Anansesem story

HOW THE LEOPARD GOT ITS SPOTS

In the folktale How the Leopard Got Its Spots, all animals once shared the same sandy brown-green color of the plains, making them nearly indistinguishable. Leopard and a tall thin man used this camouflage to hunt easily, but their constant ambushes drove the other animals into the forest, where they developed new coats—zebra gained stripes, giraffe patches, and others unique patterns that helped them blend into the shadows. Hungry and unable to catch prey, the man covered himself in black mud to hide in the forest, while Leopard asked him to dab spots of mud across his body. From then on, Leopard carried his distinctive spotted coat, a mark of adaptation and survival.

Ages

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Length

24 pages

• animals
• savanna
• leopard
• giraffe
• zebra
• hunter