the Leopard
panthera pardus
COOL FACTS
There are over 30 sub-species of the leopard that are alive
today!
Leopards can be easily poisoned due to the fact that they eat
carrion.
The biggest threats to the leopard species are poaching and
starvation.
There are both melanistic and pseudo-melanistic leopard species,
the melanistic being completely black and the pseudo-melanistic
are black but still have spots that are visible, (See picture
below)
The snow leopard was once thought to be a close relative to the
leopard (Panthera pardus). But studies have shown that
it is actually a member of a different genus (Uncia).
The leopard and
jaguar have very similar coat patterns and are often
confused. The leopard also has a similar coat pattern to the
cheetah.
Although leopards are often subject to poaching and are
considered an endangered species, there are many
organizations
that raise money and work to protect the species.
