Leopard Climbing
Leopards are the best tree climbers in the big cat family. They spend a lot of time in the trees relaxing, looking around, playing, and even eating and sleeping. Trees keep leopards safe from their enemies, including lions, tigers, hyenas, and wild dogs.
A leopard cub starts to learn tree-climbing skills as early as three to four months old to avoid attacks from enemies. After making a kill, the leopard may eat at the site, drag the remains of the prey by the neck in its mouth, and pull it high up into a tree. The carcass is hung over the tree branches so the food will not be stolen by other animals. The leopard will eat the remains of the prey in the next few days. It is amazing that the leopard can drag a prey, which could weigh two to three times its own weight, high up in a tree.
Sometimes, a leopard hunts its prey from a tree by hiding in the tree branches and wait. When a prey passes by, the leopard drops on top of it. The leopard may hunt monkeys and baboons in trees. The long tail helps the leopard balance on the tree branches. The sharp claws make it easy for the leopard to climb trees.
© Copyright 2009, all rights reserved. Leopard
