Leopards are opportunistic carnivores that eat almost anything they can catch, from large antelope weighing hundreds of kilograms down to insects and rodents. Their preferred prey falls in the 10 to 70 kg range, which includes medium-sized animals like impala, bushbuck, and deer. But what a leopard actually eats depends heavily on where it lives, what’s available, and how much competition it faces from larger predators.
Preferred Prey in Africa
Across sub-Saharan Africa, researchers have documented at least 92 different prey species in leopard diets. The most commonly taken animals are medium-sized antelope: impala, grey duiker, red duiker, bushbuck, reedbuck, and warthog. In West Africa’s Comoé National Park in Côte d’Ivoire, leopards show a clear preference for duikers and bushbuck, with occasional kills of larger species like kob and oribi.
That said, leopards are remarkably flexible. They can take down animals as large as elands, which are the world’s largest antelope (males reach around 900 kg), and as small as rock hyraxes, which weigh just 4 kg. Primates, hares, guinea fowl, pangolins, fish, rodents, and even dung beetles all show up in their diet. Small prey tends to be taken opportunistically, filling in the gaps between larger kills.
What Leopards Eat in Asia
Asian leopards face very different landscapes and prey communities than their African relatives, and their diets reflect that. The critically endangered Amur leopard, found in the Russian Far East and northeastern China, relies primarily on roe deer, sika deer, and wild boar, supplemented by hares and rodents. These prey species are adapted to temperate forests and harsh winters, a world apart from the savannas of East Africa.
In regions where large wild prey has declined due to habitat loss or overhunting, leopards increasingly turn to domestic animals. This is especially well documented in snow leopard populations across Central Asia, where livestock can make up anywhere from 5% to as much as 70% of the diet depending on how much wild prey remains. In one study site called Lossar, livestock accounted for 62% of the snow leopard’s diet, while in nearby Lingti, where wild prey was more abundant, it dropped to just 5%. The pattern is consistent: when wild prey disappears, leopards eat what’s available.
How Much a Leopard Eats
On days when they successfully hunt, male leopards consume an average of 5.8 kg of meat, roughly 14% of their body weight. Females eat less, averaging about 2.4 kg per day, or around 10% of body mass. These numbers come from observed feeding days only and don’t account for the fasting periods between successful hunts, which can stretch several days. A leopard doesn’t eat every day. It kills, gorges, and then may go without food until the next opportunity.
Why Leopards Stash Prey in Trees
One of the leopard’s most distinctive behaviors is hauling kills up into trees, sometimes carrying carcasses heavier than their own body weight straight up a vertical trunk. This isn’t showing off. It’s a direct response to competition from larger predators.
Spotted hyenas are aggressive scavengers that frequently steal leopard kills on the ground. Lions pose an even more immediate threat, and leopards retreat to elevated, less accessible spots like tree branches when lions come within about 50 meters. By caching a kill in a tree, a leopard can feed over several days without losing its meal. Hyenas can’t climb, and lions rarely bother. In areas without heavy competition from these larger predators, leopards are less likely to tree their prey and will feed on the ground instead.
What Shapes a Leopard’s Diet
Three factors determine what any individual leopard regularly eats. The first is prey availability. In dense forests where large antelope are scarce, leopards eat more primates, small carnivores, and rodents. On open savannas with abundant herds, they focus on medium-sized ungulates. The second factor is competition. Where lions and hyenas dominate, leopards shift toward smaller, more concealable prey or hunt in denser cover where the larger predators are less effective. The third is proximity to people. Leopards living near farms and villages often incorporate goats, sheep, cattle, and dogs into their diet, which creates significant conflict with local communities.
This adaptability is one of the main reasons leopards have the widest geographic range of any wild cat. They occupy rainforests, deserts, mountains, and suburban edges across Africa and Asia. A leopard in the snowy forests of Russia’s Primorsky Krai and one in the thornbush of Kenya’s Laikipia Plateau are the same species eating completely different things, thriving because they’ll take whatever opportunity presents itself.