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In the Great Cats of India, Alphonse Roy, India's leading wildlife cinematographer, goes on a personal quest to track four species of India's big cats — the tiger, Asiatic lion, leopard and snow leopard.

Tiger (Panthera tigris)
Tigers are the largest of the big cats, and tigers in India are a bit larger than those in Indonesia or Bali, with males weighing 180 to 260 kilograms (396 to 572 pounds) and females 130 to 160 kilograms (286 to 352 pounds). There are eight subspecies of tigers.

Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica)
The Asiatic lion can be found only in Gir, a forest region in northwest India. These lions tend to be smaller than their counterparts in Africa. There may be a mere 200 to 300 Asiatic lions remaining in the wild.

Leopard (Panthera pardus)
While tigers are the largest of all great cats, leopards may have the largest geographical range and the most varied appearance. They are comfortable in tropical forests, mountains, grasslands and deserts. In deserts, leopards appear to be pale yellow in color. In grassy areas, they are a darker yellow; sometimes they are black all

Snow Leopard (Panthera unica)
With its spotted coat, the snow leopard resembles the leopard, but it has made other adaptations to suit its habitat range. Snow leopards are rarely seen, but when they are they can be found in the mountain ranges of Central Asia, from northwestern Tibet to the Himalayas.



leopard facts

1) Conservation status (IUCN)
-------------------------------Near Threatened---------------------------------
AFRICAN LEOPARD, occurs across most of sub-Saharan Africa
INDIAN LEOPARD, is widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent
INDO-CHINESE LEOPARD, mainland Southeast Asia & southern China
All increasingly rare outside protected areas. Populations are decreasing

---------------------------------Endangered-------------------------------------
PERSIAN LEOPARD, fewer than 871-1,290 mature ind., declining pop.
SRI LANKAN LEOPARD, Sri Lanka
NORTH CHINESE LEOPARD, Northern China

------------------------------Critically Endangered----------------------------
JAVAN LEOPARD, from 350-700 to 250 or even 100 mature individuals.
ARABIAN LEOPARD, less than 200 in 2006, pop. decreasing.
AMUR LEOPARD, support at: [ Ссылка ] . With 30 in the wild, it is the most endangered big cat species on Earth. ALTA is implementing a wide series of projects to save the species


2) Human threat
Habitat loss.
Killed for commercial reasons (fur ...), leopard-human conflict, hunt for fun. Kept unfree (zoos..., in small cages without vegetation + exhibited all day to another species). Used as tourist attractions. Petted. And surely others...


3) Small description
opportunistic hunt, adaptability to habitats, max speed 58 kms/h (36 mph), ability to climb trees even with heavy carcass, stealth.
Its habitat ranged from rainforest to desert terrains. Elusive, solitary and largely nocturnal, it had to compete for food and shelter with predators such as lions, tigers, spotted hyenas, African & Asiatic wild dogs.

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