The Black panther is a rare, fearless, powerful and intelligent animal.  It is one of the most aggressive and most feared animals in the world.  The black panther is not a distinct animal species though.  The term black panther is commonly used for one or several kinds of closely related all-black big cats. 

Endangered Black Panther:

Although black panthers can adapt well to different environments and habitats, they are in danger.  Their population is shrinking along with their habitats.  Human beings are the biggest threat to the survival of black panthers.  The environmental changes, which cause the loss and deterioration of natural habitats for black panthers, are also a big threat to black panthers.

The U.S. Endangered Species Act has listed leopards on the African continent as “Threatened” (South Africa) and “Endangered” (the rest of Africa and Middle East & Asia).  CITES, the agency that classifies species internationally, has listed the leopard as “vulnerable”.  In the 1970s, all leopards were listed as vulnerable by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and international trade in leopard was prohibited.  

Black Panther Cubs:

A black panther cub is usually born in the same litter along with other light-colored leopard cubs.  Typically, a leopard litter consists of two to three cubs but, sometimes, up to six.  Black panther cubs are born with their eyes closed and are covered with faintly spotted smoky gray fur.  They weigh about 450 to 1000 g (16 to 35 oz).

The mother leopard has to stay at the den all the time during the first few days after the birth to rest and nurse the newborn baby panthers.  Meanwhile cubs spend most of their time sleeping and nursing on their mother’s rich milk.  About ten days after their birth, the cubs open their glazed eyes and get their first glimpse of the world.  While the cubs still lack of mobility, the mother leopard have to leave her cubs unattended as she travels far from the birth den to find food for her family.  This is the period when the defenseless cubs are most vulnerable to predators; therefore, the choice of a site for a birth den is so crucial to the safety of baby black panther cubs.

Black Panther Cubs Continued:

Two to three weeks after birth, baby panthers are able to move around the den.  Mother and cubs often greet each other by rubbing faces or bodies.  When the cubs get a little older, they playfully tumble and fight whenever they get a chance.  

If their mother is at home, the cubs may be allowed to stray away from home to nearby fields.  They spend most of their time hiding out nearby, crouching motionless, camouflaged amongst the bushes, trees.  If the mother has to leave home to hunt for food, the little panther cubs are not allowed to venture out of the den, no matter how hungry they are.  

Black panther cubs can follow their mother on hunting trips when they are just about two to three months old.  They begin to eat meat then.  Already they are starting to pick up hunting skills they need the most in the wildlife from their mothers.  They learn how to hide and avoid from enemies and how to stalk and catch small prey such as grasshoppers and lizards and, later, mice, rats, and so forth.  To protect themselves from predators, black panther cubs develop excellent tree-climbing skills at an early age.  The mother has to keep an eye on them all the time during this period of time.

Young Black Panthers:

Usually, young black panther cubs don’t begin to kill larger prey until their permanent canine teeth appear at about seven months of age.  Bigger and stronger by this time, they are capable of killing most of medium-sized animals. 

The learning process is not always smooth, though.  The desperate prey often fights back fiercely. Larger prey, such as wild pigs or baboons, may prove too much for a young cub to handle.  If the mother is absent or does not have enough time to come to rescue, the cubs may get hurt or even killed.  Lions and hyenas are biggest threat toblack panther cubs.  Disease and fever are also among main causes of death of cubs.  In each litter, fewer than 50 per cent of the cubs live up to a year. 

By the time they reach the age of one, young black panthers gradually achieve greater and greater independence.  Young male black panthers usually become independent earlier.  Start around 18 months old, they settle elsewhere and create their own territories or home ranges.  Young female black panthers often extend the mother-daughter relationship by taking over part of their mother’s home range or settling near it.  Almost all young black panthers become fully independent by the age of two when their mother is ready to give birth to a new litter.

Black Panther Life Span:

Black panthers have an average life span of about 12 years in the wild and 20 years in captivity.  Female black panthers usually live longer.

Black panthers are certainly not the biggest animals in wild, but with well-built athletic body, powerful legs and jaws as well as superior hunting skills, they can win fights over all but a few stronger animals, such as lions, tigers, crocodiles, and pythons, in the wild.  Black panthers may fight to the death for their home ranges or for mating partners.  Other causes of death among black panthers include bacterial infections, rabies, and congenital heart defects.    

The biggest threat to black panthers comes from human beings.  The expansion of livestock ranching, residential and commercial land development poses a major threat for black panthers because it causes the loss or deterioration of habitat for them  as well as for other wild animals.

Black Panthers; Mating:

Typically, female leopards reach sexual maturity around two years of age.  They usually give birth to their first litter when they are about two-and-a-half years old.  Males are capable of mating at about two years old.  Because of competition from older and stronger males, however, young males usually have to wait for their chance to mate until three to four years of age.

Adult leopards live alone for most of time.  Male and female leopards get together only to mate; they avoid each other as much as possible outside mating season.  Mating pairs seldom stay together for more than a few days.  When a female leopard is ready for mating, she makes sawing noises to attract a male partner.  She also leaves scent marking for males to follow.  Fights can happen between males during the mating season.  As soon as mating is over, the male cat goes his own way.  The male will take no part in raising the cubs.

