A leopard's coat is covered in spots called rosettes, and researchers can identify each leopard in camera-trap photos by its unique spot pattern. Over three years of camera trapping on Ongava Game Reserve, Namibia, researchers identified a total of 29 individual leopards. Researchers combined data from GPS collars and camera traps to estimate the number of leopards on Ongava Game Reserve. Leopard density can range from one individual per 100 square kilometers to over 30 individuals per 100 square kilometers.

The same study on Ongava Game Reserve, Namibia, used GPS data to estimate home ranges of 193 square kilometers for the male and 122 square kilometers for the female. In the Animal Diversity Web account, male leopards have a core range of about 12 square kilometers and a home range of about 35 square kilometers. A male leopard's home range is larger than a female's and can overlap the ranges of several females, and a leopard marks the borders of its home range. Leopards mostly live alone.

A study in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa, used data on 2032 prey items from 104 leopards between 2013 and 2015. A Panthera study in South Africa's Sabi Sands Game Reserve found that leopards hoisted just over 50 percent of their prey into trees. Leopards tended to hoist prey that weighed between 40 percent and 140 percent of their body mass. A leopard carries its food up into trees to keep it safe from other animals that would take it.

A leopard climbs as a series of bounds, with its forelimbs and hind limbs acting together. A leopard's powerful forequarters and enlarged scapula (shoulder blade) are anatomical adaptations that assist in gaining lift when it climbs. A leopard's claws are sharp and curved, and they help it grasp prey and climb trees. Leopards can leap 20 feet forward in a single bound and jump ten feet straight up, and pound for pound the leopard is the strongest climber of all the big cats.

A University of Bristol study investigated the flank markings of 35 species of wild cats. In that study, cats living in dense habitats, in the trees, and active at low light levels were the most likely to be patterned. Leopards are nocturnal, which means they are most active at night. Some leopards are black, with spots that are hard to see, and in Peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand, black coloring is a fixed trait and nearly all leopards are black.

As of November 2026, leopards have the widest range of any big cat, and the IUCN Red List lists the leopard as Vulnerable. As of November 2026, Panthera says leopards have been erased from at least two-thirds of their historical habitat in Africa and have lost 84 percent of their former range in Eurasia. As of November 2026, the IUCN Cat Specialist Group records an 11 percent reduction in extant leopard range from 2016 to 2023, and says that in North Africa the leopard is on the verge of extinction. The IUCN reclassified the West African leopard from Vulnerable to Endangered on October 9, 2025.

A leopard's life begins small. A baby leopard grows inside its mother for about three months before it is born, and a leopard's pregnancy lasts about 96 days. Females usually give birth once every 15 to 24 months. Leopard cubs weigh less than 1 kg at birth, and their eyes stay closed for the first week. Leopards in the wild live about 10 to 12 years.

Words to know

• rosettes: flower-shaped spots
• density: animals per area
• scapula: shoulder blade
• hoisted: lifted up
• nocturnal: active at night