Fearless and graceful animal, which became the hero of numerous legends and myths of different peoples, has always attracted the attention of curious people. Some people incorrectly believe that the Panther always has a dark color.
Wrong only because the Panther is not a separate type, but only mechanistically type cat. Thus, due to the high content of melanin (dark pigment) feral cats can look like.
These kind of cat includes several extinct species and the four now living:
- tiger;
- lion;
- leopard;
- Jaguar.
Why black Panther cannot be singled out as a separate species. Often in nature you can meet a Jaguar or leopard like colouring. The black color appears because of a genetic mutation.
The color is a black Panther not always homogeneous and may include some inclusions or blemishes. For example, in the wild you can often find the animal with light panels or a shade of brown. While cats of different colors can interbreed with each other. The offspring will be yellow if one of the parents has the color. Young black color only appear in both parents of such color.
Physiological characteristics of the animal Panther
No wonder she is becoming one of the most beautiful and majestic characters in fairy tales and legends, as the animal has well-built body, harmonious and beautiful, large massive paws and long tail. The weight of this animal can range from 50 to 60 pounds, and the rise from 60 to 70 centimeters. The length of the body most often appears to be one meter.
The head is of large size and somewhat elongated shape arranged on the top of the ears allows you to hear even a whisper in a radius of several kilometers. Large eye with a pupil give a great opportunity to see in the dark. The jaw is well developed.
This animal is an excellent predator in the wild, as it has a wonderfully developed organs of smell. Because of the flexibility of his body, the Panther can be graceful and silent, and black color at night makes it just an excellent hunter. Such qualities allow the Panther without any problems sneak up to the victim and remain unnoticed.
An interesting fact is that the Panthers of a peculiar structure of the larynx. Camera, not stiff, has a flexible ligament, which allows the larynx to swell. Such special structure allows the Panther to issue a terrifying and incredibly loud roar. Undivided vocal cords only amplify this effect. But to purr these creatures can’t.
This wild animal can easily catch up with their prey because of the possibility to reach the speed of 70 m/s. the structure of the large soft paws do these movements with maximum quiet and tight developed muscles allow the animal to jump up to seven meters.
You may notice a pronounced sexual dimorphism. Digit males are larger than females by approximately 25%.
The way of life and inhabited by a Panther
These creatures are very well suited to warm and even hot climates, so they can be most often found in the tropical forests of Africa, South America and even Asia except the Northern part, the southern part of North America and even in South-East Europe. Because of the fear of men, these animals try to stay as far as possible, but in the history there were times when predators could live very close to villages and even cities. Great danger to a man to imagine they can’t, but in self-defense can hurt.
The Panther is a predator, it is not surprising that the main food for it is considered the meat of hoofed animals. In extreme cases, one could notice the predator bites monkeys, eggs large and medium-sized birds and even fruit to fruit.
The animal can go without food for about five days. Hungry Panther can be dangerous. Despite the fact that usually the predator goes around villages and cities, he could attack a sleeping person in the event of extreme hunger and hunting for cows and pigs – the usual case. But the surprising fact is that well-fed predator will not touch even chicken who goes near it.
To kill a predator loves near waterand the bite victim somewhere on top. Often they can be found among the branches at a height of more than four meters, where they can sleep after a long hunting night.
These animals are willful, determined and are persistent, making them virtually unteachable for circus performances or personal content. But zoos never refuse the opportunity to acquire a specimen of this species, because the Panthers have attracted visitors and wildlife enthusiasts from around the world.
In the Panthers always had something mysterious, which made them the common characters and symbols in different cultures. A popular application in the epic image of this predator is the “Mowgli” with all the famous Bagheera in the story. In the United States since 1965 produced comics from MARVEL with one of the main characters with the name Black Panther.
A funny fact is that the PUMA brand logo is a black Panther, as scientists argue the impossibility of having Cougars, dark brown in color.
The lifespan of this great creature is not more than 12 years. And that is strange to many lovers of animals and nature, in captivity Panthers live much longer and their age can reach up to 20 years. Scientists have observed that after the tenth year of life the predators become inactive. At this age it becomes hard to hunt, they look for easy prey and may even eat carrion. Quickly leaving their force does not allow to attack strong and fast animals.
Hybrids
Artificially we can deduce hybrids Panthers and other wild cats.
Popular hybrids are:
- Tigon – a hybrid of a tiger and a lioness (Panthera).
- Liger – hybrid of a lion (Panther) and tigress.
- Leopon – a hybrid of leopard (Panther) and a lioness.
- Pumapard – a hybrid of leopard (Panther) and the Cougar.
Thus, it is possible to believe that this is a magnificent and graceful animal knowingly did not give rest to the ancestors of a large amount of time. They are elegant, majestic and willful.
