A leopard hides in a tree, Ndutu Lake, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti plains, Arusha Region, Tanzania, East Africa.

A leopard (Panthera pardus) hides in a tree in the Ndutu Lake area, Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), in the southern Serengeti plains ecosystem, in Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region, Tanzania, East Africa. The leopard is one of the five species in the genus Panthera. The leopard has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Eight subspecies are recognised in its wide range in Africa and Asia. It initially evolved in Africa during the Early Pleistocene, before migrating into Eurasia around the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition. Leopards were formerly present across Europe, but became extinct in the region at around the end of the Late Pleistocene-early Holocene. It hunts mostly ungulates and primates, relying on its spotted pattern for camouflage as it stalks and ambushes its prey, which it sometimes drags up a tree. It is a solitary animal outside the mating season and when raising cubs. Females usually give birth to a litter of 2–4 cubs once in 15–24 months. Both male and female leopards typically reach sexual maturity at the age 2–2.5 years. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because leopard populations are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and are declining in large parts of the global range. UNESCO honors the NCA as a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.

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Contained in galleries: 2024 Feb AFRICA: TANZANIA, KENYA, VICTORIA FALLS, TANZANIA safari

A leopard (Panthera pardus) hides in a tree in the Ndutu Lake area, Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), in the southern Serengeti plains ecosystem, in Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region, Tanzania, East Africa. The leopard is one of the five species in the genus Panthera. The leopard has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Eight subspecies are recognised in its wide range in Africa and Asia. It initially evolved in Africa during the Early Pleistocene, before migrating into Eurasia around the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition. Leopards were formerly present across Europe, but became extinct in the region at around the end of the Late Pleistocene-early Holocene. It hunts mostly ungulates and primates, relying on its spotted pattern for camouflage as it stalks and ambushes its prey, which it sometimes drags up a tree. It is a solitary animal outside the mating season and when raising cubs. Females usually give birth to a litter of 2–4 cubs once in 15–24 months. Both male and female leopards typically reach sexual maturity at the age 2–2.5 years. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because leopard populations are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and are declining in large parts of the global range. UNESCO honors the NCA as a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.