African Leopards

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Somalian Leopards are dangerous despite their small size.

Quote:BREAKING: Leopard shot dead in Wanlaweyn town after it attacked and killed a man injured 7 others, Thursday, in a rare incident: residents

https://twitter.com/harunmaruf/status/915865108521390080?lang=en

The Somalian Leopard is among the smallest subspecies:

Females are around 23-27 kg, while males are 50 percent larger, which is  34.5-40.5 kg. (Big Cats By Tom Brakefield)

The Somalian Leopard that killed a man and caused havoc looks around the same size but maybe slightly bigger than the Cape Leopards.


Somalian Leopard:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Cape Leopard:

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://capeleopard.org.za/news-media/news/story/capture-for-conservation-leopard-trapping-in-the-cederberg-and-malawi



Video of a collared cape leopard:

As can be seen, these two overlap in size, but the Cape Leopards look relatively robust compared to the emaciated Somalian Leopard.



The Somalian Leopard was considered as a man eater during the British Somaliland (now part of Northern Somalia) :

Quote:In 1889 there was a leopard, said to be a panther, which had haunted the Mirso ledge of the Golis range for some years, and was supposed to have killed over a hundred people. It was in the habit of lying in wait at a corner of a very dark, rough jungle path, where huge rocks overlooked the track; and the Somalis used to show a boulder, some 6 feet high, a yard from the path, in the flat top of which was a depression shaped like a panther's body, from which the beast was said to spring upon travellers.

 account of H.G.C. Swayne in Great and Small Game of Africa by Henry Bryden 



So even a small Leopard (or subspecies) is too dangerous for humans.


Late Edit:

 Here is a 37 kg Leopard in comparison:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://capeleopard.org.za/news-media/news/story/487/to-catch-a-ghost Reply