According to the Daily Star, in the dense primeval forest of the Malay Peninsula, night is about to fall, when a muscular ink leopard appears, with bright eyes and rapid movements. The ink leopard stared at a fawn that was not yet an adult, and after quietly approaching, it suddenly jumped out from behind the bush. The panicked fawn did not run two steps before the ink leopard bit its neck.
After catching the fawn, the hungry ink leopard did not eat immediately, but picked up the fawn, ran into the dense forest, climbed to a tree, hung the prey on the branch, observed the surrounding area and found no abnormality, so as to eat calmly. Maybe it's afraid that other beasts of prey will come and grab food?
The ink leopard, also known as the black panther, is rare and extremely rare! The ink leopard likes to lie out at night, plus a body of inky black hair, giving people a very mysterious feeling, as if more powerful and noble than the normal body color of the leopard, so it is called "night ghost".
Do you know Ink Leopard?
01 Some are all black, some are semi-black, and the copper coin-like leopard print is faintly visible
What is the ink leopard? Broadly speaking, it refers to the blackened individuals of the big cat family collectively referred to as "leopards", such as blackened jaguars and cheetahs, both called ink leopards.
And the ink leopard we are talking about is the blackened leopard. Originally a golden yellow coat with black spots, after blackening, it became a black body.
According to scientists, this is due to a gene that controls the color of the coat - the oyster guinea pig coat color gene has a recessive mutation, resulting in an overproduction of melanin, so that the original yellow hair, also become black.
Different individuals have different degrees of blackening. Some ink leopards are "full body black", can not see the yellow markings, blackened more thoroughly.
Some ink leopards are "half black", at first glance it is black, and under close inspection, you can see the characteristics of leopards, but the coat color is black, covering the copper coin-like leopard print on the body. In fact, the ink leopard just changed a "coat", whether it is appearance or habits, it is extremely similar to the leopard.
However, it is slightly different. The head of the ink leopard is round, the eyes are sharp, the ears are short, the body is strong, the limbs are strong, and it highlights a healthy muscle in the walk, weighing about 50-55 kg, and the tail is about 70-95 cm long.
02 Black fur is conducive to hiding in the forest, and the success rate of hunting is high, but it is easy to expose the location in open terrain
In the Malay Peninsula, the ink leopard is more common, accounting for about 11%, which is the most common place in the world. In addition, there are traces of ink leopards in India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Africa, but there are very few blackened leopards in Africa.
The ink leopard is black, and when it goes out at night, it is simply integrated with the night, so that other animals cannot be recognized, so it is as if wearing an "invisibility cloak", which is very labor-saving when hunting, and the success rate is higher.
But the problem is that in the open terrain, a black body cannot hide like a striped leopard in the woods, but instead exposes its position in a clear way. Even if it is as powerful as a tiger, it needs to be disguised!
So, that's why There are fewer blackened leopards in Africa. Africa is open, the ink leopard is easily exposed, may be difficult to survive in its infancy, even if it is lucky to grow up, the predation is not so smooth.
Looking at the ink leopard in the Malay Peninsula, scientists have arranged hundreds of infrared cameras to observe and study the ink leopard. The vegetation on the Malay Peninsula is very rich, the forest canopy is dense, the understory space is relatively dark, and the ink leopard is active in it, which is more hidden than the normal body color of the leopard.
The ink leopard, which is good at hiding itself, is not only conducive to catching prey, but also successfully avoiding other predators. Over time, the chances of survival of the ink leopard are relatively large, and there are more ink leopards on the island.
03 When the ink leopard hunts, it breaks into the monkey territory, and the monkey issues a shouting warning, which scares away the ink leopard's prey
The ink leopard has a lonely temperament, always lying out at night, even if it is active during the day, it is only cruising in the forest. Don't look at it as a big black lazy cat during the day, in fact, it has extremely high speed, strength, and lethality.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Ink Leopard is an "all-around champion". Running fast on the ground, can reach 70 kilometers per hour; Outstanding jumping ability, can jump 6 meters away, 3 meters high; He is also very good at climbing, and in the blink of an eye, he can sneak up to a big tree and stand firmly on the branches.
In addition, the senses of the ink leopard are also very sensitive, sight, hearing, smell, are very sensitive, in the old can perceive the movement of the prey.
Many herbivores such as deer and sheep always like to come out in the morning and at dusk to forage, so the ink leopard is not only active at night, but also the time for them to hunt at dusk.
The ink leopard often uses its camouflage advantage to adopt the ambush hunting method: quietly approaching the prey, and then flying from behind, giving the prey a fatal blow, and having a rich dinner.
Although the success rate of hunting is quite high, sometimes the ink leopard will encounter setbacks. There are many monkey groups in the forest, and if the ink leopard breaks into the monkey's territory while hunting, the monkey will make a warning call.
Monkeys perched in trees can clearly see the situation on the ground, and their cries are a reminder to their companions, but they will also scare away the leopard's prey. At this time, the ink leopard could only watch the prey not far away escape.
04 Black fur will form a communication barrier, which is not conducive to courtship and raising young
The black leopard has the advantage of being conducive to concealment, which can improve the success rate of hunting to a certain extent, but there are also some disadvantages.
On the one hand, in the leopard population, the ink leopard is a minority after all, so that the black fur will form a communication barrier, mainly reflected in courtship.
Leopards identify their peers, often by characteristics such as body color, call, and smell. Scientists have found that the ink leopard is more difficult to find a mate than a leopard of normal body color because other leopards are not interested in it.
But there are exceptions, in a wildlife park in India, a male ink leopard and a female leopard were found to be paired, and they were inseparable and lived together for 4 years. Generally speaking, leopards only coexist with their mates during the mating period, and other times they live alone, so this pair of leopards with different body colors can be called the "love legend" of the leopard world.
On the other hand, leopards give birth to 2-3 cubs per litter, and if there are ink leopards, which are different from other cubs, they may be abandoned by the mother leopard. Or maybe the ink leopard is growing up, because the black is easily exposed during the day and is attacked by the beast.
In general, blackened leopards are not conducive to courtship and raising young. Therefore, the number of ink leopards is very rare and inevitable.
05 Conclusion
Because of its distinctive body color, the ink leopard is full of mystery and legendary color, which has amazed many zoologists! But at the same time, the survival status of the ink leopard is not optimistic, the habitat forest is deforested, and poachers are poaching the ink leopard in order to obtain black leopard skins.