The Panther tends to be dark brown to black in colour and is otherwise identical to the feline species to which it belongs. The only real exception to this is the Florida Panther found in the south east region of the USA, that is believed to be a subspecies of Cougar and is quite rarely dark brown in colour and tends to have more of a speckled appearance. Unlike Leopards and Jaguars, the Panther has no spots on its long body or tail, but instead has a shiny coat of dark fur. Panthers have small heads with strong jaws and emerald green eyes, and tend to have hind legs that are both larger and slightly longer than those at the front. Being a member of the Big Cat family, the Panther is not only one of the largest felines in the world but it is also able to roar which is something that felines outside of this group are not able to do.
Panther Distribution and Habitat
Panthers are natively found on three of the world’s continents, with their location depending on whether or not it is a black Leopard or a Black Jaguar. There are 30 different subspecies of Leopard found across both Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and with the once large natural range of the Jaguar stretching throughout Central and South America and even into parts of the USA, the Panther has become an incredibly adaptable animal that is found in a variety of different habitats. Although they are most commonly found in tropical and deciduous forests, the Panther can also be found inhabiting both marsh and swampland, along with grasslands and even more hostile areas such as deserts and mountains. Along with a number of the world’s largest felines, the Panther is becoming rarer in the wild primarily due to habitat loss in the form of deforestation.
Panther Behaviour and Lifestyle
The Panther is an incredibly intelligent and agile animal that is very seldom seen by people in the wild as they are generally very quiet and cautious animals. Their dark brown fur camouflages the Panther both into the surrounding forest and makes them almost invisible in the darkness of night. The Panther is a solitary animal that leads a nocturnal lifestyle, spending much of the daylight hours resting safely high in the trees. Like both the Leopardand the Jaguar, Panthers are incredible climbers and they not only rest in the trees but they are also able to keep a watchful eye out for prey without being spotted. The Panther is an incredibly powerful and fearless animal that is feared by many due to the fact that they are also very aggressive. The Panther is very territorial particularly males whose home rangesoverlap those of a number of females and they are threatened by another male.
Panther Reproduction and Life Cycles
Although there are only two different species of Big Cat that are considered to be Panthers, Leopards and Jaguars are actually very closely related despite living in separate parts of the world. Black Leopards and Jaguars often occur in the same litter as spotted cubs with the female usually giving birth to between 2 and 4 cubs after a gestation period of around 3 months (it is a simple recessive gene that makes a cub black and one that is carried by both parents). Panther cubs are born blind and do not open their eyes until they are nearly two weeks old. They are incredibly vulnerable to predators, particularly when left by their mother who must hunt for their food. By the time they are a few months old Panther cubs begin to accompany her in search of prey and often won’t leave her until they are nearly 2 years old and have established a territory for themselves.
Panther Diet and Prey
The Panther is a carnivorous animal and one of the most feared and powerful predatorsthroughout its natural environment. Hunting under the cover of night, the Panther’s dark fur makes it almost impossible to spot meaning that it can move through the jungle completely unseen. Although the majority of their hunting is actually done on the ground, they are also known to hunt from trees meaning that they can ambush their prey from above. The exact diet of the Panther is dependent on where in the world it lives although medium to large sized herbivores comprise the bulk of the diet of many large Cats. Animals including Deer, Warthogs, Wild Boar, Tapir and Antelope are all hunted by Panthers, along with smaller species like Birds and Rabbits when larger prey is scarce.
