Panther Pictures, Information and Facts
See also Cougar
The Panther is a rare, strong and smart animal. It is possibly one of the most aggressive and most feared animals in the world.
Panthers are evasive predators. People rarely see them in the wild. The panther has been called 'the ghost of the forest' because of how stealthy it is.
The Panther is sometimes called the Black Panther. It may be more accurate to say
it is a Black Leopard. In fact the Black Panther actually has spots, they are simply
hard to see because their fur is so dark. The dark coat gives the panther the ability
to hide in the shadows of jungles and forests.
Panthers are found in Africa and Southern Asia.
Like many of the big cats found on this site, the Panther has an average life span of 12 years in the wild. However
they can up to 20 years in captivity.
A Yellow Leopard mother can have both yellow and black cubs in a litter. As cubs, the panther will follow its mother around the hunting fields. It will learn to hunt in just 2-3months after being born. By the time they reach 7 – 9 months old they
can catch medium sized prey. Hunting so early in life does take its toll. Just less than half of the panther cubs born will survive to reach age of 1.
Panthers who do survive, grow up to become quite solitary. By the time the time
a Panther reaches 2 years old, they will have become fully independent and have established their own territory.
Interesting Panther Facts
- Like house cats, newborn panthers are born with their eyes closed. Their eyes are covered with a light patch of gray fur.
- Panthers are the most capable tree climbers of their big cat family.
- A Panther is so strong it can lift the heavy animal it killed into the tree with them.
- Although Panthers are not the largest of the big cats, they can easily take down animals like giraffes or antelopes.
- Is the Puma a big cat?
What Is a Panther?
A panther, sometimes referred to as a black panther, is a melanistic color variant of any number of species of large cat. Melanism is the presence of excessive dark pigmentation and is the opposite of albinism. Typically found in the wild, black jaguars can be found in Latin America and black leopards in Asia and Africa. In North America, black jaguars can be found, or possibly even black cougars (though there is no proof that a melanistic variant of a cougar exists), or even smaller cats.
There have also been reports of unclassified black cats, commonly referred to as cryptids, in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Currently, if there are such large cats in these areas, their species is unknown.
While the name panther is more often than not confined to the darker variants of large cats, it can also refer to those of lighter color, or even to white variants, such as white panthers.
The Different Types of Panthers
Leopards
The leopard belongs to the Felidae family and is the smallest of the big cats. There are four types of big cats in the genus Panthera. The other three include the tiger, lion and jaguar. The leopard has comparatively short legs in regards to other members of the big cat family, as well as a long body and a large skull. Similar in appearance to the jaguar, it is smaller and has a slightly bigger build.
Highly adaptable, its success in the wild can be attributed to its opportunistic hunting practices (it will hunt and kill almost any type of prey) and its ability to adapt even to harsh climates. As a result of this animal's abilities -- its top speed is somewhere in the area of 36 mph, it has unequaled climbing ability (even while carrying a heavy carcass), and it's notorious for its stealth abilities -- it is no wonder that this big cat has survived as long as it has, even with poachers hunting them to near extinction.
Where are leopards found? Once spread across the Eastern and Southern parts of Asia and Africa, the leopard population is now confined to sub-Saharan Africa, with fragmented populations throughout India, Pakistan, Indochina, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and into Tibet.
Habitat: Able to adapt to both warm and cold climates, leopards are typically found in terrain containing dense bush with rocky surroundings, in addition to riverine forests. It is the leopard's adaptability that has led to its survival while the species' habitat is destroyed by expanding settlements. Nocturnal by nature, leopards rest in trees or thick bush during the daytime.
Diet: The prey of a leopard includes dead animals, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals, including rodents, antelopes and monkeys, to name a few. Cubs learn to hunt initially with small animals.
Family Structure: After having cubs, which number from two to three, a female leopard will forego her normally nomadic lifestyle until the cubs are old enough to go with her. She will keep them out of sight for up to eight weeks after birth and will start feeding them meat when they are six or seven weeks old. After birth, cubs suckle for three months or longer.
Endangered Status: According to the U.S. Endangered Species Act, African leopards are listed as "Threatened" in South Africa and "Endangered" for the rest of the African continent and in Asia. All leopards are listed as "Near Threatened" by the World Conservation Union, with international trade in leopard banned.
