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| Leopard - Panthera pardus | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 7 2012, 08:52 PM (43,035 Views) | |
| Kurtz | Mar 27 2015, 11:35 PM Post #136 |
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Kleptoparasite
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For Leopards in Iran and Iraq, Land Mines Are a Surprising Refuge Land mines keep people out of the Persian leopard's last habitats, creating a conundrum—removing the hazards leaves the cats more vulnerable. By Peter Schwartzstein , for National Geographic PUBLISHED December 21, 2014 ![]() This Persian leopard was photographed by a camera trap in Kavir National Park, Iran. There are fewer than a thousand of the animals left in the wild. Photograph by Frans Lanting, National Geographic SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq—Few parts of the world look more hostile to big cats than the rugged wilderness that flanks the northern Iran-Iraq frontier. Laced with land mines and roamed by packs of dedicated poachers, it's an environment seemingly calculated to imperil even the most fleet-footed animal. Yet this is the place the world's largest leopard calls home. Once spread across the Caucasus region, Persian leopards now are relegated to this former war zone, along with a few isolated pockets of rural Iran. Here, hundreds of thousands of Iranian and Iraqi soldiers bludgeoned one another to death in some of the late 20th century's most brutal battles. Even today, border guards patrol the once fiercely contested high ground. ![]() But through it all the leopard has endured, and oddly enough, the region's violent past has contributed to its survival. As part of the decade-long conflict, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and his Iranian counterparts planted an estimated 20 million to 30 million land mines in the 1980s. Two decades after the last of the big minefields were laid, the explosives continue to maim and kill local residents. But the mines also have become accidental protection for the leopards, discouraging poachers from entering certain areas. And now interest in clearing the land mines throws into sharp relief the conflict between human and wildlife interests. Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdistan region is developing swiftly, and along with that comes hot pursuit of oil and gas deposits—many of which lie in leopard-heavy highlands—to fuel its likely bid for independence. Conservation efforts have struggled to gain traction in large swaths of the Middle East. As in many developing regions, the welfare of the environment is a distant consideration amid economic peril and political flux. But the emergence of the Islamic State jihadist group, which now controls swathes of Syria and Iraq and which was recently camped on Iran's doorstep, has pushed the plight of the Persian leopard even further from local decision-makers' thoughts. That's why the region's conservationists now find themselves in the not-so-comfortable position of opposing some land-mine clearance efforts. Clearing the way for people to return to those areas could put the leopards back at humans' mercy, they say. (Read about how Mozambique is clearing land mines.) "Environmentally speaking, mines are great, because they keep people out," said Azzam Alwash, head of the conservation group Nature Iraq. Hunters at Bay Ahmed Kurdi holds court in his brother's roadside restaurant outside the Iraqi city Sulaymaniyah, commonly known by its Kurdish name Slemani. His squat build and soft hands seem ill-suited to making stiff climbs in the Zagros Mountains, but Kurdi is an experienced marksman who is keen to tell stories of hunting leopards. "My cousin and I were hunting goats near his village in Iran when we saw this big animal moving slowly high up on the rocks," Kurdi said, mimicking his shooting motion. "It was a long way away, but it was a challenge that I couldn't resist." The market for leopard pelts has mostly dried up, but there's still a certain cachet associated with ensnaring such an exotic creature. As a result, the harsh penalties attached to killing leopards haven't done much to dissuade determined trophy hunters. The land mines, though, do a good job of keeping people off certain peaks, and these have become the leopards' favorite haunts. "A lot of the animals now stay up in the high mountains where all the land mines are. We can't really go there, so we can't really hunt," Kurdi said in explaining his reluctant decision to hang up his rifle. Not that leopards are entirely immune themselves to the hazards of land mines. They're nimble, spend much of their time in trees or on rocks, and are light enough when their weight is spread over four legs not to trigger anti-tank mines, which typically are activated by payloads of more than 176 pounds (80 kilograms). But at least two are thought to have been killed by triggering the prongs and tripwires of the region's ubiquitous Italian-made V69 antipersonnel mines. A video has also surfaced in which a leopard appears to have bled to death after losing a leg while navigating an explosive-laden mountain pass. Mine Protection It might seem extraordinary that deadly devices have contributed to the Persian leopard's continued presence in the Zagros Mountains, but the prospects of the region's animal life have always been intimately wrapped up with the fortunes of the local people. Hunters aside, Alwash fears the swift degradation of the leopards' habitats if mine removal frees up land for development around Sulaymaniyah and other small cities—which continue to expand, suggesting his worries are well-founded. A mountain that was de-mined near Iraq's Lake Dukan a few years ago was promptly appropriated by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the dominant local political party, and then fenced off and zoned for construction. Some Iraqis don't even wait for the "all clear" before traipsing through mine-ridden terrain. "Every day we have to stop operations because people are driving animals through the minefields," said Chris Bull, a project manager at Sterling Global Operations, which, like most mine clearance organizations in Iraqi Kurdistan, is funded by international energy companies pursuing new oil and gas reserves. In the late 1980s, the Iraqi government accelerated its eventual destruction of over 4,000 Kurdish villages in northern Iraq. In doing so, Saddam Hussein inadvertently boosted the animal population by reducing the number of people living in the mountains and warding off resident hunters. A few years later, however, many of these rural families came streaming home