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About Jonathan Wright
Expertise
I can answer questions about wild mammals, as well as other wild animals. I can also answer questions on extinct animals and zoos. PLEASE DON'T SEND ME ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT PETS. IF YOU ARE REALLY WORRIED, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A VETERINARIAN. PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT UNPAID PEOPLE ON ALLEXPERTS ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY AND WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ADVICE THE MOMENT YOUR ANIMAL GETS ILL. Find out how to look after a pet before you get it. It is unfair to keep an animal in inappropriate conditions and give it the wrong food. If you can't keep an animal in good conditions, please don't bring it into your home. I'm not a vet and I don't have any expertise in animal medicine and care. I don't agree with people taking animals out of the wild and then expecting other people to give free advice on how to look after them. It is cruel to take animals away from their parents, who are able to look after the babies and may look for them, while putting their other babies at risk. You may need a licence to look after some animals. You may be breaking the law by keeping wild animals; please check with a local wildlife organisation. IF YOU FIND AN INJURED ANIMAL, PLEASE CONTACT A WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN OR CHARITY AND LET TRAINED STAFF LOOK AFTER THE ANIMAL. DO NOT TRY TO LOOK AFTER AN INJURED ANIMAL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Please do not remove eggs from nests. The mother birds will know the right temperature for the eggs and will not sit on them if the temperature is warm enough for them to develop naturally. It is illegal to remove eggs of some species and, unless you have an incubator or a broody hen, the egg may not develop. If you are allowed to touch the eggs, you can candle them (check details on websites) to see if the eggs are fertile. If the eggs are not fertile, they will not hatch. I do not agree with fights between different animals. Please do not ask me questions about them.

Experience
I have a zoology degree and have been interested in animals since I was two years old. I am a zoo volunteer at London Zoo. I have appeared on a BBC Radio Quiz, 'Wildbrain'.

Organizations
World Wide Fund for Nature. Zoological Society of London. London Bat Group.

Publications
Newsletters of London Zoo volunteers and the London Bat Group

Education/Credentials
BSC degree in Zoology. 'A' levels in Zoology and Chemistry. 'O' Level in Biology.

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Veterinary Medicine > Wild Animals > Can cheetahs and leopards interbreed?

Wild Animals - Can cheetahs and leopards interbreed?

Expert: Jonathan Wright - 10/30/2009

Question
QUESTION:
Hello there,

Can cheetahs and arabian leopards interbreed? is there any record(s) of a successful attemept in breeding cheetahs and leopards? if yes is an answer, how such an interbreed possibility can be encouraged?

Many thanks

Tariq

ANSWER: Dear Tariq

Thank you for your questions. I also wish to thank the authors of the websites I used.

First of all, cheetahs and leopards are very distantly related. Cheetahs are more closely related to pumas and jaguarundis, while leopards are related to lions, tigers and jaguars. http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/hyb-cheetah.htm says a female cheetah is unlikely to carry large hybrid cubs to term or might be unable to deliver them if she did. Severe inbreeding in cheetahs has resulted in very poor sperm, so cheetah sperm might be unable to fertilize the eggs of another big cat species.

http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/hyb-cheetah.htm says there have been reports of cheetah-leopard hybrids (with cheetah-like builds and leopard-like markings). There are East African claims that the two species have mated, but the king cheetah is a variation of the cheetah and is not a hybrid. Correspondents at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080402203524AAADUro also state that the cheetah and leopard aren't closely related and so would be unlikely to produce hybrids. As far as I can discover, there have been no successful atempts to breed leopards with cheetahs and there would be the risk that the leopard would atack the cheetah.

Considering that both species are endangered, I can see no point in encouraging a leopard-cheetah hybrid. It would be better if the cats mated with their own species.

All the best

Jonathan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION:
Dear Jonathan,

Thank you for answering my question. It's always good to hear various openions, of which yours is appreciated. As a follow-up to my question/your answer, I have been reading and asking around about my question for sometime. And, Wikipedia (I know that it's not the best source) mentions that an attempt of interbreeding a puma and a leopard was a success in Germany. Plus, It is believed that a bree of domestic cats originated in India as a result of an interbreed between a leopard and a cat (possibly a black cat). Would this increases the chance of a "yes" to my question?

Thank you with regards

Tariq

Answer
Dear Tariq

Thank you for your follow-up information. I also wish to thank the authors of the websites I used.

http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/hyb-pumaxleop.htm shows photos of puma-leopard hybrids, which proves that pumas and leopards can produce hybrids, although they live on different continents. I can understand your confusion as it seems logical that if pumas can breed with leopards and pumas are related to cheetahs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar#Hybrids), then perhaps cheetahs can breed with leopards. Possibly no attempt has been made to do this, but there is also the problem with the genetics of the cheetah (due to many years of inbreeding) and perhaps the fact that a male cheetah would have to mate with a female leopard, as a female cheetah couldn't deliver a large hybrid cub. http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/hyb-cheetah.htm and http://www.catsurvivaltrust.org/cheetah.htm say that male cheetahs produce poor quality sperm, which may be unable to fertilise the eggs of other cat species.

http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/hyb-cheetah.htm says there is no indication of a puma-cheetah hybrid. This may be because it hasn't been attempted or for other reasons.

It seems theoretically possible that if a cheetah's sperm could be made to impregnate a female leopard's egg, this could elad to a cheetah-leopard hybrid, but there is no evidence that this would occur. At present, the answer to you question has to be that scientists don't know if cheetahs and leopards can interbreed.

All the best

Jonathan

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