Found throughout most of Africa and Asia, the leopard inhabits a variety of regions, such as tropical forests, brush and scrublands, rocky hillsides or the high, cold slopes of the Himalayas. Powerful and agile, the leopard is a deadly and efficient hunter. It stalks its prey, creeps to within a few metres, then leaps or dashes at the victim, which is dispatched by a bite in the neck or smothered by a throat bite. In eastern Africa, the carcass is frequently brought up into a tree to protect it from scavengers. Their most common prey are hoofed animals, but they will eat dogs and monkeys as well. The well-known “black panther,” once thought to be a different species, is actually just a dark leopard.

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