Out of the Shadows.
The most widespread big cat.
The hardest one to see.
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is the most widely distributed of all the big cats, and one of the most difficult to see. Secretive, solitary and supremely adaptable, it survives in deserts and forests, on mountain slopes and at the edges of cities — quietly holding on where other large predators have long disappeared.
Yet that adaptability hides a harder truth: across much of their range, leopards are under mounting pressure from habitat loss, prey decline, poaching and conflict with people. Out of the Shadows brings the leopard into the light — from the evolution of a supreme predator to the conservation choices that will decide its future.
Live from the field of leopard science
Six lectures. One elusive cat.
Dr Nikki Balme
Dr Nikki Balme is a conservation biologist with over a decade of field research experience studying large mammals across southern Africa. Since 2020 she has coordinated Panthera's Sabi Sands Leopard Project — one of the longest-running and most detailed studies of wild leopards in the world.
Earlier in her career she served as Lead Scientist for the Black Rhino Program at South African National Parks, working at the sharp end of rhino conservation during one of its most challenging periods. Her work is driven by the conviction that understanding species behaviour is fundamental to effective conservation.