“Who is a big boy then”? You are!
Finding a leopard out in the open while in a game viewer is a sighting that I never tire of. On a recent visit to Sabi Sands, my wife and I were able to view different leopards on every drive.
Did you know?
Sabi Sands hosts one of the world’s best-protected and best-studied leopard populations. There are detailed records of more than 900 leopards in the Sabi Sands since 1979 and data on more than 500 litters of cubs.
Leopards are the smallest of the African cats with males weighing in at 35–65 kg. Occasionally, large males can grow up to 90 kg.
Looking every inch a lady? If YOU weer a male leopard, would YOU be able to resist her charms?
Leopards are the smallest of the large cats, which includes lions, tigers, and jaguars.
Female leopards weigh around 28–58 kg, considerably less than their male counterparts.
Leopards, like all other cats except lions, are solitary breeders. The only long-term social bond is between a leopardess and her cubs. Females come into heat for about one week every 20 to 50 days.
And like cats, it it usually the females that will institute sexual contact. She will continuously present herself until the male ‘performs’ once again.
Both leopards and lions have exactly the same mating rituals which, when averaged out, has them mating every 15 minutes for up to 5 days. This means that if they last a full 5 days, they can mate more than 250 times. I challenge most human males to keep this sort of ‘bedroom’ activity up for an extended period.
The act of mating can be painful as the male’s penis has recurved barbs. This a trait of felines, which in combination with the numerous copulations induces the female to ovulate.
Length of copulation from ount to dismount is about 10 seconds ·
The male will bite the female on the nape of her neck to ensure she is submissive, it is a similar reaction to when a mother leopard carries her cubs in her mouth by the nape. The mating starts off fairly docile with a bit of growling, then begins to escalate.
Male leopards learn this dismount tactic very quickly, as it keeps them out of harms way once copulation has been completed.
Time to do it again! And I will continue to harass you until you do…
Perhaps my tail on your head will make you change your mind…and you don’t even have to buy me dinner and a movie.
No wonder the females are flirtatious… Not only do animals enjoy the deed, they also likely have orgasms. By watching facial expressions, body movements and muscle relaxation, many scientists have concluded that animals reach a pleasurable climax.
Leopards are solitary creatures that only spend time with others when they are mating or raising young.
And the look on the male’s face seems to say it all. I have no idea at what point in the mating cycle these two were, but he seems to have had enough already.
You know that you want to…
Females are very flirtatious at this time even leaving their own territories to actively seek out a male or calling and marking incessantly to attract one to her.
I wonder if there is some sort of plant that could act as Viagra to enable the male to complete his task without injury.
Leopards are thought to be seven times stronger than human beings and they can haul a carcass three times their weight. They store the carcass in a tree or rocky outcropping to protect their food supply from other predators. Leopards are famous for their ability to go undetected because of their spotted coloration.
Hyenas and Baboons have also been known to attack and kill Leopards, in particular the young cubs. However, in this instance the hyena was more interested in seeing if there was food to be shared that it proving who was the most aggressive. When the hyena realized that this male was just relaxing between trysts, it moved off.
iDube in isiZulu means Zebra, hence this image finding its way into a post about birds. If you want to find out more about their current specials and offers, click on the logo above to visit their website.
Check out the archived and current interviews… click on the image above.
All images are the copyright property of
and may not be used without permission.
