Celebrating International Leopard Day With Preschoolers
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International Leopard Day is celebrated on May 3rd to raise global awareness of the ecological importance of these amazing cats and the danger of extinction they face, and to encourage people to support the conservation efforts to protect them and ensure their survival.
At the end, you will find a free 27-page International Leopard Day pack, as my gift to you for taking the time to read this post.
History of International Leopard Day
International Leopard Day began in 2023 with a Global Leopard Conference, attended by hundreds of conservationists, scientists, students, and other wildlife advocates, to raise global attention to leopards, one of the world’s most threatened species.
Presentations and discussions at this conference highlighted the urgent need to increase awareness worldwide to build support and raise funds to protect leopards. As a result, International Leopard Day was officially established and added to the global wildlife conservation calendar.
Today, with conservation laws such as the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Commission on International Trade, conservation groups, researchers, and wildlife parks are working hard with local communities to designate protected national parks, reserves, and wildlife corridors for leopards. They are also partnering with local communities and law enforcement agencies to stop illegal hunting and trade, restore habitats, and collect data on leopards’ lives and behavior.
Facts About Leopards
- Leopards are the smallest of the big cat family, which includes tigers, lions, cheetahs, and jaguars.
- Depending on the subspecies, they have tawny, light yellow, or reddish-orange fur with dark spots on their bodies called rosettes, because they are shaped like a rose. The spots are solid on their head, sides, and legs.
- Sometimes leopards are born black, commonly known as black panthers, but they also have rosettes. Their coloration helps them blend with their surroundings (camouflage) and makes them very hard to spot.
- They have very strong legs with retractable claws on their feet.
- They can run at a top speed of 36 miles per hour for a whole hour, leap up to 20 feet in one bound, and jump up to 10 feet straight up.
- They are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and are active at night.
- They have excellent vision, even at night, which is seven times better than humans.
- Leopards are powerful climbers. They like to rest on a tree branch and stash their prey in a tree up to 50 feet high to prevent other animals from taking it.
- They are carnivores and prefer lizards, bugs, fish, impalas, snakes, birds, gazelles, mice, antelopes, monkeys, and deer, but will hunt anything available when food is scarce.
- To hunt, they stalk their prey very quietly and carefully. When the prey is within reach, they pounce on top, grab it with their powerful claws, and bite it on the throat to kill it if it is a big prey, or simply swipe it with a paw if it’s a small one.
- Male leopards are bigger than females. They can weigh between 80 and 165 pounds, and females between 46 and 132 pounds. They can grow 3 to 6 feet long.
- They live in many habitats, including deserts, savannas, grasslands, mountains, rainforests, forests, and woodlands in Africa, the Middle East, Russia, Asia, India, and China.
- Leopards communicate with each other using different sounds such as purring when they are happy, growling when they are angry, and a raspy cough when they want to make another leopard aware of their presence. They also mark their territory with urine, feces, and claw marks on trees.
- They are elusive solitary animals. Each has its own territory and spends most of its time alone.
- Leopard is the appropriate name for a male leopard. A female is called a leopardess, and a baby is called a cub.
- They are mammals. Female leopards have litters of 2 or 3 cubs at a time and raise them in a den or cave for protection. They stay together until the cubs are two years old, when they learn how to hunt and can take care of themselves.
- Their lifespan is 12 to 17 years in the wild, and up to 23 years in zoos.
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) recognizes nine subspecies of leopards. They are the Sri Lankan, African, Javan, Arabian, Indian, Indo-Chinese, Amur, Persian, and North-Chinese leopards.
- All leopards are facing serious threats for different reasons, including habitat loss and insufficient food sources due to rapid human population growth, agriculture, climate change, and deforestation. They are also poached for their fur, meat, and body parts to be used in traditional medicines, and they are illegally traded or sold on the black market.
- All of them are endangered or threatened on the IUCN Red List. The Javan and Amur leopards are classified as critically endangered. The Amur Leopard is considered the most endangered cat on the planet.
How to Celebrate International Leopard Day
There are many ways you, your family, your preschoolers, and their families can celebrate International Leopard Day and get involved in the efforts organizations and conservationists are making to protect these animals. These are some ideas:
- Learn about leopards and teach your preschoolers and everyone you know. The more you learn, the better informed you will become, and the more capable you will be of spreading the word.
- Show videos and documentaries about leopards to your preschoolers, family, and friends, so they can learn about these beautiful creatures and become their advocates. You can find some good ones on YouTube like the Leopard Documentary, Sri Lankan Leopard, Snow Leopards, Leopard Facts: the tree-dwelling big cats, and The Leopard is a Pouncer, Not a Chaser.
- Invite your children, and maybe their families, to do an art project about leopards and prepare an exhibition for people to see.
- Invite your preschoolers to dress as leopards or wear leopard-inspired clothes on International Leopard Day, and have a parade around the school or your neighborhood.
- Sing the Leopard Song with your preschoolers.
- Have your students listen and try to imitate leopard sounds like this one, this one, and this Snow Leopard one.
- Share facts about leopards, their habitats, the importance of sustaining healthy ecosystems, the danger of extinction they are facing, and how to help on your social media channels. You can use hashtags like #InternationalLeopardDay #LoveLeopards and #ForTheLoveOfLeopards.
- Create a community outreach or fundraising project to collect funds to be donated to an organization protecting these big cats such as the Wildlife Vets International, the World Wildlife Fund, the Snow Leopard Trust, the Wildlife Conservation Alliance, the Panthera Organization, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Snow Leopard Trust, the Snow Leopard Conservancy, and the Wildlife Conservation Network.
- Support programs that are fighting against the illegal trade and poaching of leopards and other endangered species by volunteering, signing petitions to create or modify laws, or getting information and becoming a voice on their behalf. Some of these groups include TRAFFIC, the European Wilderness Society, NABU, and the Whitley Fund for Nature.
We can all help to raise awareness about the importance of protecting leopards and their habitats. By working together to conserve these animals, we can ensure future generations can appreciate and enjoy them for years to come.
Leopard-related Books
Many books address leopards, both fictional and non-fictional. You can find books about these great cats at your local library, used bookstore, and Amazon. I added my Amazon links to make it easier; just click the titles.
- So Cool! Leopards by Crispin Boyer. This book blends awesome animal photos with silly quips and info that teaches kids facts about leopards, such as that they are the best climbers of all the big cats, that they have excellent night vision, and that black panthers are just leopards born black.
- Leopard: Fascinating Animal Facts for Kids by Tyler Grady. Beautiful color photography brings these animals to life and teaches kids about the leopard’s habitat, diet, breeding, lifespan, behavior, threats, and more!
- Snowy: A Leopard of The High Mountains by Milisava Petkovic. This sweet story tells the compelling tale of a little cub who overcomes danger through friendship, patience, and courage.
Pin It For Later
If you are in a rush and don’t have time to read the post and download the printable but want to save it for later, pin it to one of your Pinterest boards.
This International Leopard Day, vow to teach your children everything you can about these amazing mammals, so they can become their protectors and advocates, so future generations can enjoy them, and we can all have balanced ecosystems where all species thrive.
I hope you enjoy these ideas and that they help you have fun celebrating International Leopard Day with your preschoolers. To get the FREE pack, click the link below and enter your information to download it immediately.
Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.
Love,
P.S. Please let me know how this celebration went, what ideas you used, and which ones you came up with. I would like to know how I can help you better.
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