predatory cat species. Many would support that they are also the most beautiful. I find them beautiful and mysteriously intriguing. They are of singular personality and while males do establish a territory, the females are really the ones who dictate the rules of the continuation of the species-the mating ritual...next page

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My specific purpose in traveling to Lion Sands... was to study, track and film Leopards taking part in the mating behaviors and rituals. I was not disappointed. Females really have little use for males, except when it is that time of year for them to mate and have cubs. While the males will establish a territory, females will move freely through a territory and leave markings for the male to find, follow, and eventually enter into the mating ritual. Males, while they do establish a territory,
do not relish battling other males for rights to that territory, or even to the rights for certain females. On the other hand, the females will mate with more than one male. Males will kill offspring of another male because that is how that particular male comes to dominant a territory. So, in essence, a female’s choice and selection has as much to do with the boundaries of the territory as does the male who will spent countless hours of time marking, and clawing and doing other things to let everyone
know this area is his territory.