Panther

 

True Wild Life | Panther | The term panther tends to be a general name that could refer to a few species of cat including the leopard, the cougar and the jaguar. The black panther is generally thought to refer to the black leopard, although it can also refer to the black jaguar. There have occasionally been reports of black cougars, but none have been documented with photos or a specimen. The panther tends to be black in colour and is otherwise identical to the feline species to which it belongs. The only real exception to this is the Florida panther found in the south east region of the USA, that is believed to be a subspecies of cougar and is quite rarely dark brown in colour. The Florida panther tends to have more of a speckled appearance.

The term "white panther" could refer to the leucistic or albino specimen of any of the three species mentioned. White jaguars have been documented, as has the occasional white leopard. There is a photo of a mostly white cougar killed by a hunter, and there are currently reported sightings of another. As with many other species of large cat, the numbers of both the normal spotted and the black panthers are declining rapidly due to hunting and habitat loss.

The cougar and the jaguar are found in the Americas. The leopard is found in Africa and Asia and tends to prefer dense, thick foliage and tropical forests. All three species are adept tree climbers. In addition, the jaguar is an enthusiastic swimmer that will even tackle crocodiles. As with other species of large feline, panthers are carnivores and tend to hunt more at night than during the day. The panther rests in the shade during the day and will head out at night to search for food. Being black can be an advantage here as they are well camoflaged in the dark.

Female panthers follow the same breeding pattern as more normally colored members of their species. In leopards the gene causing blackness is a simple recessive. Two spotted parents can have a black cub crop up in a litter if they are both carriers. In the jaguar, the gene causing melanism (blackness) is a simple dominant. Two black jaguars can produce a spotted cub. There is a black jaguar x lioness hybrid that inherited her sire's black coloration. In cougars a truly black specimen has never been documented. Its mode of inheritance is currently unknown.

Leopard

True Wild Life | Leopard | The leopard is the smallest of the four big cats, with the leopard weighing just 90kg. The leopard is incredible at climbing trees, where the leopard can see any incoming prey or danger. The leopard mainly inhabits sub-Saharan Africa, where the leopard is most predominant. There are now small populations of the leopard in the jungles of south east Asia.

The leopard most closely resembles a jaguar (the biggest cat on the American continent) although the leopard is slightly smaller. The leopard is most well known for their characteristic spots. Black leopards occur often in the same litter as spotted leopards. It is a simple recessive gene that makes a leopard black (also called black panther). They do actually have spots. The spots look shiny against the duller black background.

Due to the ride range of the leopard, there are thought to be around 30 different subspecies of leopard in the world. Most subspecies are considered to be endangered or critically endangered with some subspecies of leopard, such as the rare Amur leopard, being on the verge of extinction. A female leopard has been known to give birth at any time of the year, when the leopard generally has two fuzzy grey coloured cubs with spots that are barely visible. The mother leopard hides her cubs and tends to move her leopard cubs from one safe location to the next until the leopard cubs are old enough to begin playing and learn to hunt.

Leopard cubs generally live with their mothers for about two years until the leopard cubs are old and experienced enough to fend for themselves. Leopards tend to lead a very solitary life from this age into adulthood.

The leopard is fantastic tree climber and most leopards spent a great deal of time hunting, feeding and resting in the branches high above the ground. Being in a tree also acts as extra protection for the leopard from other large, carnivorous mammals such as the hyena. The leopard is also a fantastic swimmer and are often found hunting fish in rivers and lakes within the leopards territory. The leopard can crossbreed with the lion in captivity. The resulting hybrid is called a leopon. Several litters of leopons have been produced at a zoo in Japan, and their mounted remains grace several museums. They have the size and body type of lions with a leopard rosetting pattern in brown. The males did grow manes that varied from a thick \"bib\" under the chin to a fully developed mane. Leopards can also crossbreed with jaguars in captivity producing Lepjags. The hybrid was created to produce a TV and movie cat that looks like a jaguar but is mellower and easier to handle. One is living in retirement at a big cat sanctuary. Overall his conformation looks like a jaguar, but he has the rosetting pattern of a leopard.

Clouded Leopard

True Wild Life | Clouded Leopard | The clouded leopard is a medium-sized feline native to the thick, tropical jungles of south-east Asia. The clouded leopard has very distinctive markings on it's fur that look more like large patches compared to the spots of the African leopard. The markings of the clouded leopard are said to look like clouds, hence it's name. The clouded leopard has many distinctive features along with it's beautiful markings. The clouded leopard is known to have the longest canine teeth of all the smaller sized felines and the teeth of the clouded leopard are the same length as the teeth of the tiger at around 2 inches long.

The clouded leopard also has a remarkably long tail for it's size, as the tail of the clouded leopard can be the same length as the body of the clouded leopard. The clouded leopard uses it's long tail to help it balance when moving in the trees and running at fast speeds on the ground. Clouded leopards inhabit the dense jungles in south-east Asia and so are naturally quite adept at climbing. Clouded leopards can often be seen resting in the trees where they remain out of the way from potential predators and also have a look out point from where the clouded leopard is able to spot oncoming prey.

