The leopard (Panthera pardus) is a member of the Felidae family with a wide range in some parts of Africa and tropical Asia, from Siberia, South and West Asia to across most of sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List because it is declining in large parts of its range due to habitat loss and fragmentation, and hunting for trade and pest control. It is regionally extinct in Hong Kong, Singapore Kuwait, Libya and Tunisia.
The leopard is the smallest of the four "big cats" in the Genus Panthera.
Compared to other members of the Felidae, the leopard has relatively
short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in
appearance to the jaguar, but is smaller and more slightly built. Its fur is marked with rosettes
similar to those of the jaguar, but the leopard's rosettes are smaller
and more densely packed, and do not usually have central spots as the
jaguars do. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic are known as black panthers.
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