Indian leopard

The Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) is a leopard subspecies widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent. The species Panthera pardus is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because populations have declined following habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching for the illegal trade of skins and body parts, and persecution due to conflict situations. The Indian leopard is one of the big cats occurring on the Indian subcontinent, apart from the Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, snow leopard and clouded leopard. In 2014, a national census of leopards around tiger habitats was carried out in India except the northeast. 7,910 individuals were estimated in surveyed areas and a national total of 12,000-14,000 speculated. Felis fusca was the scientific name proposed by Friedrich Albrecht Anton Meyer in 1794 who described a black leopard from Bengal that was on display at the Tower of London. Leopardus perniger proposed by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1863 were five leopard skins from Nepal, out of which three were black. He mentioned Sikkim and Nepal as habitat.Panthera pardus millardi proposed by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1930 was a single leopard skin and skull from Kashmir. It differed from typical P. p. fusca skins by longer hair and more greyish colour. Since leopard populations in Nepal, Sikkim and Kashmir are not geographically isolated from leopard populations in the Indian subcontinent, they were subsumed to P. p. fusca in 1996. The Indian leopard has strong legs and a long well-formed tail, broad muzzle, short ears and small, yellowish grey eyes, light grey ocular bulbs.Its coat is spotted and rosetted on a pale yellow to yellowish-brown or golden background, except for the melanistic forms; the spots fade toward the white underbelly and the insides and lower parts of the legs. Rosettes are most prominent on the back, flanks and hindquarters. The pattern of the rosettes is unique to each individual. Juveniles have woolly fur, and appear dark due to the densely arranged spots. The white-tipped tail is 60–100 centimetres (24–39 in) long, white underneath, and displays rosettes, which form incomplete bands toward the end. The rosettes are larger in other leopard subspecies in Asia. Fur colour tends to be more pale and cream in arid habitats, more gray in colder climates, and of a darker golden hue in rainforest habitats. The clouded leopard can be told apart by its diffuse 'clouds' of spots compared to the smaller and distinct rosettes of the leopard, longer legs and thinner tail. Male Indian leopards grow to between 127 cm (4 ft 2 in) and 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) in body size with a 76 cm (2 ft 6 in) to 91 cm (3 ft) long tail and weigh between 50 and 77 kg (110 and 170 lb). Females are smaller, growing to between 104 cm (3 ft 5 in) and 117 cm (3 ft 10 in) in body size with a 76 cm (2 ft 6 in) to 87.6 cm (2 ft 10.5 in) long tail, and weigh between 64 and 75 lb (29 and 34 kg). Sexually dimorphic, males are larger and heavier than females.