- Panther: description, structure, characteristics. What does a panther look like?
In fact, the word “panther” hides not a separate biological species, but an entire genus of the cat family, which includes such formidable predators as the lion,
tiger, jaguar and leopard. As for the well-known black panther, it is usually a leopard or jaguar, which has a corresponding black color.
Description of panthers
Panther
Panther belongs to the genus of large predatory animals from the cat family.
This genus is represented by four living all known predators: tiger, leopard, lion and jaguar. The panther is none other than a representative of the leopard (read our article: the biggest cats in the world). Although there is still controversy over who exactly the panther belongs to, jaguars or leopards. Panthers are distinguished because of their color, because many of them have an even color, most often black. Interesting fact : due to its majestic appearance, the panther was used on the emblem of English kings. Nowadays it is present on the coat of arms of the African country of Gabon.
Video
And in conclusion, an interesting documentary video about a black panther/leopard.
Author: Pavel Chaika, editor-in-chief of Poznavaika magazine
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Black Panther Animal.
Appearance of panthers
Appearance of panthers
These wild animals have a muscular body, which reaches a length of 95-180 cm, a tail - 70-115 cm. The weight of panthers usually ranges from 40-55 kg, but some individuals can reach 100 kg. The tail accounts for up to half the length of the body, sometimes more; thanks to this assistant, they maintain excellent balance and feel comfortable even at high altitudes. Panthers are very graceful animals, but behind their external beauty and grace lies a real ruthless predator that can easily attack a person.
Wool
The fur of these animals is hard, it covers the entire body and most often has a black color, but if you look closely, you can see spots of dark shades of various kinds.
Panther
The panther moves on four powerful limbs, easily climbs trees and jumps well. At the ends of its paws there are sharp claws that can be completely hidden by retracting into the fingers. The height of the animal at the withers reaches 50-70 cm.
Head
Panther fangs
The head of the predator is large and has a somewhat elongated shape. At the top of the head there are small ears. The eyes are medium in size with round pupils. The panther has powerful jaws with a complete dental system. The canines are not large compared to other wild cats, but they are quite powerful and have a wide base. A predator can easily climb a tree while holding the body of its prey in its mouth.
It is impossible not to note the main feature of panthers - the structure of their larynx. They have a not completely ossified hyoid apparatus, in which there is a flexible ligament, thanks to which the larynx is able to swell and the panther can emit a kind of roar. In addition to this feature, the animal’s vocal cords also do not separate, but form a tubular structure. Thanks to this structure, the roar is very loud and deep.
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The image of the black panther in human culture
The graceful, coal-colored predator has long attracted people's attention. The image of this beast can be found on the aristocratic coats of arms of the most glorious European monarchs. German heraldists preferred to use modified images, adding horns, cow ears, and a fiery tongue.
Our contemporaries associate the image of a black panther with Bagheera from Kipling's The Jungle Book.
Numerous dream interpreters offer the following interpretations of the appearance of a predatory cat in a dream plot:
- An animal proudly walking through the forest is the fulfillment of ambitious plans.
- A predator climbing a tree is a career failure.
- Hunting scene - quarrel with friends.
- A female with babies is a chance meeting with an interesting person.
- A predator caught in a cage is the fulfillment of a plan.
- A large animal means an enemy, and the coal color indicates that the enemy has influential support.
- A battle in which the predator wins means failure in business.
- A battle in which a man defeats a beast is success in his endeavors.
- A tamed and affectionate panther is a significant success and an increase in authority.
- Feeding a predator from your hands means support from high authorities.
What do panthers eat?
Panther on the hunt
The panther is a carnivorous predator, so its diet can include any animal. The wild cat gives preference to artiodactyls, and the size of the prey does not matter: among them there are zebras, antelopes, buffalos, roe deer, etc. It can also attack livestock; cows, sheep, and goats can become victims.
Despite the fact that the panther hunts mainly on the ground, while resting in a tree it may also be interested in a monkey as a potential victim. This predator can go without food for 5-6 days , but in this case the feeling of hunger takes over the cat so much that it begins to pose a great danger to the person whom it is ready to attack without hesitation.
