Leopards are found in a wide variety of habitats throughout Africa including forests, deserts, mountains and plains. Beyond Africa the leopard is found in the Middle East and Asia.

Leopards are both solitary and territorial. Male leopards' home ranges may overlap with the territories of several females, yet they will avoid one other. The only exception in which male and female leopards 'hang out' is when females are in estrus. During estrus, a male will spend up to a week with a female.

Serious fights may occur when individuals come into contact with one another. A single leopard will seldom stay in one place in the home range for long periods, and they move frequently.

Baboons are an important part of a leopard's diet in many parts of Africa. Leopards also regularly scavenge; this fact makes them easy prey for trophy hunters.

The traditional method of hunting leopard is to put out a bait (usually hanging from a tree) to attract an animal to a designated place.

Leopards will often pull a kill into a tree to keep it away from lions and hyenas. They will feed off a kill for a number of days. Leopards will also eat rotting carrion.

Lions are revered for their mating behaviour but leopards exceed them in both noise and physical prowess. With mating leopards there is much growling, spitting and clawing.

Between one and three cubs will be born to a single female after a three month gestation period. The cubs are then hidden for about two months; the hiding place is frequently changed during this time to protect the cubs from predators such as hyenas. Baboons will also kill a leopard cub if they come across it.

Secrets and spots

The leopard is considered the most secretive of the large cats of Africa and yet it is the most common and widespread of all. Powerfully built and a strong climber the leopard is capable of killing prey larger than itself and dragging it high up into the safety of trees.

One of the characteristic images of Africa is the leopard splayed on a branch of a tree. Although they do spend time in trees, leopards generally spend most their time under cover on the ground or in rocky areas.

Leopards are generally nocturnal across their home range, although it is not uncommon to observe them hunting and moving during the day.

The monkey-hunting leopard

A female leopard at Mombo in the Okavango Delta specialized in hunting monkeys. The enterprising female would chase monkeys up trees and then climb up the tree after them.

A few monkeys (or at the very least one) would eventually lose their nerve and jump out of the tree onto the ground. The female leopard would then take up the chase on the ground. It was fascinating watching the whole drama play out; a production which saw screaming, panic-stricken monkeys unravel under the silent determination of a single leopard.

The story of a leopard cub

Birth of a star (2003)

The female was pregnant again. This was her fifth pregnancy and she had lost all her previous young at an early age, so there was a concern for her new cub.

We first saw the cub at about eight weeks. It was hidden in a log in an open stretch of ground. A brief glimpse was all we got until the mother came back and lay down at the log. After a few moments the little one showed herself to us.

From that moment on the sightings were limited to the times when the guests on game drive were not around. These times were in the heat of the day (when Legadimo would often be hidden), after a dramatic sighting in some other corner of Mombo Island had taken the guests away.

From the start she was a star (even being filmed by National Geographic) and she acted accordingly. We watched as she developed from a cute bundle of spots into a lively trainee and finally into adulthood.

There were moments of concern when Legadimo was young, such as one evening when hyenas were moving toward her hiding place and other occasions when baboons were feeding twenty yards from her. It is a known fact that baboons and hyenas would have killed the cub without hesitation.

Legadimo the hunter

Legadimo soon became so accustomed to vehicles that she would wander up to them and peer up at the people staring down at her. Her mother was a supreme monkey hunter. She would tree a troop of monkeys and then start climbing up the tree herself. The monkeys would end up in the uppermost branches before losing their nerve and heading for the ground where the leopard would catch them.

Legadimo was often observed climbing into trees as if on a definite mission and we once observed her climbing into a tree in an attempt to get at a francolin. The bird flew off before she got close. Slightly bemused she stayed in the tree for a long time searching for the bird.

Later, Legadimo became so comfortable around the lodge that she was once observed walking on the bar counter.

Fading star (2004)

Legadimo's mother has given birth to two more cubs and pushed Legadimo away from the territory. She is now observed moving around a distance from camp, away from her mother's home range. After the stardom of her youth she became just another leopard surviving in the wilderness.