Where Do Leopards Live? Leopard Range in Africa and Asia

The widest range of any wild cat

No other wild cat covers so much of the map. Leopards were once found across almost all of Africa and southern Asia, and during the Ice Age they lived in Europe too, from Spain and France to Britain, Poland and the Balkans.

Today they are still widespread, but their range is broken into pieces. A major review published in 2016 estimated that leopards have lost roughly two-thirds to three-quarters of their historical range. Losses are worst in North and West Africa, the Middle East, China and Southeast Asia, where leopards survive mostly in small, isolated pockets.

Leopards in Africa

Africa holds most of the world’s leopards. They are found in nearly every country south of the Sahara, from the rainforests of the Congo Basin and Gabon to the savannas of Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia and the dry bushveld and mountains of southern Africa. Kruger National Park in South Africa, the Serengeti and Maasai Mara, and South Luangwa in Zambia are among the best places to see them.

Leopards cope with drier country than most big cats, including the Kalahari and the edges of the Namib Desert, where they can get much of their water from prey. They also survive close to people: Nairobi National Park, right next to Kenya’s capital, has leopards.

The picture is much worse in West Africa, where the leopard’s range is thought to have shrunk by about 95%, and in North Africa and the Sahara. A leopard killed in southeastern Egypt in 2017 was the first record there in about 65 years.

Leopards in the Middle East and Central Asia

Two rare subspecies live here. The Arabian leopard, the smallest leopard, survives in the mountains of Oman and Yemen; a 2023 estimate put the wild population at only about 100–120 animals, and it is listed as Critically Endangered. The Persian leopard lives in rugged mountains and forests from eastern Turkey and the Caucasus through Iran to Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, mostly at about 600–3,800 m (2,000–12,500 ft). Fewer than about 1,100 adults are thought to remain, with Iran holding the largest share.

The Caucasus is the only place where leopards come close to Europe today. Russia has released captive-bred Persian leopards into its Caucasus reserves since 2016 to try to restore a wild population.

Leopards in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka

The Indian subcontinent is the leopard’s stronghold in Asia. The Indian leopard is found across most of India and Nepal, in forests, scrub, rocky hills, tea and coffee plantations and farmland. Surveys in India’s forested tiger landscapes estimated more than 12,000 leopards, and many more live outside those areas.

Indian leopards are famous for living near people. Rocky hills around Jawai in Rajasthan have leopards that rest among temples and villages, and Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai supports leopards inside one of the world’s largest cities. On Sri Lanka, the separate Sri Lankan leopard is the island’s top predator; it is listed as Vulnerable, with fewer than about 800 mature animals, and Yala National Park is one of the best places in the world to see wild leopards.

Leopards in Southeast Asia and China

In mainland Southeast Asia and southern China lives the Indochinese leopard, now rare outside a few protected areas in Myanmar, Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. It has disappeared from most of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam because of snaring and the wildlife trade. On the Malay Peninsula almost all leopards are black; see Is a black panther a leopard? for why.

The Javan leopard lives only on the Indonesian island of Java and is Endangered, with an estimated 188–571 mature animals in about 22 fragmented forest patches. Leopards do not occur naturally on Sumatra or Borneo.

In northern China, leopards survive in scattered mountain reserves, including the Qinling Mountains and the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi.

Leopards in the Russian Far East

The northernmost leopards are the Critically Endangered Amur leopards of southwest Primorye in Russia and neighboring Jilin and Heilongjiang in China. They live in mixed broadleaf and conifer forests where winter temperatures can fall to −25 °C (−13 °F), and they grow a thick, pale winter coat. Strict protection has helped their numbers climb from a few dozen to more than 100; read How many Amur leopards are left? for the full story.

Leopard habitats at a glance

What leopards need is not a particular landscape but enough prey, cover to hide in and freedom from heavy persecution. Where those three conditions are met, they can live almost anywhere.