Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor)

[Pckts]

(05-11-2019, 12:17 PM)Luipaard Wrote: @Pckts One of the largest subspecies*

Regarding the average weight of the males (67kg), why don't you share the weight chart of it? It's an interesting one:

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As you can see, 4 males are within the +90kg weight range. 

Here two males weighed 86kg and 66kg:

*This image is copyright of its original author

It makes sense that these particular leopards turn out to be larger since their main prey is far more impressive than South African or Indian leopards who predate mainly on impala's and deer. Persian leopards predate on:

Ibex (weight 91-120kg) 

*This image is copyright of its original author

Urial sheep (weight 60-90kg)

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Wild boar from Golestan National Park: "As a result of the wild boar’s high rate of reproduction, it provides abundant prey for Iran’s large carnivores, particularly the leopard." This dependence on wild boar is largely due in part to the local leopard subspecies' large" size

*This image is copyright of its original author

Also, the leopard in the North like Iran are larger (Bergmann's rule). This is proven by this list of the largest skulls for leopards from scientific sources. The Central African leopards dominate the list but there are numerous Persians on the list, all from the North (Iran):

*This image is copyright of its original author

"Located in northwest of Golestan province in the north of Iran near the Turkmenistan border and in the Caspian Sea region, Golestan National Park is one of the oldest and most ecologically diverse protected areas of Iran, covering 900 square kilometers of Hyrcan jungle, high altitude juniper covered mountains and dry plain steppes vegetation. Golestan is a mixture of deciduous jungle and dry lands. Golestan is home to a variety of wildlife species such as Brown bear, Persian ibex, wild sheep, wild boar, roe deer, red deer, wild cat and the endangered Persian leopard. Traditionally, a healthy habitat and diverse prey base made Golestan an ideal ecosystem for the Persian leopard to thrive, with some cats weighing up to 100 kilograms. "


Here are some males from Iran to give you an idea:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Leopards I posted are from Iran, none of the many they've weighed have been over 75kg
In fact, one that would be the 2nd largest leopard on your list in terms of length, still weighed less than 75kg.
Can persians get up to 90 kg, of course they also do it more often than African or Indian Leopards as well. Yet, none are over that weight out of all measured and averages again are in the same range as anywhere else.
Also just look at the differences in weights, from 86kg to 18kg for males, outliers are nice to use but they are misleading. They paint as much of the picture as using that 34kg Male Persian with a TL of 2030mm, only 3" less in total length yet half the size, or even the 66kg one within 10mm of the 86kg one yet still 20kg difference. 
It's fairly obvious that Persians are definitely the longest of the Leopard subspecies and the heaviest or close to, which means like Amur Tigers, they are both the larger framed cat but also like amurs, they are a leaner cat as well. Amurs being smaller in weight than their Indian cousins and persians being similar weight to their African Cousins.
Again, comparing prey from anywhere else on earth to Africa is a losing battle. There is no place on earth that comes close to holding as many herbivores as Africa, even south Africa as you stated for some reason.
Indian leopards for sure have less compared but they still have a large prey biomass that won't be seen in the mountains of Iran.  But persians definitely prey on good sized animals and thus they are one of the largest sub species but their weights aren't unseen elsewhere, we have leopards in the 90kg range from Africa as well just not as often but again, comparing the amount of African Leopards to Persian Leopards, it's not close. There are 1000s more Africans so of course you're going to find more under that maximum weight than over it, the averages will only continue to distance themselves from the outliers.
Even look at your list, 3 close to 90kg and 22+ under 90kg.
*Not including the 115kg cat for reasons we all know*
So out of 25 males, only 3 can reach that size which is a 12% chance, now include all the others one listed, all under 90kg btw, and that % will go down even further. Reply