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Leopard

Panthera pardus

The species

Scientific name: Panthera pardus
Size: 1.4 to 1.8 m long without the tail for a male, 60 to 90 kg
Danger: Can injureShy, it avoids people, but a startled or wounded leopard will charge: stay in the vehicle, and nobody follows an animal that moves off into the thickets.
Where to see it: 18 parks on this site

Good to know

A tawny coat covered in rosettes, ring-shaped spots, unlike the solid spots of the cheetah
A stocky, low-slung build and a big head, with no black tear marks on the face
Lying on a branch, it ignores 4x4s: with the engine off, it stays put for hours
In the trees along rivers and on kopjes, in the Serengeti and Tarangire, late in the day

By day, the leopard sleeps on a thick branch above a river, and its hanging tail often gives it away. Sabi Sand in South Africa, where you follow it from a few meters away, and Samburu in Kenya are the surest places; in Tanzania, look around Seronera in the Serengeti in the late afternoon.

Where to see the leopard on safari?

A family of elephants drinks at a muddy waterhole, a large female facing the camera on the right and three young on the left, low bush and blue hills behind

South AfricaNational park

Addo Elephant National Park

Can be seen all year round: very rare

Four elephants walk through a green meadow dotted with white flowers in front of a line of acacias, the snowy summit of Kilimanjaro behind them

KenyaNational park

Amboseli National Park

Can be seen all year round: rare, on the edges of the swamps

Close-up of a white rhino grazing head down, its long, slender, curved front horn raised above the green grass and its square lip on the ground

South AfricaGame reserve

Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park

Can be seen all year round: Hluhluwe forests, rarely seen

A female elephant crosses a paved road side-on while a young elephant behind her pulls leaves from a roadside bush, green bush all around

South AfricaNational park

Kruger National Park

Northeastern South Africa

Can be seen all year round: riverine forest along the Sabie and Olifants, up in the trees

A dark-maned lion stretched out full length on a thick branch, legs dangling, against a blue sky

TanzaniaNational park

Lake Manyara National Park

Northern Tanzania

Can be seen all year round: forest, rarely seen

A lesser flamingo runs across the gray water to take off, a long line of pink flamingos at the far end of the lake

KenyaNational park

Lake Nakuru National Park

Can be seen all year round: yellow-barked acacias, often up a tree

South AfricaGame reserve

Madikwe Game Reserve

Northwestern South Africa

Can be seen all year round: rocky hills of the Dwarsberg

A column of wildebeest charges down an earth bank and plunges into the gray river, the first ones already swimming in line toward the far bank

KenyaNational reserve

Masai Mara National Reserve

Southwestern Kenya

Can be seen all year round: riverine forest along the Talek and Mara rivers

The green crater floor seen from the rim, with Lake Magadi and clouds clinging to the walls

TanzaniaConservation area

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Northern Tanzania

Can be seen all year round: forests of the rim and Lerai, rarely seen

Two African wild dogs lying in dry grass under palm fronds, one looking at the camera, large round ears pricked up

TanzaniaNational park

Nyerere National Park

Southern Tanzania

Can be seen all year round: riverine forests

Two southern white rhinos graze green grass, one caked in mud with a long horn, the other light gray and seen head-on

KenyaPrivate reserve

Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Can be seen all year round: riverine woodland, mostly at night

Wildebeest, impalas, zebras and a male greater kudu gathered on red earth around a waterhole, the green hills of the crater behind

South AfricaNational park

Pilanesberg National Park

Northwestern South Africa

Can be seen all year round: rocky hills, rarely seen

The dry, rocky bed of the Great Ruaha, with a leafless baobab on the bank and zebras in the distance on the hill

TanzaniaNational park

Ruaha National Park

Southern Tanzania

Can be seen all year round: wooded ravines and riverbanks

A leopard walks straight toward the camera on a red sand track between dry grasses, its gaze fixed and one front paw raised

South AfricaPrivate reserve

Sabi Sand Game Reserve

Northeastern South Africa

Peak season all year round: the reserve's signature animal, tracked by the guides from one drive to the next

KenyaNational reserve

Samburu National Reserve

Peak season all year round: tall acacias on the riverbank

Zebras come down a sandy bank and ford the river, while wildebeest wait at the top of the slope

TanzaniaNational park

Serengeti National Park

Northern Tanzania

Can be seen all year round: in the trees

A herd of elephants with several calves crosses muddy ground, with a baobab and acacias behind

TanzaniaNational park

Tarangire National Park

Northern Tanzania

Can be seen all year round: along the river

An elephant entirely red with laterite throws earth over its back with its trunk, clods flying, in dry grass

KenyaNational park

Tsavo East National Park

Can be seen all year round: rare, Galana riverine forest

How do you identify a leopard?

The leopard is a cat 1.4 to 1.8 meters long without the tail, short-legged and muscular. A male weighs 60 to 90 kg, and the female is lighter. The tawny coat carries rosettes, ring-shaped spots, on the flanks and back, and solid spots on the head and legs. The cheetah, its look-alike from a distance, has solid spots all over, a slender build, a small head and two black tear marks running from the corner of the eye to the muzzle. The leopard has no tear marks, and its head is broad. In a tree, its long hanging tail often gives it away.

Leopard in pictures

A young leopard lying on a thick tree branch looks straight into the camera

A leopard lying in the fork of an acacia looks to the left, crisp black spots on its pale coat

How do leopards live?

The leopard lives alone, except when mating and while the female raises her cubs. It hunts at night and at dusk, lying in wait, then hauls its prey up a tree, out of reach of lions and hyenas. Its territory follows rivers and rocky outcrops, where it finds shade and lookout points. It adapts to every habitat, from the forest of Lake Manyara to the miombo woodland of Ruaha, which is why it is still found in every park in Tanzania despite being so secretive.

Where and when can you see leopards on safari?

Use binoculars to scan the thick acacia branches above rivers, where the leopard spends the day. The best times are the late afternoon, when it comes down, and the early morning, when it heads back. An antelope hauled into a tree or barking baboons tell you one is near. In Tanzania, the Serengeti around Seronera is still the most reliable park, and Tarangire shows them along its wooded riverbanks. In Ngorongoro and Nyerere, sightings are rare.

In Kenya, Samburu shows them in every season, asleep in the tall acacias on the riverbank. At Lake Nakuru, they often perch in the yellow-barked acacias.

In South Africa, the leopards of Sabi Sand have lived alongside 4x4s for decades. You follow them from a few meters away, off-road, by day and by night. In Kruger, they sleep in the big trees along the Sabie and Olifants rivers. Your best chances are in Sabi Sand and Samburu, in every season.

Are leopards endangered?

Since 2016, the leopard has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with a declining trend. Its population, estimated at 700,000 in the 1990s, has never been counted precisely, because the animal is so elusive. It is poached for its skin and bones, and killed by herders whose livestock it attacks. It is also losing its prey wherever bushmeat hunting is spreading. Tanzania's large parks, led by the Serengeti and Nyerere, give it vast, intact territories.

Our tip

Ask your guide to scan the thick horizontal branches along rivers in the late afternoon, when the leopard moves. A carcass wedged in a tree means it will be back at night.