What Do Leopards Eat? Leopard Diet and Tree-Stashed Kills

What does a leopard eat in the wild?

Leopards are opportunistic hunters: they take whatever suitable prey is most available and easiest to catch where they live. Studies across Africa show a clear preference for prey of about 10–40 kg (22–88 lb), which a single leopard can kill safely and carry. Animals of this size often live in thick cover and in small groups, which suits a stalking predator.

Typical prey includes:

• Antelopes: impala, bushbuck, common duiker, reedbuck, young kudu and wildebeest calves
• Deer and pigs in Asia: chital (spotted deer), barking deer, young sambar, wild boar
• Primates: baboons, vervet monkeys, colobus and other monkeys, gray langurs in India
• Smaller mammals: hares, hyraxes, porcupines, rodents and small carnivores such as jackals and genets
• Others: birds, lizards, snakes, fish, frogs and large beetles, especially for young or hungry leopards

The share of each prey type changes with the place and season. In a long-running study in China’s Wolong reserve, leopards shifted from tufted deer to bamboo rats and other small prey as the forest cover changed. That flexibility is one reason leopards survive where other big cats have disappeared.

How do leopards hunt?

Most leopards hunt from dusk to dawn, relying on sharp hearing and night vision. The classic method is the stalk: the leopard moves forward slowly, crouched low, freezing whenever the prey looks up and using bushes, grass and rocks as cover. Its rosette pattern breaks up its outline in dappled shade.

When it is close, often within about 5 m (16 ft), the leopard rushes and pounces. It rarely chases far; a sprint of up to about 58 km/h (36 mph) lasts only a few seconds. Small prey is killed with a bite to the back of the neck, while larger animals are held by the throat until they suffocate. Leopards also ambush prey at waterholes and on trails, and in places such as the Serengeti they have been seen dropping onto prey from trees.

Not every hunt succeeds. Like other stalking cats, leopards fail more often than they win, which is why a broad menu matters so much.

Why do leopards drag their kills into trees?

Hauling food into trees is the leopard’s best-known habit. A leopard is strong enough to carry a carcass heavier than itself several meters up a trunk, gripping it in its jaws and climbing with its powerful forelegs. One leopard was recorded hauling a young giraffe of roughly 125 kg (276 lb) into a tree.

The reason is competition. In Africa, lions and spotted hyenas readily steal food from leopards on the ground, and they can also kill a leopard. In South Africa’s Sabi Sand reserve, hyenas were responsible for up to about half of stolen leopard kills. Storing the carcass high in a fork of branches keeps it away from hyenas and makes it harder for lions to reach, although lions sometimes climb up and take it anyway.

Leopards do not always use trees. Where there are no rival scavengers or few suitable trees, as in parts of the Kalahari, they hide kills under bushes, in thickets or among rocks instead. Before leopards died out in Europe, they cached meat in caves, leaving piles of bones that scientists still find today.

How much and how often do leopards eat?

A leopard does not need to kill every day. Estimates put the average intake at about 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) of meat a day for an adult male and about 2.8 kg (6.2 lb) for a female, but this is spread unevenly. After killing an impala, a leopard may feed on it for two to three days, then go hungry until the next success. A mother with cubs needs to hunt more often.

Leopards get much of their water from their food. In dry areas such as the southern Kalahari they can go several days without drinking and have been seen eating moisture-rich plants such as wild melons.

How the diet changes from place to place

Near towns and farms, domestic dogs, goats and calves can become important prey. This brings leopards into conflict with people and is one of the main reasons they are killed. In the Russian Far East, the endangered Amur leopard depends heavily on deer, so protecting its prey is part of protecting the cat.

Leopards compared with other big cats

Lions hunt large prey such as zebra and buffalo in groups, and cheetahs specialize in fast, light antelopes caught in open country. Leopards sit in between, taking a wider range of sizes than either. Where tigers live, leopards usually take smaller prey than the tiger, which helps the two cats share the same forests. In the Americas, the jaguar fills a similar role but eats far more caimans, turtles and fish; see leopard vs jaguar for more differences.