Judging Leopard Spoor

[DaveL]

A few days ago I was walking with my wife in the safari area that I hunt when we heard the vervet monkeys going crazy. My immediate reaction was that there was a predator on the prowl, and seeing that we were on the fringe of some riverine, I guessed it would most likely be leopard. We crept no further than 30 yards when a big Tom strolled out of the grass in front of us, no more than 20 yards away. He was a beauty! After he took off at the sight of us my wife asked me how we judge a big tom in the field and it got me thinking about the process from start to finish. Obviously she could see it was a brute as soon as it sauntered out the grass, but when we are out in the field we hardly ever have that privilege of looking over a big tom in day light. We start the search for a big tom by cruising known hang outs or likely habitat looking for a big track. But how do we judge if it’s a shooter once we have located the cats track? The method that I was taught when I was an appie in the Niassa Reserve was to measure the width of the pad on the front foot with three fingers (note: pad, not overall track width). If the pad was equal to or wider than your three fingers, you seriously needed to bait that cat and have a look at him. Another method an old and bold fellow Zim pro taught me is to measure the length of the front track in centimetres and the stride length in inches. Any cat with a front track of 9cm or more and a stride length of 39 inches or more was a cat you needed to pursue.


I know there are a lot of you who have hunted leopard with some old pros and I would love to hear the wisdom out there!

 

[BRICKBURN]

This has the makings of a great thread

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Some info and pics just found on AH...

Recording and measuring Leopard tracks
(Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Global Carnivore Program - November, 2003)

Leopard track
Bullet 338 Win Mag

Leopard track between 12 gauge and 300 Wby

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Leopard paw and the cat.

Leopard Weight: 76.5 kg (169 lb) Chest circumference: 90 cm (35.4 inch) Body length from nose to the beginning of the tail: 219 cm (86.2 inch) Tail length: 80 cm (31.5 inch)

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Here is another Leopard.

 

[K-man]

My P.H.used a stick in his shirt pocket carved to the length of the pad with a collar cut for the pad width. I will try to attach a picture. On the last day I cut new stick 1/2"shorter and wrote "last day leopard stick"
It was mildly funny at the time.....

 

[CAustin]

I've only seen one Leopard track in the field and I didn't think it was very big. I look forward to the time when I can see a few as well as see a big leopard in a tree......right before I take him!

 

[Jfet]

interesting... very interesting

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Leopard Tracks

 

[petrusg]

I like this thread, some good info

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

All cats have retractable claws and thus any Leopard or Lion track will show no trace of claw impressions on the ground. Wild Dogs, Hyenas and Jackals have claws that are always exposed and in the soft soil will usually visible.

Leopard have three lobes along the trailing margin. The size of the track is smaller than an adult Lion but more of a rounded shape as compared to Lion.

Cheetah have three lobes on its back pad and semi-retractable claws which do leave impressions. This makes it easy to recognize as the cheetah is the only animal here to have both characteristics.

In all animals, the front feet are larger than the back due to the extra weight of the head and shoulders and this will be reflected in the shape of the track. The front paw of a Leopard will be far larger and broader than the back. Right and left can also be distinguished by looking at the toe arrangement. If you look at your own hands for reference, you will see that your outside finger (i.e. little finger) is the shortest. This is exactly the same in animals and so if you can identify which toe is the shortest or closest to the pad, this will show you whether it is the right or left paw.

At a standard walking gait the back foot usually outpaces the front, this will obviously change should the animal be trotting or running.

Front Leopard Paw

Back Leopard Paw

Side by side (front paw to the left and back paw to the right)

Retractable Leopard Claws

Predator Tracks - Identification & Comparison Chart

Lion Tracks

Leopard Tracks

Spotted Hyena Tracks

Cheetah Tracks

Brown Hyena Tracks

Wild Dog Tracks

Black-backed Jackal Tracks

 

[jacques smith]

Hi Jerome
I was happy to see u in dallas and I'm glad to see your contributions as they are very worthwhile. Dave I also was schooled with a cigarette pack (camel non filters)

 

[jacques smith]

Cut myself off seems the narrow width of the pack measures the same three fingers I've used this on lions wolves mountain lions and leapard. Only thing to consider is mud snow or rain and ground condition. Cheers

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Screenshot from the Pocket Guide To Aging Leopards (https://www.africahunting.com/threads/judging-leopard.5033/page-2#post-343444).

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Leopard walk pattern.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

A digitalized walk...

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

From Wikipedia

Spoor (animal)
Spoor is any sign of a creature or trace by which the progress of someone or something may be followed. A spoor may include tracks, scents, scat, or broken foliage. Spoor is useful for discovering or surveying what types of animals live in an area, or in animal tracking.

The word originated c. 1823, from Afrikaans spoor, from Middle Dutch spor, which is cognate with Old English spor "footprint, track, trace" and modern English language spurn (as in ankle). It is cognate also with spur, the metal tool on the heels of riding boots.

Generally droppings can be referred to as scat. Certain scat are called different things; rabbit scat are normally called rabbit pellets, while ungulate scat is referred to as droppings or manure.

Spoor can be used in hunting. For example, a hunter can stick their finger in an animal's scat to measure its temperature. If the scat is cold, the animal is likely far and if the scat is warm, the animal is likely close.

By analogy, in politics, "to look carefully on the spoor in the trails" means to investigate what is actually going on in a sensitive situation.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Would anyone have pictures of Leopard scat to share here?

 

[008]

My P.H.used a stick in his shirt pocket carved to the length of the pad with a collar cut for the pad width. I will try to attach a picture. On the last day I cut new stick 1/2"shorter and wrote "last day leopard stick"
It was mildly funny at the time.....

Now that's funny!

 

[willalieb]

Just have a look at the excellent book of Wayne Grant "Into the thorns" where he gave the best explanation on measuring leopard tracks. Very good.