57 The Indian leopard (Panthera pardus), commonly known in Kerala as “nari/puli” is a leopard subspecies widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent and classified as “near threatened” by International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2008. Urinary affections are common in wild and captive leopards and the rapid diagnosis and treatment of such diseases required a sound knowledge of their anatomical peculiarities. This paper reports some peculiar features seen in the kidney of the leopard which may be valuable information in the treatment of systemic ailments. The present study was conducted on the kidneys of three adult leopards aged approximately 3-4 years, which died due to traumatic causes in various parts of Wayanad district of Kerala, partly coming under the Nilgiri bio reserve. After the conduction of postmortem examination, the kidneys were dissected out and the detailed gross morphological and biometrical features were studied separately for both the kidneys. The volume of both kidneys was recorded by water displacement method. The kidney of leopard was bean shaped, reddish brown and retroperitoneal in the sub lumbar region with the right kidney placed slightly anterior to the left kidney. The kidney was placed below the lumbar hypaxial muscles and above the parietal peritoneum. The surface of the kidney was smooth with superficial vascularization. It had a separate venous system for the renal capsule running on the surface Gross Morphological Studies on the Kidney of Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus) Leena Chandrasekhar 1* , C. V. Rajani 2 , K. M. Lucy 3 , George Chandy 4 and J. J. Chungath 5 Department of Veterinary Anatomy, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Pookode, Wayanad-673 576 (Kerala) Received: 9 May 2014; Accepted: 15 July 2014 SUMMARY Kidneys of three leopards comprised the study material during the present investigation. Both right and left kidneys were placed at the sublumbar region with the left one placed posterior to the right one. The kidneys were bean shaped, smooth surfaced and had prominent superficial vascularization. Longitudinal section revealed outer cortex, external and internal medulla. Para cortex and renal columns were not prominent. Cortical rays were not much distinct. The renal pelvis was less developed and had minimal amount of fat. The right kidney was larger and heavier than the left. Key words: Anatomy, Kidney, Leopard Indian Journal of Veterinary Anatomy 27 (1): 57-58, June 2015 Short Communication 1, 2 Asstt. Prof.; 3 Prof. & Head; 4 Asstt. Prof., Vety. Surgery; 5 Prof. & Head, Thrissur *Corresponding author: drleenachandrasekhar@rediffmail.com in shallow grooves to join the renal vein at the hilus. Capsule was very thick and might played a role in limiting the expansion of the kidney as reported by Sudhan et al. (2008) for musk deer. The kidneys were rounded dorsally and ventrally. The hilus was located in the middle of the medial border of the left kidney whereas in right, it was more towards the anterior pole. The hilus was in the form of an indentation with no fat on it. Both the anterior and posterior poles were rounded and had convex lateral surface. Length, width, thickness, weights were similar for both kidneys while the volume was larger for the right kidney. In the midfrontal section, the parenchyma showed three zones grossly (Fig. 1). The cortex was corpuscular and has radial lines identifying the path of arteries. A faint paracortical region was visible. Sarma et al. (2004) reported a clear paracortical zone in the kidney of Indian leopard. The medullary region can be divided into two parts based on the caliber of medullary striations. In the external medulla, large radiating striations were visible at the base of the renal pyramid whereas in the internal medulla striations were of small caliber. The cortex was thicker in the posterior part while the medulla was thicker in the middle part of both kidneys. The renal cortex was fused resulting in a smooth external surface. However, the paramedian sections showed lobar formation with many renal pyramids that