As a science student dude who loves nature. So have been wondering if leopards occur at all in Nigeria or not, because in Yoruba language we call the leopard (Amotekun). I have live among old peoples and old game hunters and when I ask them whether they have ever hunted or seen a leopard during their game hunting, the reply I always get from them is NO which brought me to the question if whether at all Leopards exist in Nigeria's Rainforest...
Am not talking about zoos cause I know they exist in zoos same goes for lion's

Yes, but my answer is based on two weak premises
1; have seen a mallam come with its cub to display in the market while I was young, they do bring hyenas monkeys and alligators also (rumor has it they use charms to control the animals). no one knows if the weird mallams got it from across the border, so I can categorically state it a Nigerian specie

2: a simple visit to the herbs market (iya alagbo) or where fetish items are sold in any markets and you can get its dried skin its tooth, its bones and skull. however I don't know for certain if the animal were killed in Nigeria or imported.

Leopards are still present in Nigeria but so rare to come by.

I remember one was caught by camera in Yankari game reserve last year.

Tolexander:
Leopards are still present in Nigeria but so rare to come by.

I remember one was caught by camera in Yankari game reserve last year.

That's what I also heard.

But I meant to ask if they exist naturally in the wilds of Nigerian rainforests like other wild animal species we also have in Nigeria?

iammo:
Yes, but my answer is based on two weak premises
1; have seen a mallam come with its cub to display in the market while I was young, they do bring hyenas monkeys and alligators also (rumor has it they use charms to control the animals). no one knows if the weird mallams got it from across the border, so I can categorically state it a Nigerian specie

2: a simple visit to the herbs market (iya alagbo) or where fetish items are sold in any markets and you can get its dried skin its tooth, its bones and skull. however I don't know for certain if the animal were killed in Nigeria or imported.

I read some guy post here on nairaland where he said tigers occured in Nigeria. I disagreed with the guy and told him that he might be mistaking a leopard for a tiger but he said it's tiger that exist in Africa, and leopards don't.

sammyfrosh:


I read some guy post here on nairaland where he said tigers occured in Nigeria. I disagreed with the guy and told him that he might be mistaking a leopard for a tiger but he said it's tiger that exist in Africa, and leopards don't.

Don't mind him. Tigers don't exist in Africa.

No one can say for sure that leopards don't exist in Nigeria.

Imagine the thick forests that lie between 2 states in Nigeria.

Some time when inside a bus, you would observe that the bus will be driving more than one hour on a road, the left and right of which is a thick forest.

No one has entered and search all the thick forests to really say leopards don't exist in Nigeria.

They could be there,breeding and growing in number.