Black Panther - Life Cycle

A black panther is the melanistic variant of several species of cats within panthera group. Melanism is hereditary, but is not necessarily passed directly from one generation to the next. A black panther can have black or fair-color spotted leopard as parents and is usually born along with other fair-color spotted leopard cubs.

The leopard is solitary. Adult leopard lives an independent life. A male leopard lives together with a female leopard only for a few days during mating period. A female leopard bears and raises cubs alone. The gestation period is about 90 to 105 days. The kittens can follow the mother to hunting field in 2 to 3 months after birth. They can catch medium-size prey after 7 to 9 months old and become independent at about 12 to 18 months old. They live up to 12 years old in the wild. Due to threats from enemies such as lions and hyenas, etc. and diseases, less than 50% of leopard kittens can live up to one year old.

We will cover black panther�s life cycle in more detail in the following sub-sections: