Leopards are excellent climbers, and leopards are the largest cats that climb trees regularly. Pound for pound, the leopard is the strongest climber of all the big cats.

A leopard can climb as high as 50 feet (15 meters) up a favorite tree, and a leopard's long tail helps it balance when it climbs. A leopard can climb down a tree head first.

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.

A leopard carries its food up into trees, and as of November 2026, Panthera says leopards are the only wild cats known to drag their meals into trees. A leopard can carry food that weighs more than its own body up a tree, and it takes the food up to keep it safe from other animals that would take it. Leopards also rest in trees.

Leopards eat many kinds of animals, and they often hunt mid-sized hoofed animals.

Leopards have very good sight and hearing, which they use when they hunt. San Diego Zoo says leopards can hear five times more sounds than humans, even the ultrasonic squeaks made by mice.

A leopard's coat is covered in spots called rosettes, and a rosette is a spot shaped like a flower. The spots help a leopard hide in grass and trees.

Leopards live in Africa and Asia, and they can live in many kinds of places, from deserts to jungles to mountains. Leopards used to roam all across Africa, except for the driest deserts, and as of November 2026, leopards have the widest range of any big cat.

As of November 2026, the IUCN Red List lists the leopard as Vulnerable, and leopards are threatened by illegal trade and poaching for their skins and other body parts.

A baby leopard grows inside its mother for about three months before it is born, and leopard cubs weigh less than 1 kg at birth, and their eyes stay closed for the first week.

Words to know

• claws: sharp curved nails
• rosettes: flower-shaped spots
• ultrasonic: beyond hearing
• hoofed: having hard feet