Jaguars
The largest and most powerful wild cat in the Western Hemisphere, the jaguar, is larger than its cousin the leopard. Ranging from four to seven feet long, an adult male jaguar can weigh up to 300 pounds when fully grown and stand three foot high at the shoulder.
With heavily muscled forearms and shoulders for added strength when capturing prey, its back legs are longer than its front to give it added jumping ability. Once it gets a hold of prey, it is helped by long retractable claws in its forepaws. Its tongue is designed for peeling the skin away from its prey's flesh, and it has loose belly skin that protects it from the kicks of the animals it hunts.
Habitats: Preferring swampy savannas, wet lowlands, and tropical rain forests, jaguars are found primarily on the American continents. At one time, Jaguars were found in North America (in Texas, the Cerro Colorado Mountains located in Arizona, the southern part of California, and even into New Mexico). Today, they mostly reside in rain forests within Central and South America. Black jaguars primarily live in South America, though there have been reported sightings further north, even into the North American continent.Ê
Other types of terrain in which the jaguar can be found include the forest and grasslands, especially near rivers and lakes. This species can even be found lairing in small caves and marshland or under rock ledges. Preferring soft ground for their homes, jaguars live in shrubby areas as well. These animals use soft materials, such as leaves and rotten trees, among other materials, to line their home. Jaguars are very territorial, preferring to live alone.
Diet: The diet of the jaguar consists of a wide range of animals and fish. One of the 80 different kinds of prey it eats is cattle, which represents the main reason why humans hunt them. They have also been known to prey upon sheep, deer, rodents, fish, birds, turtles, armadillos and even crocodiles.Ê
Jaguars that live in forested terrain like to hide in trees, springing on their prey, such as birds and monkeys. They also hunt turtles on the riverbanks and fish in the river. Those that live on the plains prey upon cattle and sheep. Jaguars eat almost any kind of animal, though they prefer deer. This animal rarely attack humans.
Family Structure: The mating season for jaguars differs with their habitat. Those living in tropical climates mate in any season, while those living in other climate types generally mate in the later part of the year. The female gives birth to one to four cubs -- with two being the average -- 95 to 110 days after conception.
Endangered Status: The main threat to the jaguar population is humans. Even though they rarely attack humans, they are hunted for sport, for their fur, and to protect the livestock upon which the jaguar preys. And while poaching is not as common as in previous times, they are still hunted for their fur.
The sale of jaguar fur is prohibited in the United States, according to the Federal Endangerment Species Act, and the hunting of jaguars is also illegal in their native countries. The United States and Canada have enacted special laws with wildlife refuges being set up to protect the jaguar.
The Endangered Species Act lists the jaguar as endangered. Also, due to its loss of habitation, the poaching of their prey, and the destruction of populations across its range, the World Conservation Union considers the jaguar to be "near threatened."
Cougars
While there has never been an official sighting of a so-called black cougar, it would stand to reason that if melanism can happen in other sub-species of big cats, that the same should be true of cougars. Add to that the fact that the cougar has the biggest range of any mammal in the whole Western Hemisphere, with the exception of humans, and the probability of black cougars being a reality increases.
The cougar can be found from Canada to the Andes Mountains, which are located in South America. This species tends to avoid contact with humans, preferring solitude, another factor that could potentially increase the odds of a black cougar being real. Humans continue to drive this big cat further and further into the wilderness with the destruction of their habitat.
Habitats: Areas of thick brush are a cougar's favorite place to live, though they can adapt and live just about anywhere, even deserts. Brush is favored because it allows the cougar to more easily sneak up on their prey.
Diet: The wide variety of food a cougar is able to eat allows it to survive, even if its regular food supply is scarce. Normally they hunt and eat deer, which is this animal's favorite prey, but it can eat a wide range of animals. It can even eat grasshoppers. If all else fails, they will eat pet food or even garbage, though the hunter nature in them draws them to hunt for living prey.
Family Structure: Female cougars have cubs about every two years, with about one to six cubs per litter. The cubs will nurse for about three months, leaving their mother at about two years old.
Endangered Status: Like other big cats, this animal's biggest enemy is humans. Hunting of cougars is allowed in 14 states. This, coupled with the destruction of their habitat, has led to at least three sub-species of cougars being put on the endangered species list by the Endangered Species Act.
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