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The Leopard Panthera pardus A typical panther from the Indian peninsula is a sleek short haired animal with a fulvous or bright fulvous coat marked with small close set black rosettes. There is however considerable colour variation. Animals from the desert zone are paler. Panthers from Kashmir have soft deep furred grey buff coats with small thick rimmed rosettes. Panthers from Sindh, Kashmir and Baluchistan are regarded as distinct races. So is the panther of Sikkim and Nepal.
Panthers
are able to live and thrive almost anywhere. They are not restricted
to forest or heavy covers like tigers and thrive as well in
open country as among rocks and scrub. Being more tolerant of
the sun they frequently hunt by day. The panther will kill and
eat anything it can empower with safety, cattle, deer, monkey
and larger rodents like porcupine. The panthers chief enemy
is the tiger. Wild dogs and hyenas frequently come off best
in encounter with panthers. The panthers habitat brings it into
far more frequent contact with man than the tiger. Panthers
living near the human settlement, particularly outside forest
area prey mainly on domestic animals, calves, sheep and goats
and quite commonly on dogs. It displays many of the habits and
ways of tiger. Like the tiger the panther follows roads through
the forest or waits for its prey in hiding. The strength of
the panther is amazing. To find security for its kill a panther
has scrambled up a tree carrying a fully-grown cheetal Stag
in its mouth. The man eater panther is much more dreaded than
the tiger.
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