after the United States imposed a no-fly zone over northern Iraq—which pushed back government forces—and the mountains' wildlife suffered as a consequence, according to local environmentalists. Spotted in Iran In Iran, things have panned out a little differently for both big cats and the local people who have settled among them. The Persian leopard population is significantly bigger here, earning the cat a far more prominent place in local mythology than in neighboring Iraq. "It was a symbol of power and courage in ancient Persia," said Amirhossein Khaleghi, a co-founder of Iran's Persian Leopard Project. The leopard's skin, he says, was used as a flag by several imperial dynasties. This folkloric significance hasn't made leopards' lives any easier, though. Iran's roads are notoriously perilous—according to the World Health Organization, the country has one of the highest rates of traffic deaths in the world, with more than 20,000 people killed on the roads each year—and an increasing number of leopards have been killed while cutting across traffic. Others find themselves trapped without food by impassable highways. More threatening still is pervasive overhunting and the increasingly combative stance of farmers fearful of losing sheep and cattle to the predator. "Beyond the nature reserves, the amount of prey is declining due to rampant poaching," said Arash Ghoddousi, Khaleghi's partner in establishing Iran's Persian Leopard Project, who is studying how poachers and leopards battle for the same quarry. "Leopards are having to go nearer villages to hunt prey, and this has brought them into conflict with livestock farmers, who use poison or kill the animal with a rifle," Ghoddousi said. In both Iran and Iraq, it's forest rangers who are charged with protecting the leopard and pursuing those who hunt it, and despite the challenges they've performed relatively well in penalizing illegal hunters and chasing down bazaar vendors who market leopard pelts. But the experiences of a small Iraqi forest police checkpoint perched high above the town of Qaradagh in northern Iraq illustrate the complications of safeguarding local wildlife. Whenever the ten-strong company hears gunshots, they're supposed to fan out and patrol the surrounding hills, but the limited fuel allowance for their lone pickup truck means they seldom venture much beyond their post. Fortunately for nearby leopards and their prey, they're rarely called upon nowadays. "The hunting pressure is decreasing. We haven't seen leopard trails since July," said Araz, the unit commander, whose four shoulder stripes mark his nine years of service in the force. But he and his men are furious at the leniency the dominant local politician, Sheikh al-Jaffar, a former minister in the Kurdish Regional Government, or KRG, has shown to those caught hunting illegal game. Anyone spotted with a hunting rifle in a nature reserve is immediately disarmed and turned over to the local magistrate, but the frequency with which they reappear in the mountains has left the forest patrol disenchanted. Their colleagues across the border suffer from equally debilitating restrictions. The Iranian government issues a limited number of hunting licenses every year, but many villagers supplement their meager diets with meat from the mountains, which has sparked a fierce conflict between the locals and law enforcement officials. The same dispute is seen the world over, but far from empowering these wardens with significant clout to combat those who threaten protected species, officials have hamstrung them with an unforgiving legal framework. "Rangers are allowed to carry weapons, but if a ranger accidently kills a poacher, he will go through a long court experience, and probably go to prison and maybe get executed," Ghoddousi said. Political Animal The Persian leopard is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Calculating just how endangered the Persian leopard has become is intensely tricky, though. There are no official counts, and independent efforts to tally numbers have been continually stumped by thieves stealing the necessary equipment. The best estimates gathered by the IUCN put the total number of leopards at somewhere around a thousand, with the majority in Iran. All ten of the camera traps Nature Iraq uses to photograph and identify leopards have been stolen, as have 24 of the 80 devices the Persian Leopard Project set up around Iran's Golestan National Park. Both the Persian Leopard Project and Panthera, a big-cat conservation group, have nevertheless hit upon similar estimates. They place the total Persian leopard population in the 500-800 range, but fear a further reduction in numbers as its habitat shrinks. And then there's the regional flux. The Islamic State jihadist group has lost momentum in recent weeks, as American-led air strikes weaken its assaults on some cities, but they're still running amok across parts of Iraq. Affording leopards additional protections now, while also devoting resources to publicize the cat's plight, would likely smack of misplaced priorities. But from a leopard's perspective, some good might have come from the Middle East's turmoil. Every year, the KRG devotes some humanitarian funds toward de-mining patches of land that are of no interest to energy firms—notably leopard-heavy highlands. This year's allowance has been diverted to the Kurdish peshmerga forces to bolster their efforts to repel the Islamic State. "Political tensions with southern Iraq as well as the ongoing fighting seem to have slowed the release of further minefields for clearance," says Bull, the mine clearance manager. The leopards may yet remain hidden in their minefields. Both Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish authorities have talked of opening more nature reserves, but there's also every reason to believe the leopard could follow the Persian lion and tiger into extinction. Officials have shown little appetite to slow energy companies' growth into leopard habitats, and 95 percent of the KRG's economy is derived from oil and gas. Young Iranians appear to be waking up to their extraordinary array of wildlife, but hunting is so firmly rooted in the rural bastions where the government gains much of its support that it seems unlikely it will clamp down too hard on this traditional pursuit. Ahmed Kurdi, the retired hunter, offers an optimistic, if wishful, prognosis. "The leopard is very strong," he said. "They're incredible animals. We couldn't kill them all even if we wanted to." http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141219-persian-leopard-iran-iraq-land-mine/ Edited by Kurtz, Mar 27 2015, 11:36 PM.
