Modern Weights and Measurements of Wild Cougars

[Luipaard]

Quote:The heaviest weighed leopard was an specimen from West Africa who yielded 96 kg (unknown amount of stomach content), and recently we have seen some males from Iran surpassing 90 kg in weight, with one topping at 95 kg, Persian leopards, in my opinion, being the heaviest and largest population.

The heaviest leopard, at this moment, is a 96kg male leopard from Valencia, Namibia (from The Hunter or the Hunted: An Introduction to African Cave Taphonomy). Not sure where you got that West African specimen from. This, of course is if we exclude the 115kg injured Persian leopard and the Indian leopard Balaji (116kg when captured).

Quote:The 113 kg leopard was debunked some time ago, it was a man water who was killed after badly clawing the face of a man and had plenty of stomach content. Someone also said that the scale in which it was weighed was defective which affected the accuracy of results.

Not entirely true. While I too question the leopard's weight, it wasn't a man-eater. Link to event (from Landmark Leopard & Predator Project - South Africa): https://www.facebook.com/LandmarkFoundation/posts/another-leopard-has-been-killed-in-the-eastern-cape-by-predator-hunters-in-alice/1441037779263823/

Quote:I also do not believe Central African leopards to be among the biggest populations. There have been two captures of two males who were in somewhat of a dire state, and neither surpassed 50 kg in weight. Even if healthy, 50 kg is a far cry from the 100 kg estimated I have seen some suggest for those leopards.

Those were 2 leopards caught in snares and therefore in bad condition, they were far from healthy and below 50kg. Also are you aware that these countries are in conflict with poachers and bushmeat hunters? There are leopard populations in Gabon who have to coexist with bushmeat hunters (who target the same prey i.e. duiker & red river hogs). Luckily there are area's where they are undisturbed and this is where you can find healthy leopard populations. 

Quote:the argument I often hear mention is that they have big and heavy skulls which could suggest a large body mass, but as @peter said recently, skull length is not the best determinant to gage body mass, and in my opinion, prey biomass is a more important factor.

What @peter also mentioned, is that their skulls are heavier (heavier teeth too) and more robust compared to other leopard populations. So you do acknowledge that Persian leopards are one of the larger leopard subspecies/populations but Central African leopards somehow are smaller than savannah leopards (ca.60-65kg) despite having skulls as large as Persian leopards? I'm not just talking about skull length FYI.

Also, skull measurements are more reliable than body weight (e.g. stomach content), especially with dead animals.

Based on videographic footage (camera traps etc) and skull data, they're most likely the largest leopard population. Reply