CATS - Felidae
In Vietnam they are found in the mountainous areas and in the world they are found from Northeastern India and Nepal to Southern China, through Southeast Asia and Africa.
The leopard usually lives in high forest, woods on limestone mountain and tropical rainforest.
This animal is normally solitary and they only pair up in the breeding season. They usually hunt at night and during the day they can often be found in a tree, because the leopard can climb very well.
The food of the leopard in the wild is similar to the tiger, but their prey is often smaller. The leopards in Hanoi Zoo get the same food as the other big cats.
The breeding season is not exactly known, but the Indochinese Leopard reaches its sexual maturity at an age of 24 to 36 months and their gestation period is 94 to 98 days. They give birth once in one or three years and each litter contains one or two cubs. The Indochinese Leopard is listed on Appendix I of CITES, which prohibits the hunting, sales and purchase of leopard goods at all levels. The leopard is also listed on the “Red Data Book for Vietnam”.
In Hanoi Zoo there are two Indochinese Leopards. A couple, the male came to Hanoi Zoo in April 1996 from Dong Nai province. He was found in a forest and weighed only 17 kg. The female came to Hanoi Zoo in August 1998 from Saigon Zoo. The Hanoi Zoo hopes in the future that the couple will be part of a succesfull breeding program..