Does Anybody Know About Leopards?

Look up an author by the name of Peter Hathaway Capstick - He was a Wall-street guy at one time....then he threw it all away, moved to Africa, became a big-game hunter and safari guide..........he has written about 8-10 books about his experiences over there, and they are fascinating.

He does write about all the big cats........and there is some fairly extensive stuff regarding leopards in his books.

Books: Safari
Kill or be Killed
A Man Called Lion
African Adventurers: A Return To Silent Places, The
Death in a Lonely Land
Death in the Dark Continent
Death in the Long Grass
Death in the Silent Places
Last Ivory Hunter, The
Last Horizons
Maneaters
Peter Capstick's Africa : A Return To The Long Grass
Sands of Silence
Safari: the Last Adventure
Warrior: the Legend of Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen


Hope this helps!

Good luck with your WIP !

Exactly what do you need to know about them?

Behavior in the wild?

Chances they will eat your characters?

Lolly said:

Otherwise, I'm going to have to spend a lot of money on a trip to Africa...

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You mean, otherwise you'll have a really good excuse to spend the money to go to Africa! Yay!

No?

Spot on topic!

You mentioned contacting your local zoo; have you considered calling the National Zoo in Washington, DC? I've contacted a few keepers there before who have been extremely helpful. You could also try going through their program, Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ).

Otherwise, do you get Animal Planet? Check your listings, they may have some upcoming programs. I saw one the other day - Growing Up Black Leopard.

katiemac said:

You mentioned contacting your local zoo; have you considered calling the National Zoo in Washington, DC?

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Or even one in your own country!

Thankfully with the internet, we don't have to limit our contacts to folks in our own countries without incurring huge phone bills.

Then why not contact an African zoo right off the bat (as I believe you Americans say)?

Capital idea! No need to thank

Google is your friend. There's tons of info out there. Try googling variations of "leopard expert" and start bookmarking sites.

Assuming they're the experts, of course!

Willowmound said:

Or even one in your own country!

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Yep, I mentioned the National Zoo because they've helped me in the past. We corresponded through the Web, so it worked out.

Leopard as a family, or a specific leopard in a specific locale? A snow leopard vs a tropic dweller, etc. would have different habits, prey, etc.

Agree. Leopards are probably the most widespread big cat in the world. You did mention Africa...

mollyluna said:

Tigers are more likely to drag people off. They've done it regularly in India and Africa

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The famous African tiger, eh?

You might try http://www.leopardsetc.com I know nothing about them, but they have a number of programs, and e-mail and phone number.

Just so you know, there are no African leopards at the National Zoo, only clouded leopards.

There is a zookeeper's discussion board here:
http://www.aazk.org/forum/

It's not very active, but you might be able to post a question and find someone there.

Also, you should probably try calling your local zoo instead of writing. Keepers don't go into that profession because they like paperwork... even if the person is well meaning a letter is likely to go unanswered.