Do leopards store their killed prey in trees

A.� Yes they do. As soon as they\ve killed their next meal the leopard drags it up into a tree before any nearby opportunist gets a whiff of it and moves in.

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Q.� How

A.� They carry the dead animal in their jaws using their teeth and climb the tree using their sharp retractable claws.

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Q.� What sort of things do they drag into trees

A.� Leopards prey mostly on animals at least their own size and it seems nothing is too big to take into the treetops. Leopards have even been known to drag young giraffes as high as 6 metres into trees.

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Q.� But surely other animals can climb trees and steal the cache

A.� Leopards have two main contenders when it comes to scavenging their kill: hyenas and lions.

Dogs don't pose much of a threat, as they cannot climb trees.

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Lions, which are after all big cats can climb trees. Fortunately, for the leopard, as lions are much heavier, they're not as accomplished climbers. A particularly clever leopard will stash its kill on branches too delicate to support a lion's weight.

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Q.� Do leopards prefer to eat in trees

A.� Apparently not, and it seems to be purely a means to avoid their kill being scavenged by predators rather than a preference. Whenever wild dog population numbers drop and therefore the threat of scavengers is reduced leopards take their meals on the ground.

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by Lisa Cardy