Leopard vs. puma

I happened upon an illustration of a recent thread in the readings
for this Sunday in Spanish, the thread being using certain words in a
translation to better convey the meaning.  The passage in question
is Isaiah 11:6, "the leopard will lie down with the kid."

In the lectionary approved for use in the USA, the translation is
from the Biblia Hispanoamerica and uses the word "puma" to
translate "leopard."  None of my Spanish dictionaries gives that as a
correct translation.

When I checked with the Biblia Sagrada, a translation for use in
Spain, I discover that the word "tigre" has been used.  I know
that "tigre" is used in Latin America for the jaguar, but how would
that help folks in Spain.  I should think tigers would be more
familiar than jaguars, but they would also know about leopards.

As far as I know, there are two Spanish words for leopard: leopardo
and pardal.  Thus the words actually used seem to be an attempt to
make the concept more familiar to those who might not know what a
leopard is.

Charlie

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