Look carefully at this leopard. Notice that it has a longer body, bigger head, and shorter legs than the other big cats. Its fur is covered with rosettes, a bit like a cheetah.

Leopards live alone and defend their territories from one another, but not against other big cats.

Leopards are very adaptable, and can be found in savanna lands as well as woods and forests. They can run at nearly 40 miles an hour.

Leopards are mainly ambush hunters, and they can readily climb trees and lie in wait for prey to pass or simply hide within bushes.

Leopards hunt mainly from dusk till dawn and rest for most of the day as well as for some hours night. For resting they choose thickets, rocks and tree branches.

Because it likes to approach its prey by stealth, most of a leopard's food is animals, such as impala, a kind of deer, that live in scrubs and woodland, rather than animals living in the open plains.

During the dry season, leopards drink water every two to three days, and get the rest of the water they need from succulent plants and by eating prey. Because of this, leopards are even able to survive in fully dry areas like the Kalahari desert.