<P> A study at Wolong Reserve in China demonstrated variation in the leopards' diet over time; over the course of seven years, the vegetative cover receded, and the animals opportunistically shifted from primarily consuming tufted deer to pursuing bamboo rats and other smaller prey . A study estimated average daily consumption rates at 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) for males and 2.8 kg (6.2 lb) for females . A study of leopards in the southern Kalahari showed that water requirements are met by the bodily fluids of the prey, succulent plants and water bodies; they drink water every two to three days, and feed infrequently on moisture - rich plants such as gemsbok cucumbers (Acanthosicyos naudinianus), tsamma melon (Citrullus lanatus) and Kalahari sour grass (Schmidtia kalahariensis). A few instances of cannibalism have been reported . </P> <P> The leopard depends mainly on its acute sense of hearing and vision for hunting . Hunting is primarily a nocturnal activity in most areas, though leopards in western African forests and Tsavo have been observed hunting by the day . It will stalk the prey and try to approach as close as possible (typically within 5 metres (16 ft)) to the target, and finally pounce on it with its forepaws (unlike the lion, that pounces as the prey starts escaping) and kill it by suffocation . Small prey are killed with a bite on the back of the neck, while larger animals are held strongly by the throat and strangled . </P> <P> Small kills are eaten immediately, while larger carcasses are dragged over several hundred metres and safely cached to be consumed later on trees, in bushes or even caves . The way the kill is stored to be consumed later depends on the local topography and individual preferences; while trees are preferred in Kruger National Park, bushes are preferred in the plain terrain of the Kalahari . Kills are cached up to 2 kilometres (6,600 ft) apart . Although they are smaller than most other members of its genus, leopards are able to take large prey due to their massive skulls that facilitate powerful jaw muscles . Leopards are strong enough to drag carcasses heavier than themselves up trees; an individual was seen to haul a young giraffe, nearly 125 kg (276 lb), up 5.7 m (19 ft) into a tree . </P> <P> Leopards must compete for food and shelter with other large predators such as tigers, lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, striped hyenas, brown hyenas, up to five species of bear and both African and Asiatic wild dogs . These animals may steal the leopard's kill, devour its young or even kill adult leopards . Leopards co-exist alongside these other large predators by hunting for different types of prey and by avoiding areas frequented by them . Leopards may also retreat up a tree in the face of direct aggression from other large carnivores but leopards have been seen to either kill or prey on competitors such as black - backed jackal, caracal, African wild cat and the cubs of lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and wild dogs . </P>

The leopard panthera pardus is a large member of the cat family