leopard

1. a large feline mammal, Panthera pardus, of forests of Africa and Asia, usually having a tawny yellow coat with black rosette-like spots

2. any of several similar felines, such as the snow leopard and cheetah

3. clouded leopard a feline, Neofelis nebulosa, of SE Asia and Indonesia with a yellowish-brown coat marked with darker spots and blotches

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

leopard

[′lep·ərd]

(vertebrate zoology)

Felis pardus. A species of wildcat in the family Felidae found in Africa and Asia; the coat is characteristically buff-colored with black spots.

leopard

represents meanness, sin, and the devil. [Animal Symbolism: Mercatante, 56]

See: Cruelty

Leopard

Version 10.5 of the Mac OS X operating system, which runs on PowerPC and Intel-based Macs. Released in October 2007, Leopard includes many enhancements and new features, including Time Machine, an automated backup utility; Spaces, a way to organize applications in separate "virtual" desktops; and Spotlight, a search capability across the network. Boot Camp, which allows users to install Windows on Intel-based Macs, is included rather than being an option.

Numerous enhancements were made to the basic OS X architecture, and several security enhancements were added. For example, Leopard supports code signing, which verifies that executable applications are not tampered with. Address space randomization places code randomly in memory rather than in predetermined locations that hackers are expecting. See Snow Leopard, Mac OS X and Boot Camp.

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Leopard

(Felis pardus), a predatory mammal of the family Felidae.

The maximum body length of the leopard is 160 cm. Males weigh up to 75 kg; females weigh somewhat less. The body is elongated and muscular, and the legs are relatively short. The fur is thick and fluffy. Leopards are yellow or red with black spots. Sometimes black (melanistic) leopards are found (in India).

Leopards are found in Africa (except in the Sahara), Southwest Asia, and southern Asia; in the USSR—in the Caucasus (very rarely), in the mountains of southwestern and southern Turkmenia, the southern part of Tadzhikstan, and Ussuriisk Krai. Leopards inhabit remote forests and mountains. They hunt mainly ungulates (goats, sheep, deer). Sometimes they pursue domestic animals (sheep, horses, and dogs) and also birds and rodents. In India there are leopards that on rare occasions attack humans.

The number of leopards is steadily decreasing in all areas. Their number decreased especially sharply in the 1950’s and 1960’s in Africa because of the fashion for leopard coats. The decrease in the number of leopards has led to a sharp increase in the number of baboons, which badly damage crops.

REFERENCE

Mlekopitaiushchie Sovetskogo Soiuza, vol. 2, part 2. (Forthcoming.)

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References in periodicals archive

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Taiwan's leopard cat lives saved by road culverts

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Rare Visayan wildcats find new home in Iloilo park

The number of leopard cats in the hills is not known, but Mr Changwani said there are probably less than half a dozen to be found in the national park.

Wildlife staff save rare leopard cat, arrest poachers

"The Asian Leopard Cat is a wild animal and shouldn't be used as a pet," said Mr Bamping.

Have you spotted the Leopard Cat? IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE AS COUNCIL LICENSES EXOTIC PET

The significant non-random associations which were positive were only two in which hangul exhibited significantly positive co-occurrence patterns with the leopard cat (P = 0.012) and the Indian porcupine ([P.sub.gt] = 0.039).

Activity patterns and spatial co-occurrence of sympatric mammals in the moist temperate forest of the Kashmir Himalaya, India

Whereas the facial tuberosity and facial crest were absent in leopard cat (Sarma et al., 2001) and in tiger (Joshi), but in horse (Getty) only the facial tuberosity was absent.

Morphological and Radiographic Studies on the Skull of Indian Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra)/Estudios Morfologicos y Radiograficos del Craneo del Antilope Negro (Antilope cervicapra) de la India

For estimating the population size of leopard cat in the Prek catchment, grid-based sampling was done for a short period of two months (October-November 2009) to assure no significant changes in the population size to be sampled and hence maintain geographical and demographic closure (Karanth 1995).

Estimating leopard cat Pvionailuvus bengalensis densities using photographic captures and recaptures

The "alert list" of species which are not yet in the wild in Britain but which could pose a future threat include the Arctic fox, sacred ibis, leopard cat, racoon and American beaver.

Pythons, racoons and chipmunks heading our way; Invasive species on rise

The elusive mountain cat is comparable in size to an American bobcat, possesses slightly larger ears, and is generally considered an isolated relative of Southeast Asia's leopard cat. For years, the dense forests of far-flung Iriomote helped the shy creature hide--it wasn't discovered by humans until the 1960s.

Japan's elusive mountain cat

Set several thousand years ago in southern India, this is the tale of an Asian leopard cat called Billi, who observes the daily activities of the "two-foots" from his favorite branch high up in the mango orchard.

The Cat Who Came in From the Cold

The Bengal kittens have an Asian Leopard Cat as their father and as a result are said to be extremely sought after.

Rare kittens at purr-fect price

Clockwise from top left, a tired Pope John Paul II at the alter during a mass in Krakow's Blonie ground; Vissarion (formerly policeman Sergei Torop and now a self-proclaimed Jesus Christ), head of the Vissarion sect, greets his followers during a community holiday in Petropavlovka, Russia; a six-month old leopard cat growls from its cage in Gauhati; members of the Royal Ballet of Flounders during a dress rehearsal of Swan Lake; an ambulance carrying the bodies of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman leaves the woodland area where they were discovered; a paraglider takes advantage of a good breeze on West Vancouver beach; the British training ship Stavros S Niarchos leads the parade of sail at Portsmouth

A week in Pictures