Leopards are
very elusive and elegant cats and their reproductive behavior has been a
challenging one to document. All behavioral observations were carried out after
the daily cleaning activities of the zoo keepers, from a vantage point
undisturbed and unhindered. The animals were observed for 2 hours at a
frequency of 4 times a day. A total of 38 leopards were included in the study
comprising of 33 animals (17 males and 16 females) from Bannerghatta National
Park and 5 animals (3 males and 2 females) from Aringar Anna Zoological Park.
The study focused on the mating behavior of leopards which was divided into pre-copulatoryperiod, copulatory period and post-copulatory period, invariable of the number
of animals, the total number of matings were regarded prime in this study.
The abundant
growth in the human population has resulted in the extensive degradation of the
wild life habitat, which poses main threat to the conservation of wild felids.
Conservation of these wild felids could be achieved only by reducing the humanwild life conflict and by the proper and through understanding of theirreproductive physiology. However, the data regarding the quantification of the
reproductive parameters requires a collection over multiple generations which
make the study laborious. Although enormous studies had been done exploring the
reproductive behaviors and reproductive success in lions, cheetahs, tigers and
leopards, the basic behaviors of estrus and mating has not yet been elucidated
in these wild felids which are essential for understanding the reproductive
physiology of these species. Leopards have a wide range of distribution with
the exception in the Himalayas and the desert regions. The elusiveness and
behavioral flexibility of the leopards allow this species to survive near
villages and human settlements. Although studies had been done on the
behaviours of reproduction in male leopards, relatively few data are available
for the reproductive behaviour in females. Hence the present was aimed to
elucidate the estrus and mating behaviours of the leopards in captivity.
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