Fabian Munn, age 8, of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, for his question

What is the history of the leopard?

This big spotted cat has a life story of his own, plus a long family history. He enjoys his life in a warm country where there are bushes or leafy forests. But the experts tell us that his leopard ancestors lived in cold climates. This, of course, was way back in his family history. Nowadays, some of his cousins still live on cold, snowy mountains. But the usual leopard detests the cold and refuses to leave his cozy warm climate in the tropics.

Cats, of course, are meat eaters, armed with claws to catch their prey and fangs to tear their food into swallowable bites. The leopard and other large members of the cat tribe are needed in the world of nature. Wherever they live, they are far out¬numbered by the deer, the bunnies and other creatures that feed on plants. The plant eaters tend to multiply very fast. Soon they would devour all the greenery and the young would starve. But the leopard helps.to stop this from happening.

Every day or so, he catches a deer or some other plant eater. This helps to keep down the deer population so that there is enough greenery for the next generation. Long ago, our human ancestors had to cope with the powerful leopard. They had only spears and arrows to fight him off. Naturally they feared him and also the other large and mighty cats. Much later; mankind invented guns and other unbeatable weapons. He slaughtered the deer and mastered the leopard.

Big game hunters proudly shot countless leopards, just to stuff them as trophies. Others shot leopards to sell their handsome coats to the fur trade. Nowadays, there are not so many leopards left in the wilds of Africa and Asia. Sensible people have passed laws to stop the killing of leopards and also the sale of their skins. Let's hope this works. In any case, hunting is now harder for the surviving leopards, because many of the wild animals they fed upon also have dwindled away.

The modern leopard faces danger from mankind, but his ancestors faced other problems. Millions of years, they lived in the cold polar regions. But cats love warm, cozy comfort, so gradually they moved southward. Some reached the warm tropics of Africa and Asia. For many ages, some of the large cat cousins enjoyed life in Europe and North America. Then came the ice ages. The glaciers drove many animals farther south. But some stayed behind    and one of the big cat cousins became extinct. He was the mighty saber toothed tiger.

Finally the monstrous glaciers melted. Many animals in the tropics began to wander back to Europe and North America. But the leopards stayed where they were.

The mighty leopard may be seven feet long, plus a 38 inch tail. He weighs about 150 pounds. His handsome coat is pale off white, neatly dotted with black spots arranged in rosettes. He is a rather lonely character who likes to live and hunt by himself. But while his cubs are young, he stays with the family. He helps the mother to feed and educate the youngsters until they are half grown.