A leopard is a large wild cat with a golden-yellow coat covered in dark rosette-shaped spots. Leopards live in Africa and parts of Asia, prowling through forests, grasslands, and mountains. They're incredible climbers who often drag their prey up into trees to keep it safe from lions and hyenas, a feat that requires enormous strength since they sometimes haul animals that weigh as much as they do.

What makes leopards especially impressive is their adaptability. They can survive in more different types of environments than almost any other big cat: scorching deserts, snowy mountains, dense jungles, even near human settlements. They're solitary hunters who move silently through the darkness, relying on stealth rather than speed. A leopard's spots provide effective camouflage, breaking up its outline in dappled light and shadow.

The phrase “a leopard can't change its spots” means that people's fundamental nature doesn't really change. The saying suggests that, just like a leopard's spots are permanent, some traits run deep.

Leopards are sometimes confused with jaguars and cheetahs, but leopards are smaller and more lightly built than jaguars, and their rosettes are different from a cheetah's solid black dots.