Mating can take place at any time of the year.  The gestation period is about 90 to 105 days.  The mother leopard finds a secure birth den in a cave, thicket, rock pile, or hollow tree before delivery.     

Black Panther Behavior Habits:

Black panthers have unique behaviors or habits which are different from those of other big cats or pet cats.  As members of the big cat family, black panthers can roar while other small cats, such as house cats, bobcats, lynx, and cougars, purr but cannot roar.

Black panthers are elusive animals.  People rarely see them in the wild, even though their existence has been confirmed across vast areas of South and Southeast Asia, Central and South America and some parts of Africa.Because the black panther is so stealthy, it has been called “the ghost of the forest.”

The black panther is also solitary. Other than a female and her cubs, or mating pairs in the breeding season, these animals seldom stay together. Each of them lives and hunts by itself in an area known as the home range.  Black panthers communicate with one another with signs and vocalizations used mostly for maintaining their home ranges as well as for signaling mating partners. 

Adult black panthers are more temperamental than their normal-colored kin.  This is because they tend to be more inbred than their fair-colored counterparts.  Black panthers are less fertile, too. Like many of the smaller cats and unlike most of the other big cats, black panthers are the strongest climbers of the cat family.  A black panther develops tree-climbing skills at a very early age to avoid attack from deadly enemies such as lions and hyenas.  It also uses this unique skill to pull its kills or carcasses up to a tree.  

Black Panther Habitat - Rainforest Animals:

An animal’s habitat is the place where its basic needs for food, water, shelter, and reproduction are met.  Black panthers are adapted to living in a wide variety of habitats within their range.  The black panther’s habitats include the rainforest, marshland, woodlands, swamps, savannahs, and even mountains and deserts.

One of the reasons that black panthers are able to live in such variety of habitats is that they can eat many types of animals.  Their food includes various species of mammals, reptiles, and birds, all of which live in different habitats.  They are also able to live in human-populated areas more effectively than any other big cats if they have to.

Black panthers, both black leopards and black jaguars, are found mainly in dense rainforest areas. The dark coat of black panthers provides good camouflage at night or in dense forest areas.  Such camouflage helps them to avoid dangerous enemies and to stalk and approach their prey without being noticed.  These areas do not attract human dwellers or even hunters.  

Black panthers can survive only in natural communities which provide good habitat areas for them; however, the black panthers' habitats and natural communities are threatened by human beings and environmental deterioration. 

Thank you for reading about the BLACK PANTHERS

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Facts About Black Panther

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Subfamily: Felinae

Genus: Panthera

Species: Pardus (leopard)/ Onca (jaguar)/ leo (lion)/ Tigris (tiger)      

Length: 0.9 - 2m; tail length: 0.6 -0.9 m

Weight: 29 to 91 kg

Lifespan: 12 years in wild and 20 years in captivity

Diet: Carnivore

Habitat: Rainforest, woodlands, marshland, savannahs, swamps and sometimes deserts and mountains

Call: Roar

Mating Time: Any time of year

Gestation Period: 90 to 105 days

Interesting & Amazing Information On Black Panthers 

At the time of its birth, the eyes of a black panther are closed. In fact, they are covered with light spotted graying fur, in the new-born cubs.

Black Panther cubs learn the skill of climbing trees at a very young age. They grow up to be the strongest tree climbers in the cat family.

Just when the cubs are two to three months old, they follow their mother to the hunting field.

They are superbly fast in learning the hunting skill.

Seven to nine months after their birth, the cubs of a black panther can catch medium-size prey.

Almost in two years, Black Panther cubs become adept in establishing their own home range.

A black panther has a dark coat on its body that is functional as a mask during night, in the dense areas. This helps the panther remain safe from enemies and at the same, catch its prey without being noticed.

Black Panther is widely distributed over a variety of habitats, like rainforest, woodlands, marshland, savannahs, swamps and sometimes deserts and mountains.

The main reason for the panther’s adaptability to varied habitats is that it feeds on almost all type of animals. It is a typical carnivorous animal that finds its main source of food in mammal, birds and reptiles.

A black panther can survive in human-populated areas in a much better way than any other big cats.

Unlike other cats, like bobcats, cougars, housecats and lynx, a black panther can roar. 

Black Panther is less fertile by nature. It is also more unpredictable than its normal-colored counterparts.

Black Panthers prefer to stay alone. They come closer only during the mating season. The female panther stays with her cubs till they are mature enough to live alone.

All the black panthers stay and hunt by themselves, in an area called their home range.

Black Panther is known to have large paws that have high strength. It has soft pads and fur in between its toes, which enable it to have a silent walk while chasing its prey.

A black panther has retractable claws. It can pull its claws inside while walking and running.

This enables the animal to keep its claws sharp.

The panther kills its prey by grabbing it at its throat, using its powerful paws with sharp claws. Sometimes, it kills its small preys by merely hitting its head with the front paw.