A black leopard is usually called black panther or jaguar, & presumably believed to be a different species altogether. However, a black leopard is dark in colour due to ‘melanism’, which is quite commonly found in leopards – it’s a condition, wherein the whole skin of the animal, including its spots, turn black in colour.
Melanism and abundism are supposedly the outcome of genetic mutation, but can occur due to peculiar temperature changes during gestation. Interestingly, black panthers use their melanism to their foraging advantage when they set out for hunting at night.
Dark spots are called rosettes, due to their resemblance with rose
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Leopards have long tails that helps them to balance their movement on trees
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Leopards mate every 15 minutes for up to 5 days that lasts only a couple of seconds.
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They are found in all kinds of forests – rainforests, deciduous forests & also alpine coniferous forests.
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African, North China, Persian, Sri Lankan, Javan, Indian, Amur, Arabian & Indochinese are the different species recorded.
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