Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor)

[Dr Panthera]

The popular notion that Sri Lankan leopards are the largest leopards is outdated data , Eisenberg reported ( after Pocock ) that the largest male was 77 kg and where they do not occur with neither lions nor tigers making them the apex predator on the island.
Leopards that exceed 80 kg are quite common in Iran and are also reported from India, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, South Africa, and other areas in Africa.
Farhidinia and other Iranian biologists compared morphometric and craniometric measurements from different leopard populations and it is safe to say  that the largest leopards are Saxicolor (Persian leopards), large African leopards rival their Persian relatives but leopards from Somalia and the Cape areas are very small so the overall overage is smaller.
H.S.Singh reports a leopard from Gir that weighed 115 kg!! It was starved for two days and weighed again and was about 100 kg.
There is a gap in knowledge about leopards from the Congo basin, the absence of lions there make the leopards the only possible predator of the young of forest elephants, forest buffalo, okapi, and gorillas , I am sure we can find some large leopards from such areas.
I am amazed by female leopards they rarely exceed 100 LBS. (45 kg) and easily kill prey twice their size. Reply