In some cases, fixation indices showed higher diversity than for the Arabian leopard and Panthera pardus tulliana in Asia.

To compare, that of an Indian leopard measured 11.2 in (280 mm) in basal length, and 7.9 in (20 cm) in breadth, and weighed 2 lb 4 oz (1.0 kg).

[20] The African leopards inhabited a wide range of habitats within Africa, from mountainous forests to grasslands and savannahs, excluding only extremely sandy desert.

[22] The African leopard appears to be successful at adapting to altered natural habitat and settled environments in the absence of intense persecution.

The highest rates of daytime activity were recorded for leopards using thorn thickets during the wet season, when impala also used them.

[22] In sub-Saharan Africa, at least 92 prey species have been documented in leopard scat, including rodents, birds, small and large antelopes, hyraxes, hares, and arthropods.

Leopards generally focus their hunting activity on locally abundant medium-sized ungulates in the 20 to 80 kg (44 to 176 lb) range, while opportunistically taking other prey.

Occasionally, they successfully hunted warthogs, dik-diks, reedbucks, duikers, steenboks, blue wildebeest and topi calves, jackals, Cape hares, guineafowl and starlings.

They were less successful in hunting plains zebras, Coke's hartebeests, giraffes, mongooses, genets, hyraxes and small birds.

[36] In Gabon's Lope National Park, the most important prey species was found to be the red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) and greater cane rats (Thryonomys swinderianus), comprised 13% each of the consumed biomass.

[37] In the Central African Republic's Dzanga-Sangha Complex of Protected Areas, a leopard reportedly attacked and pursued a large western lowland gorilla, but did not catch it.

[38] African leopards were observed preying on adult eastern gorillas in the Kisoro area near Uganda's borders with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

[39] Throughout Africa, the major threats to leopards are habitat conversion and intense persecution,[40] especially in retribution for real and perceived livestock loss.

Large tracts are affected by commercial logging and mining activities, and are converted for agricultural use including large-scale oil palm plantations in concessions obtained by a foreign company.

With increasing proximity to settlements and concomitant human hunting pressure, leopards exploit smaller prey and occur at considerably reduced population densities.

They are accompanied by armed merchants who engage in poaching large herbivores, sale of bushmeat and trading leopard skins in Am Dafok.