There are two main species of clouded leopard, one that is found inhabiting the forests of China, Myanmar (Burma) and Nepal (it was also once found in Taiwan but is now extinct there). The other species of clouded leopard known as the Bornean clouded leopard, is found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra along with a few smaller islands in the Indonesian archipelago. As with other species of large, wild cat, the clouded leopard is a carnivorous animal, surviving on a purely meat based diet. Clouded leopards hunt monkeys, birds, goats, cattle, buffalo, pigs and deer in the jungle and often venture in the cultivated farmland areas if food in the jungle is scarce.

Due to the speed and size of the clouded leopard, the clouded leopard has very few natural predators in it's environment. The main predators of the clouded leopard are the tiger and the leopard, to which the clouded leopard is not closely related (despite it's name). Humans are the main predators of the clouded leopard as they hunt them fur their fur and also destroy the forest habitat in which the clouded leopard lives. Clouded leopards are very reclusive animals and are therefore rarely seen by adventures in the wild. The clouded leopard will remain out of sight to prevent itself from being seen and hunted. Clouded leopards are very solitary animals and only come together to mate.

After a gestation period of roughly 3 months, the female clouded leopard gives birth to between 3 and 5 clouded leopard babies, known as cubs or kittens. When the clouded leopard cubs are first born they are blind and one colour as their spots are joined together. The clouded leopard cubs can usually see within the first 2 weeks and develop their spots when they are older. The clouded leopard cubs are able to move around and start hunting with the mother clouded leopard when they are about 6 weeks old and usually become independent when they are 10 months of age.

Today, the clouded leopard is a species that is said to be vulnerable to extinction, due to hunting but more likely severe habitat loss. The forests in which the clouded leopard lives are being destroyed for both logging and also to make way for palm oil plantations. The clouded population numbers are severely declining and clouded leopards have been completely wiped out in some places and are therefore extinct in these regions.

Ocelot

 

True Wild Life | Ocelot | Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) are small, but still larger than average house cat. The ocelot, or the painted leopard as it is sometimes known, is a medium sized wildcat, native to the jungles of South America. The ocelot is found as far north as Texas in the United States and there are also large populations of the ocelot in both Mexico and the Caribbean islands. The ocelot tends to be about 1 meter in length with a tail, half the size of the body of the ocelot on top of that. The ocelot has enormous similarities in appearance to domestic cat, with the most noticeable of these similarities being the small sized head of the ocelot. The fur of the ocelot has very similar markings to the fur of a leopard or a jaguar meaning that the ocelot was hunted vigorously for many years.

The ocelot populations were once so low due to excessive hunting by humans for the beautiful fur of the ocelot, that the ocelot was considered to be a threatened species and was on the verge of being endangered. Today, ocelot populations have been allowed to grow again meaning that the ocelot is now one of the lucky animals considered to be of least concern as far as species extinction goes. Like most other feline species, the ocelot is a generally solitary animal, and will only really tend to come into voluntary contact with another ocelot, when it is time to mate. The ocelot is nocturnal animal and spends its days sleeping in the tree tops. These prime sleeping spots will occasionally be shared by more than one ocelot of the same sex. The ocelot is a highly territorial and somewhat aggressive feline, with ocelots having been commonly known to fight each other to the death if no-one backs down. Typically the average ocelot will hunt in an area that is around 18 square kilometers. Almost all of the prey that the ocelot hunts is much smaller than the ocelot itself. The ocelot is believed to find prey using its keen sense of smell by sniffing out odor trails marked by smaller animals, and the ocelot is also thought to spot potential meals using its acute night vision.

 The ocelot hunts a variety of small animals, from small deer and rodents to reptiles and amphibians. The ocelot is thought to occasionally take to the trees when hunting in order to catch birds and the ocelot is also a big fan of water based dinners such as fish and crabs. After mating, a female ocelot will find a crevice in the rocks, a hollow tree or will nest in a dense and thorny thicket in order for the female ocelot to have some privacy and protection whilst she is preparing to give birth. The gestation period for a female ocelot is thought to be just over three months, after which time the female ocelot will give birth to 2 or 3 ocelot kittens. The tiny ocelot kittens are born blind, in a similar way to many other species of feline kittens, and the ocelot kittens also have a thin coat of fur. Within a month, the ocelot kittens can view their surroundings and their fur will have become much denser and more colourful.

In a similar way to many other species of smaller wildcat, the ocelot has been kept as a pet by many people throughout history. The most famous of these was the abstract artist Salvador Dali who was known to travel frequently with his pet ocelot, and it even thought that Mr Dali even took his pet ocelot on an ocean liner! The ocelot is also thought to have been worshiped by ancient Peruvian cultures (in a similar way to the Ancient Egyptians worshiping cats), and these cultures would often involve the beautiful ocelot in their art work.