Young Leopard
The hunting-learning process for young leopards is not always easy and smooth. The desperate prey often fights back violently. Larger prey, such as wild pigs or baboons, may prove too much for a young leopard to handle. If the mother is absent or cannot come to the rescue on time, the young leopards may get injured or even killed. In general, leopards try not to get involved in a fight with larger and stronger predators such as lions and hyenas. They even have to discard their kill after a long and tough battle with their prey if lions and hyenas come to rob their meal. Disease and fever are also among main causes of death of leopard cubs. In each litter, fewer than 50 per cent of the leopard cubs can survive up to a year.
By the time they reach the age of one, young leopards gradually achieve greater and greater independence. They are allowed to hunt and kill alone. Around 18 months old, they start to leave their mother and live on their own. Young female leopards often extend the mother-daughter relationship by taking over part of their mother’s home range or settling near it. Young male leopards usually travel farther away from where they were born and find and settle on their own territories or home ranges. Most of young leopards become fully independent by the age of two when their mother is ready to give birth to a new litter.
For some unknown reasons, young black leopards, if there are any, usually become independent earlier than the spotted ones in the same litter. They must be stronger than their littermates to survive.
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