Leopard is a fairly large predator that belongs to the cat family. Our article will tell you about how these animals breed, raise babies, teach them the intricacies of hunting. Newborn babies are completely helpless, but soon they acquire not only a characteristic color, but also all the necessary skills to become one of the most serious predators on the planet.
Birth of a leopard
An elephant has baby elephants, a cow has calves, but do you know the name of a leopard cub? Dictionaries may explain that there is no special word, babies are usually called just kittens.
Adult leopard weighs an average of 50 kg (there are also larger individuals weighing about 100 kg). A newborn kitten is born with a weight of about 400 grams. Babies are blind, defenseless, unable to walk and chew.
These animals do not have a specific mating season (only the Amur subspecies breeds in winter). kittens canappear at any time of the year. The female's pregnancy lasts 3 months, usually resulting in one or two leopard cubs, but there are also triplets.
Little Predators
Leopards have a number of distinctive features. Spots at birth are more like shapeless specks, only after a few weeks rosettes with red centers and dark edges form. Some leopards have high levels of melatonin, which causes the dark spots on their skin to be so numerous that the animals appear black. Such leopards are called panthers (yes, this is not a separate species, but only a color feature). As a rule, the trait is inherited, black leopard cubs are born with a much darker fur coat than most relatives.
Pay attention to the pupils of the leopard - they are round, not vertical, like a domestic cat. In the photo, leopard cubs look like cute plush toys. But the appearance of these animals is deceiving. Mother quickly teaches them all the skills necessary for a wild beast. Kittens older than three weeks old can already fend for themselves.
Behavior in nature
A mother understands that sooner or later the children will grow up and leave her, which means that they must be able to take care of themselves. To this end, she brings wounded game to the den, allowing the kits to learn how to win. Over time, training becomes more difficult, the kids begin to accompany their mother on the hunt, track down prey with her, follow the hunt, and latertry your hand at attacking and chasing.
Another essential skill is tree climbing. Leopards do it just fine, better than most other animals. If there is still some food left after hunting and eating, the beast usually drags it up a tree so that it does not get to jackals and wolves. By the way, the leopard himself is not averse to taking prey from someone who is weaker, for example, from a cheetah.
Leopard cubs in captivity
The leopard has practically no natural enemies, but human activity causes significant damage to populations. In the old days, a significant number of these animals were exterminated because of their beautiful skins. Today, many animals are also dying due to deforestation and development of territories where they once lived, as well as due to a decrease in the number of herbivores that can be hunted.
Some species are on the brink of extinction. But strict control of hunting is clearly not enough, therefore, in order to preserve populations and restore their numbers, people breed leopards in nurseries and zoos.
In captivity, the female usually gives birth to one kitten, which, if necessary, is supplemented by veterinarians. Specialists monitor the he alth of females and babies, study the behavior of animals. Of course, it's too early to talk about a complete victory, but there are still some successes in preserving the species.
