Sri Lankan leopards can be regarded as the kings of the wilderness of the island, as they don’t have any rivals like lions or tigers. As such, leopards in Sri Lanka grow bigger than leopards in other nations, such as Africa and India. Large males who almost weighed 100 kg have been reported in a BBC documentary. Since they roam freely in the daytime in the jungles, Sri Lanka is considered one of the best destinations on earth for watching leopards.
In this post, we will mention 10 interesting facts about Sri Lankan leopards. We hope you’ll enjoy these unique facts about these gorgeous Sri Lankan big cats.
1. How many leopard subspecies in the world?
Currently, there are 9 recognized subspecies of leopards living in the world. These subspecies of leopards include African (Panthera pardus pardus), Indian (Panthera pardus fusca), Javan (Panthera pardus melas), Arabian (Panthera pardus nimr), Amur (Panthera pardus orientalis), Persian (Panthera pardus tulliana), Indochinese (Panthera pardus delacouri) North Chinese (Panthera pardus japonensis) and Sri Lankan (Panthera pardus kotiya).
This is a great visual representation of the 9 leopard subspecies in the world. You’ll see that each species is slightly different from their body color which depends on their surroundings. The Sri Lankan leopard is endemic to the country. It has a rusty yellow coat with dark spots and close-set rosettes, which are smaller than in Indian leopards.
Note that the melanistic (black) form is present in Indian, Indochinese, Javan and Sri Lankan leopards. Usually, people misunderstand black panthers as a different species. But they are the melanistic variant of a leopard or jaguar. Black leopards are very rare in Sri Lanka and there is only a single recording from Yala National Park in 2023.
2. Where do leopards live?
In Sri Lanka, leopards live in both lowerland jungles and highland jungles. In the low country, they live in Yala, Wilpattu and Kumana National Parks. They prefer grasslands, woodlands and rocky areas. Especially, they like to rest on a tree top or rock top and observe the below plains from a high elevation.
In central highlands, leopards live in a wide array of habitats including Horton Plains National Park. As well, they can be seen around human settlements in the tea plantations. Since they have an abundant food supply in the mountains, they are bigger and fattier than their lowerland counterparts.
3. How long do leopards live?
The average lifespan of a leopard is between 12 and 15 years. The oldest identified leopard in Sri Lanka is reported from Yala National Park. This legendary leopardess called YF01 -Jeena was first observed in 2008. Although her current status is unknown, she should be over 16 years now.
Generally, leopards in the wild are less likely to reach the age of 15 years due to the harsh conditions of the wilderness. They need huge strength daily to sustain their life. In captivity, the oldest recorded leopard who lived at a wildlife Sanctuary managed to live for 24 years.
4. How to identify leopards?
The spots of a leopard are called rosettes because they resemble the shape of a rose flower. These rosettes help the leopard to blend into the nearby environment, especially dense vegetation and patchy shadows.
Above all, the rosettes of a leopard are also helpful in identifying different individuals because each leopard has a different pattern of spots. Most of the leopards in Yala, Wilpattu, Kumana and Horton Plains are identified and given a specific name to recognize them easily.
5. What do leopards eat?
Leopards are powerful and agile predators with sharp claws and strong jaws, making them formidable hunters. They prey on many other animals in their ecosystem. They often kill medium-sized animals including deer, sambar deer, wild boar, monkeys and cattle. Sometimes, leopards hunt smaller prey such as birds, rodents, hares and even some reptiles.
You may have seen African leopards often eat their prey on a tree because they are trying to hide it from the other predators. But in Sri Lanka, leopards don’t bother to carry their prey into trees, because there aren’t any strong predators to steal it. Sri Lankan leopards mostly enjoy their prey on the ground.
6. What are the natural threats to leopards?
Although leopards are royalty in Sri Lankan jungles, still they have some natural threats. Mainly, wild boars which are known to be aggressive and fierce while defending themselves can overpower and cause injuries to leopards. Since male wild boars have sharp horns, leopards avoid them if they aren’t interested in hunting them.
Another major natural threat for leopards is snakes. There are several leopard deaths which are caused by venomous snake bites. Furthermore, leopards can be fatally hurt by the claws of sloth bears, but these kinds of reports are quite rare in the wilderness.
7. Who is more powerful than leopards?
Although leopards are the apex predators in Sri Lanka, they aren’t the most powerful hunters in the wilderness. One of the most interesting facts about Sri Lankan leopards is they fear mugger crocodiles. Since mugger crocodiles are so much bigger, leopards try to avoid any confrontation with these huge reptiles.
If a crocodile tries to steal the meal from a leopard, usually they aren’t fighting to get it back. It is quite challenging to separate its hunt from the locked mouth of the giant crocodile. But wildlife photographers could catch the wonderful scenery of mighty Lucas – the great ruler of Yala National Park fighting with 2 crocodiles to get his prey back.
In this amazing video, the leopard king Lucas was showing his strength against two crocodiles who were stealing its deer hunt. Indeed, it was an unforgettable sighting from Lucas. But his great effort wasn’t successful and the 2 crocodiles took the remaining meat to the water, ending this fierce battle.
8. How do leopards hunt?
Leopards rely on the incredible senses of smell, hearing and vision for hunting. They have a sense of smell that is about 100 times stronger than humans, and they use this to find prey. When hunting at night, their eyesight helps them to locate their prey in darkness. As well, leopards are known for their exceptional climbing abilities. This enables them to rest in trees during the day and pounce on unsuspecting prey from the elevated positions.
In addition to them, leopards have excellent hearing which helps them locate potential prey from far away distances. They do most of their hunting by stalking the prey and waiting to be within about 5 meters before pouncing on the animal. They can suffocate it with a single bite to the neck. Hence, they are called killing machines in Sri Lankan jungles.
9. Do leopards swim?
All the fact sheets about leopards mention they are good swimmers. But, one of the unknown facts about Sri Lankan leopards is they don’t like swimming. They try to avoid water as much as possible because their coat isn’t waterproof. When they get wet, their coat gets heavy from the water. Thus, they need to get it dry because it slows them down and restrains their movements.
Yet, tigers and jaguars are among the few feline predators that are excellent swimmers. Even small wild cats prefer water, where they are observed catching some fish for their food. However, if you Google search for swimming leopards in Sri Lanka, only the images of leopards who are drinking water will appear in your search.
10. How to identify male & female leopards?
Leopards are sexually dimorphic and males are often larger, heavier and taller than female leopards. Male leopards weigh between 40 and 90 kg while females weigh between 30 and 60 kg. Their facial appearance is also slightly different, where males have round, fatty faces and females have slender faces.
They are extremely solitary animals and always roam in the jungle alone. If you see two leopards together, it must be a mating couple or a leopard mom with her cub. Male and female leopards spend only a brief time together while they are mating and then go their separate ways. The female will then raise the cubs on her own.
Adult male leopards are extremely protective of their territory and don’t tolerate the presence of a competitor at all. You may have seen the fierce battle between King Lucas and Michael to protect their territory. However several females’ territories may overlap with a single male’s territory.
To sum up, these are 10 interesting facts about the Sri Lankan leopards, the apex predator of the country. Unarguably, they are the royalty of amazing wilderness and watching them is a great pleasure to nature lovers. Although leopards are extremely hard to see on a safari tour in many other countries, you can get this rare opportunity in Sri Lanka easily. Welcome to witness the glorious beauty of Sri Lankan leopards!
Banner image from Sudantha Chandrasena Photography. Image credits are shown below each picture. All copyrights are reserved by the original authors.