These predators usually look out for their prey and lie in wait, waiting for the right moment. When the game comes closer, the panther can overtake it in several jumps, and, if necessary, can rush to catch up, developing speeds of up to 60 km/h. It is difficult to escape from this predator or escape from its tenacious clutches.
Habits
There are very few known cases of this predator attacking people, and more often this was provoked by the person himself. Scientists (naturalists, zoologists) and travelers believe that the predator is simply curious and not aggressive.
In essence, the black jaguar is a free cat that loves wild spaces.
Quite readily attacks domestic livestock. The peculiarity of the jaguar is that it does not pursue fleeing animals.
He loves to dig up turtle eggs, and can also deal with the turtles themselves, removing their soft parts from under the shell with his paw. He simply crushes smaller individuals with his teeth. In addition, this predator is an excellent swimmer and a good fisherman.
As a rule, it eats its prey, starting from the head. It almost never eats carrion.
When hunting, the jaguar makes unusual sounds - a guttural, abrupt grunt, and during the mating season and at night it makes a loud roar.
Character and lifestyle
This predator does not live in a pack, but wanders on its own. Prefers to hunt large animals. Its diet is dominated mainly by ungulate mammals: antelope, buffalo, zebra. Sometimes a wild cat is not averse to snacking on a monkey.
Panther
Why does a panther drag its prey up a tree?
A panther can attack an animal that is larger in size - few can compete with this predator in strength and agility . She can easily drag any caught prey up a tree and have her meal there. This manner of hiding its food is also connected with the fact that in this way the panther protects its prey from attacks by hyenas and lions that roam the earth. This is another distinctive feature of leopards, because only they drag their prey into trees.
Panther on a tree
Leopards, which include the panther, love to rest in trees, they even sleep there. They stretch out on the branches and casually hang their paws down. Panthers can jump onto trees up to 5.5 meters high ; no other predator can boast of such jumping ability.
It is curious that a wild cat kills only when it feels hungry; if the predator is full, then even if a small kid is in front of its nose, the panther will not touch it . But when a predator is hungry, it can even attack a person. Panthers often settle near human dwellings and can enter its territory without any problems. They like to hunt at night, so there are cases of attacking a person in a dream.
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Interesting fact : according to statistics, panthers cannot be called cannibals. Other predators, such as tigers or lions, are seen attacking humans much more often.
Unlike other representatives of this species, panthers are difficult to train and have a wayward character. They are very brave animals and do not have the slightest fear of humans. They prefer to live alone; occasionally they can walk in pairs, male + female.
This is a territorial predator that does not tolerate strangers in its area. They mark their territory with a specific smell and leave special claw marks on trees. If there is quite a lot of food in the selected territory, then the panther can somewhat narrow its territory, but if there is scarce living life in this area, on the contrary, it can mark and conquer a larger area.
Lifestyle
Panthers, like real representatives of the cat family, are true individualists, preferring to live alone, or in pairs of male + female. Occasionally they can gather in a pride, as lions do, creating a small family of panthers, but this does not happen often.
Panthers are territorial animals; each panther has its own specific territory, so to speak, hunting grounds, where it is not advisable for other panthers to enter.
Panthers are nocturnal, which is greatly facilitated by their black color, thanks to which night hunting is much more preferable for a panther than chasing game during the day.
How long do panthers live?
Panther
Like all representatives of this species of animals, panthers are not long-livers. Their age ranges from 10–12 years . Even under favorable conditions, they rarely live past 15 years.
Panthers remain active for the first 8 years, then there comes a period when they become inactive and no longer attack large animals. Predators can no longer cope with hardy and strong animals. They look for easy prey and do not disdain carrion in the last years of their lives.
Interesting fact : there are recorded cases of a panther living for twenty years.
General information
A panther is not a specific animal, but a whole genus of the cat family, which includes such well-known species as the jaguar, tiger, lion and leopard, as well as some that are already extinct. Sometimes the snow leopard (snow leopard) is also included in this category, but most often it is classified into its own genus.
