T<\/span>he leopard (Panthera pardus) is a large cat with short, muscular limbs. Leopards are heavier and more strongly built than cheetahs, but still one third the size of lions. Leopards in the Serengeti ecosystem have coats with a light cream or tan background, a moderately dense pattern of black rosettes with brown centres on the back and upper limbs, and solid black spots on the face, lower limbs, throat, and a whitish underside. These features make a leopard look striking when isolated in a photograph, but, against the dark and light backgrounds in woodlands and tall grasses, they dissolve the outline of the leopard\u2019s body.<\/p>\n<\/div> Leopards are adaptable to diverse habitats and are the most widely distributed of all wild cat species. In Africa, their range extended throughout most of the continent, except for its driest regions. Today, leopards are extinct or critically endangered in most of northern and western Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div> Leopards are excellent climbers as well as capable swimmers. Their diet varies according to its habitat and can include insects, fish, reptiles, birds, and antelopes up to three times their own weight, though they prefer small and medium-size mammals. Leopards hunt at night, stalking slowly through grass and bushes, preferring to pounce on their prey from a few meters away, rather than chase after them. A leopard might hoist the body of a large kill into the branches of a tree to avoid theft from lions or hyenas. By day, leopards often lounge and nap in large trees with sloping stems.<\/p>\n<\/div>