animal on the neck to break the spine, which generates paralysis, and then suffocates them by maintaining the pressure of the bite on the same neck. Also in some cases they hide in a tree, from which they launch themselves to capture the prey.
Leopards don't usually chase, but jump on the animal and are very agile when making the capture. They have excellent senses of sight and smell and use them to locate potential food. Although they may hunt during the day, in some habitats it is more common for them to do so at night
On the other hand, due to their powerful jaws and strength, once they have hunted they move the animal elsewhere. A curious fact is that, normally, they usually lead their prey to a tree, so in many cases the ability they have to climb dragging the prey is surprising.
How much do leopards eat?
Leopards have important nutritional requirements, so they are active hunters. They are storers, so that once they are satisfied they use shelters to store leftover food and consume them later. Even if they have sheltered food, they can still hunt and store the food.
Medium-sized prey are the most palatable, so they generally prefer to catch prey between 10 and 40 kg. However, this is not limiting, since they are very strong and can capture animals much larger than them.
An adult leopard usually hunts every two or three days and requires at least a few 3- 4 kilos of meat daily to stay well fed. So, the prey it usually hunts provides these requirements.
On the other hand, in certain cases they become opportunistic and adapt to the availability of food. Thus, if one prey is scarce or missing, they switch to another with more availability, which is why we previously saw that when talking about what leopards eat, the range of prey is very wide.
Do you want to continue learning? Don't miss this other article: "Differences between jaguar, leopard and cheetah".
