Leopard in India and Where Can You See Them

Leopards as mentioned earlier are small mammals and predatory by nature. They are also known as carnivores for they survive entirely on meat. Once widespread all over the World they are restricted to a few regions. This big cat is found in sub-Saharan Africa, Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, the Indian subcontinent to Southeast and East Asia. The population is spread out in the regions described above but it is scattered and on the brink of extinction in many places.   

The animal belongs to the cat group and is placed in the genus Panthera and family Felidae. Unlike cats, felines do not meow but rather roar.  Due to minor differences, the species is divided into races named after the country where it survives. 

Like tigers, the panther in India is a solitary animal coming together only for mating. They hunt by ambush and rarely chase their prey. Unlike the tiger, this carnivore survives on small game like hens, goats, sheep, other small mammals, birds, and reptiles. 

There are many places where the leopard can be sighted in India. They are easily sighted in tiger reserves like Nagzira, Kabini, Kanha, Bandhavgarh, and Pench. Leopard is also sighted in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai. While these places are popular for sighting common leopards.

The black panther is easily sighted at Kabini, Nagzira, and Pench. There has been a spate of sightings of black panthers recently. Though black panther sighting is not common it is frequently seen. 

Almost all tiger reserves have common leopards living in their confines but because the focus is on the tiger little notice is taken of the common panther. But often by luck people manage to see and photograph them in the reserves. 

While the common leopard is found everywhere even in the periphery of some major towns. It is even found in dense localities of Mumbai and Delhi that have managed to encroach on its territory. These leopards hide in the daytime in the remaining bush country and emerge to hunt feral dogs in the daytime. But unfortunately, there have been cases of man-killing and hence most of these carnivores are captured and translocated to dense forests nearby by or at far-off reserves. As suburbs come under human settlements man-animal conflict in India is on the rise. 

The best place to see the common leopard is on a leopard safari at Bera in Rajasthan. Another place to see them is at Jhalana Wildlife Park in Jaipur Rajasthan. Though wild by all means these big cats have become accustomed to man and you can watch them from afar on a safari jeep. 

The snow leopard is found in the highlands of the Himalayas, and the best place to see them is Laddakh in Northern India. They live in greater heights like in Laddakh with sub-zero temperatures. Tourists on safari must get acclimatized to the weather before the tour. 

The clouded leopard, the smallest of the three is an arboreal predator and survives on small game. It is found in North East of the Himalayan foothills. The best place to see them is in Namdhapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh.