To get their food, leopards typically follow a specific pattern:
1. Searching: Leopards have excellent eyesight and hearing, which helps them detect potential prey. They actively search their territory for any signs of prey animals.
2. Stalking: Once they locate a potential prey, leopards use their agility and stealth to stalk the animal. They usually approach the prey slowly and cautiously, hiding behind trees, bushes, or other natural cover to avoid detection.
3. Ambush and Attack: When they are close enough, leopards launch a sudden ambush on their prey. They use their speed, agility, and sharp claws to tackle the animal and bring it to the ground. Leopards are powerful enough to kill prey much larger than themselves.
4. Killing: Leopards usually bite the neck or throat of the prey to kill it. They also often use their sharp teeth to pierce the spinal cord of smaller animals, causing paralysis and facilitating a quick death.
5. Dragging and Storing Prey: After the prey is killed, leopards typically drag the carcass to a safe location, often a tree, to avoid competition from other predators or scavengers. They may store their food in the trees or in concealed areas to return and feed later.
Leopards have a varied diet and prey on a wide range of animals, including antelopes, gazelles, wildebeest, zebras, buffalo calves, warthogs, and smaller prey such as monkeys, birds, and rodents. They adapt their hunting techniques based on the availability of prey and their surrounding environment. Black panthers are melanistic variants of leopards and do not differ in their hunting behaviors from other leopards.