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Rainforest Leopards
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"A game camera set up in Lopé National Park on an elephant trail. 90 minutes after the camera is set up, a male leopard appears."
This is a very dark individual, look at the fused spots on the back of the tail. Another individual also from Lopé National Park. Interaction between a leopard and a group of forest elephants in Gabon. Another male recorded during the pointless and disruptive mirror experiment. 
Leopards from Central Africa (Gabon, Congo Basin,...) seem to grow larger than those who live in the savannah. I like to compare them with Pantanal jaguars, who also grow much larger than any other jaguar specie (Mexican jaguars average only 50kg instead of the 100kg average Pantanal jaguar).
Some examples; Male from Congo (most likely captive)  *This image is copyright of its original author Another one from Congo (enormous skull)  *This image is copyright of its original author Leopard hunted by natives  *This image is copyright of its original author In comparison with a jaguar:  *This image is copyright of its original author Big male from Gabon, very stocky male  *This image is copyright of its original author
I doubt they grow larger than their cousins to the east, in fact I'd guess they are probably smaller due to the smaller prey base available. I'd also guess that they dont carry prey up trees as often since they dont have as many competitors to worry about as well which would also contribute to a smaller leopard, but some do look very impressive overall though.
A gabon leopard swimming
Unknown photographer.  *This image is copyright of its original author Some males Source : https://www.zooniverse.org/users/LukasT/collections  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
They really have a lot in common with jaguars. Here are some examples.
Enormous skull:  *This image is copyright of its original author Robust and densely packed muscles:  *This image is copyright of its original author Compare these with the African savannah leopards (who are more slender) and you'll see what I mean. (03-02-2019, 06:08 PM)Luipaard Wrote: They really have a lot in common with jaguars. Here are some examples. Camera trap photo's are very different than videos and images taken in person. While some of these Leopards do look very muscular, I've seen there equals in Savannah leopards as well and on the flip side, rainforest leopards dont get the large neck flap nor look as large in frame. People say the same about Sri Lanken Leopards but speaking with people who've seen both, that's not the case. But I agree that these leopards are very impressive regardless, so anything is possible. (03-02-2019, 06:20 PM)Pckts Wrote:(03-02-2019, 06:08 PM)Luipaard Wrote: They really have a lot in common with jaguars. Here are some examples. Well that's exactly my point, leopards from the savannah look larger becouse they seem taller to me, same as Sri Lankan leopards; they do look large but are clearly not robust like the Central African leopards. They're differently built imo. Let's do a little comparison with the Anderson male leopard (pretty much one of the biggest leopards in Sabi Sands) and a male from Gabon.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author The male from Gabon looks more robust to me. Anderson probably dwarfs him in terms of height but that's about it. Also you're right about the dewlap (= neck flap).
More males from Gabon
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Size comparison of a male leopard and gorilla (Gabon)
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Impressive male
 *This image is copyright of its original author Another male, very impressive skull size  *This image is copyright of its original author Yet another male, again huge skull size  *This image is copyright of its original author
90% sure that this is a female. Less muscular but nice skull size
 *This image is copyright of its original author
According to Pocock a well reputed expert on leopards and other cats the largest leopards in Africa were from Algeria, Upper Congo/Southern Sudan, and the coastal forests of West Africa. This was primarily based on skull measurements and while I don't know of any measurements for the Algerian leopard those from coastal West Africa and Upper Congo are indeed very impressive approaching the Pantanal jaguars in skull length.
The average skull length of 7 mature male leopards from North Eastern Congo (DRC) was 261mm including two at 279mm and 282mm. Even more impressive a sample of 3 male leopard skulls from the coast of Gabon had an average length of 274mm with the largest at 282mm. While the Gabon sample is small and thus may not be reflective of the true average it is impressive nonetheless that such large skulls are present despite a very limited sample. For comparison the average skull length of 17 adult male jaguars from Venezuela was 282.2mm and 12 from the Mato Grasso area of Brazil averaged 282mm. On the other hand, the East African plains leopard or the Southern African leopard which we are used to seeing have an average skull length of about 230mm and only exceptional males reach 260mm. Leopards from the Atlantic equatorial forests of Africa are probably very large based on skull measurements (near jaguar sized skulls). The Loango NP region of Gabon is said to be a pristine area with undisturbed wildlife and is home to a large population of this type of leopard. People suspect male leopards from this region to be around 70kgs on average. Thus leopards in parts of equatorial Africa reach skull lengths of around 280mm with some regularity which is about the same as an average male jaguar of the largest types. It is not at all farfetched to hypothesize that such large skulled leopards will weigh 200lbs or more given that a jaguar with an equal skull length weighs around 220lbs. This is further substantiated by the fact that these forest leopards have particularly stocky, jaguar-like builds based on the few available photographs. Leopards from parts of equatorial Africa can obtain based on the above data it would be perfectly sound to suggest he weighed around 200lb. Although large skulls may not necessary reflect a correspondingly large body size, skull size is considered a reliable indicator of size by scientists. The reason why these equatorial forest leopards are so large is probably due to the absence or scarcity of lions in the region combined with the abundance of prey. Keep in mind however that not the entire Congo rainforest has such large leopards but specifically the north eastern part and certain coastal parts where the forest supports more prey. The leopards from the central Congo rainforest have an average skull length intermediate between the large forest leopard types and those from the East and Southern African bush. All data comes from Pocock’s The Leopards of Africa (1932) & J.A. Allen’s “Carnivora Collected by American Museum Congo Expedition” (leopard) and Notes on the biology and status of the jaguar in Venezuela” by Mondolfi and Hoogesteijn 1986. |
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