Abstract:The mating behavior of 5(2 males,3 females) captive Leopards(Panthera pardu) was observed in Chengdu Zoo during March 2005 to March 2006 by using all-occurrence and scan sampling methods.Totally,1 174 mating events were recorded and analyzed.Oestrus occurred in any seasons within a year but most happened in spring.Mating was conducted by position of face-to-back and female displayed solicitant behavior before copulation.Each oestrus period last 4.75 ± 1.26 d on average and mating occurred in day and night,however,more copulation happened in the daytime than in the night.Most mating behaviors were recorded during 08:00-11:00 and 14:00-16:00,with a peak at 08:00-10:00.The mating period lasted 3-6 days and each mating bout took 7.48 ± 1.22 seconds in average.We found a highly significant different between 2 males in mating duration and mating frequency(one-way ANOVA).No difference was detected in mating duration when one male mated with different females.The mating frequency varied greatly,from 158 to 378,between different pairs.The copulation frequency of leopards is high but copulation duration is short(7.48 ±1.22 s,n=1 174) in average.