- Baboon
- Buffalo
- Bushbuck
- Cheetah
- Duiker
- Eland
- Elephant
- Giraffe
- Grysbok
- Hippopotamus
- Hyena (Spotted)
- Impala
- Jackal (Black-Backed)
- Klipspringer
- Kudu
- Leopards
- Lion
- Mongoose (Banded)
- Nyala
- Porcupine
- Rhino
- Roan Antelope
- Sable Antelope
- Smaller Carnivores
- Steenbok
- Tssessebe
- Vervet Monkey
- Warthog
- Waterbuck
- Wilderbeest (Blue)
- Wild Dog
- Zebra
Leopard (Panthera pardus)
THE LARGER CARNIVORES
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Leopards are nocturnal and only rarely active during daylight hours. They prefer riverine areas and craggy hills, although occasionally they may be seen out in open bush.
They tend to be solitary and spend their days resting on a comfort able branch of some tree or in a clump of thick bush. Despite their size, they are very good climbers and often drag their prey high into a tree, safely out of reach of hyenas and other scavengers. They do not appear to be very specific in their choice of prey, although impala are frequent victims - probably because these antelope are so abundant and move to rivers in late afternoon when leopards become active.
Leopards are occasionally confused with cheetah, though they are more like domestic cats in build, with compact bodies, a relatively large head, and claws which are fully retractile. They do not have the black 'tear-marks' linking the eyes and sides of the mouth so characteristic of cheetah, and have 'rosettes' of circularly arranged spots along the side and back of the body
More than 900 leopards occur in the Park, but are seldom seen be cause of their day-time resting and secretive habits.
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