Africa Kenya Animal Vacation: Leopard Animal Vacation Tour in Kenya – A Prize safari sight & photo

To define a specific habitat for the leopard is impossible. It’s in fact the animal most adaptable to any kind of geographical configuration. It is at home in the forest as in the wood, in the open savannah, in the semi-desert, on the mountains or near the villages.

African Leopard animal: The perfect athlete

If cheetah is the number one runner, the leopard may boast of being the perfect athlete. Running, jumping, tree climbing; it excels in all of them. And its beauty and grace is matched by its cunning, daring and strength.

As for strength it is definitely a champion; it can easily bring down a prey three having three times its weight. Panthera pardus, is its scientific name; of the same family as the lions, of the same size and weight as the cheetah, maybe a bit shorter. Gestation period; 3months, cubs from 2 to 6 at a time. Longevity; 20 years. It has the looks and bearing of an aristocrat, but it is a scoundrel in yellow gloves. It carries out its robberies in silence, alone.

Black Panther; the African leopard distant cousin

Sometimes it puts on a black dress for the benefit of the public and makes itself known as a panther. It has managed to cheat us so well that we believed it was another animal with that pompous Greek name. But it is the same animal with the usual spots, being born, by a freak of nature, almost black; and if you look closely at its fur the spots are still visible.

Eater of Dogs and Monkeys: What a diet?

The leopard loves dogs very much, so much in fact that it would eat all of them. That is what happens near villages. The dogs, at least the big ones, are faster, but have less patience than the leopard, which snatches them one by one during the night a few minutes after they have started dozing, convinced that the danger is past.

In the forest, its tastiest meal is a monkey; the monkey may easily rival its agility but during the night it does not see very far, while the leopard can see just as in daytime and prefers the night attack, especially against large baboons, whose razor sharp canine teeth may give the struggle an unfavourable turn.

Leopard; the Killing machine on the loose

The leopard is much hated by African shepherd as it has the bad habit of entering the sheepfold and, not satisfied with one victim, lets the killer instinct get hold of it. Apart from these flaws, it usually shows a sense of economy and foresight. It considers the possibility of bad luck the next day and hides the partly eaten carrion high up in the fork of a tree, far away from hyenas and jackals, to have something for the following days.

When hunted down, it becomes a destructive machine. The most dangerous killer among the felines.

See me if you can: Elusive African leopard

Unfortunately, the leopard is the most elusive of all cats preferring to stay put high up in the trees during the day. In the National parks, it occupies river gorges and ravines that are lined with tall trees. This is your best bet at finding one in the national parks. In other areas like the Tsavo West and Masai Mara national parks, it will also be found on escarpments, kopjes and wooded stony bluffs.

It always likes the cover provided by the trees in most places. The challenge is in spotting it as it will be motionless during the day. Chances are you will most likely drive or walk right below it during the day in your next safari as it dozes off the heat atop a very tall tree branch.

Robert is a travel expert with Landmarksafaris.com. He has authored more than 1000 articles on Africa Kenya animal vacation travel. Learn more of your experience in the best of all Kenya animal vacation safaris here