Leopards have very good sight and hearing, which they use when they hunt, and San Diego Zoo says leopards can hear five times more sounds than humans, even the ultrasonic squeaks made by mice.
Reflective cells called the tapetum lucidum line a leopard's eye behind the retina, and a leopard's eyes give it increased depth perception, which is important for catching fast-moving prey.
While hunting, a leopard relies on vision, hearing and whiskers rather than its sense of smell, according to San Diego Zoo. A leopard has long whiskers on its upper lip and eyebrows that help it move through dense plants.
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 in sub-Saharan Africa eat more than 90 species of prey, and leopards often hunt mid-sized hoofed animals, and leopards prefer prey that weighs between 10 and 40 kilograms.
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. Leopard rosettes are circular in East Africa and square in South Africa.
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 the species-level assessment was made in 2023. Leopards are threatened by illegal trade and poaching for their skins and other body parts.
A leopard's pregnancy lasts about 96 days, and females usually give birth once every 15 to 24 months, and leopard cubs weigh less than 1 kg at birth, and their eyes stay closed for the first week.
Words to know
- tapetum: eye mirror layer
- retina: eye's back layer
- rosettes: flower-shaped spots
- ultrasonic: beyond hearing