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Reproduction and offspring
Panther Kittens
Panthers are solitary animals, but they form pairs to produce offspring. During the mating season, animals begin to hunt together and spend a lot of time next to each other.
Interesting fact : male panthers are much larger than females, almost twice as large.
- These wild cats reach maturity at 2.5-3 years of age. Being in a warm climate means that predators can breed all year round.
- They bear cubs for 3-3.5 months.
- The panther prepares for childbirth in advance, choosing a secluded place for this.
- A wild cat reserves food for itself for the first time after giving birth, because for the first 10 days after the kittens are born, it does not leave their side.
- Usually one or two kittens are born, but there are also cases of three or four small predators being born.
Panthers are caring parents, so mothers stay close to their cubs even after their eyes open. During the first 10 days of life, the mother does not leave her offspring; in practice, there are even cases of starvation of the female during this period.
Interesting fact : a caring panther mother is so kind to her offspring that she doesn’t even let the father get close to the kittens at first.
They teach their offspring all the intricacies of hunting and the basic rules of survival in the wild. When it comes time to include meat in the kittens' diet, their mother simply places her prey in front of them, without helping them tear the meat off the bone. Thus, from childhood, little panthers learn to control their claws and teeth.
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Panthers selflessly rush to protect their offspring and are ready to sacrifice their lives for them without hesitation.
In one year, the cubs become mature, mature predators and most often go into independent life in the wild.
Natural enemies
Panther
In the wild, this predator has practically no enemies . A panther can get into a fight for prey with another large predator, but it can always soberly assess its capabilities and step aside, giving up its trophy to another animal.
A wild cat has high intelligence, so it can always avoid unnecessary skirmishes with other predators. For a panther, a person who may have a firearm in his hands remains an enemy - no claws or teeth can compete against him.
Black Panther
Spotted Panther
Many people believe that a panther should be black, but this is not entirely true. This animal has a spotted color, but thanks to a peculiar gene mutation, a genetic color variant has arisen - black. This phenomenon is called melanism.
Most often, melanism manifests itself in animals living in dark, dense forests, where there is an acute lack of light. Dark predators are less noticeable here, which makes their existence easier and makes the hunt even more successful, because cats’ eyesight allows them to see well in the dark. Panthers move silently, which allows them to get very close to the victim.
The skin of a black panther is not perfectly black; if you look closely, you can identify characteristic spots of dark color. Black and spotted individuals are no different except for color and can mate with each other, producing both black and spotted kittens.
Interesting fact : the black gene is a recessive trait, so it is most often suppressed by the spotting gene.
Habitat
The most popular region where the gene mutation is common among species is Malaysia. There, more than 50% of cats are representatives of the black panther species. Also, black panthers have spread mostly to the mountainous region of Ethiopia and Kenya. Some of the mutated individuals found refuge in Asia and South America.
Population and species status
Panther
No source can absolutely accurately and reliably tell us how many panthers there are in the wild. This predator is classified either as a leopard or as a jaguar, so it is very difficult to estimate their population. Many zoologists are inclined to think that very soon panthers will be distinguished as a separate species. This is due to the fact that recently they have been reproducing only between black individuals.
At the moment, panthers are not listed in the Red Book and their numbers are not on the verge of extinction, so there are no significant reasons for concern.
We have only lifted the curtain on the vast world of wildlife, of which the panther is a small part. How many more secrets and mysteries this unexplored life of wild animals hides from us. The panther is a prominent representative among the feline predators, and it will never cease to interest people, because it has long been attributed magical properties and associated with the other world.
Bagheera - she or he?
Let's return to an important issue already touched upon earlier. Bagheera is perhaps the most famous representative of the black panthers - every schoolchild knows this character from Rudyard Kipling's book. Yes, he appeared many times in cartoon films.
It so happened that in the Russian translation Bagheera was suddenly made... female. But in the original – “The Jungle Book” – she was definitely a male. As a result, when they filmed the cartoon, they followed the beaten path and left the floor unchanged, as already familiar. She became graceful, flexible, with the bewitching voice of Lyudmila Kasatkina. Therefore, it is not so easy to believe that Bagheera is actually a male.