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| Irbis | Mar 29 2015, 04:24 AM Post #137 |
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Autotrophic Organism
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Document about javan leopards. In this document there are good skull measurments of leopard from asian region http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/content/85/2/302 |
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| Kurtz | Apr 10 2015, 04:30 AM Post #138 |
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Kleptoparasite
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Man-eating leopard that killed 14 people hunted down in Didihat after two-year reign of terror By Raju Gusain The Didihat man-eater is history, but such is the fear of the animal in Uttarakhand’s remote Pithoragarh district that the spectre of death is yet to leave the minds of residents. It was late on Saturday that the two-year hunt of the infamous feline which had terrorised the entire district and developed the bizarre habit of feasting on passed-out drunks ended. Top shikaris Lakhpat Singh Rawat and Joy Hukil fired the killing shots after sitting up over a goat tied as bait near Digoti village. ![]() At their feet lay a seven-year-old leopardess with worn out canines and 14 human kills to her name, besides a host of cattle and other livestock. But it isn’t really over. The forest department fears that the Pithoragarh’s brush with terror has not ended, for another leopard was spotted with the slain cat. The other leopard, which Rawat says is likely to be a younger male, got away in the dark when its female partner was shot down. The man-eater of Didihat began its killing spree on January 23, 2012. The animal’s reign of terror had provoked such fear across the district that residents of more than 40 villages feared to venture out after sundown. That the leopard would stalk inebriated men and tear them to pieces if they passed out only added to its bloody legend. Leopards are messy eaters, but this animal’s inclination to eat even the intestines of its victims had come as a surprise to those on its trail. The Uttarakhand forest department declared the leopardess a man-eater in August this year and issued a warrant to kill it. The hunt gathered pace, but it took the expert team of Rawat and Hukil all of two months to get a shot at the man-eater. Rawat, worshipped as an angel of mercy across Uttarakhand for his skills and dedication in hunting down man-eating leopards, was circumspect. “Any leopard could attack a passed-out drunk. It could also be that the leopardess and her mate were a team, or that there are other leopards operating in a similar manner in the area,” Rawat told Mail Today. Pithoragarh’s district forest officer Y.K. Singh said: “We are tracking the other leopard and after making an observation, we will take the next step.” Suspicions about the presence of more man-eaters were underlined as a leopard took a young calf in the same area on Sunday. The Didihat man-eater killed six people in 2012, five in 2013 and three this year. The last human kill was in September. Published: 00:17 GMT, 6 October 2014 | Updated: 19:56 GMT, 7 October 2014 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2781527/Man-eating-leopard-killed-14-people-hunted-Didihat-two-year-reign-terror.html impressive female Edited by Taipan, Nov 7 2016, 11:32 AM.
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| Taipan | May 30 2015, 10:40 PM Post #139 |
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Source : ECOLOGY OF THE LEOPARDS (PANTHERA PARDUS LINN.) IN HUAI KHA KHAENG WILDLIFE SANCTUARY |
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| Taipan | Jul 14 2015, 04:19 PM Post #140 |
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Mysterious black leopards finally reveal their spots Date: July 13, 2015 Source: James Cook University Summary: Scientists have helped invent a clever technique to tell black leopards apart – a trick that may end up saving their skins. ![]() Black leopard shot with infrared camera. James Cook University scientists have helped invent a clever technique to tell black leopards apart -- a trick that may end up saving their skins. Scientists from JCU in Australia and others have been studying the leopards on the Malay Peninsula -- where almost all of the big cats are jet black. Experts have no idea why the leopards are black and, until recently, could not tell them apart, hindering research and conservation efforts. But researchers have now devised a simple method to solve the problem by manipulating the mechanism of automatic cameras. "Most automatic cameras have an infrared flash, but it's only activated at night," said Dr Gopalasamy Reuben Clements from JCU. "However, by blocking the camera's light sensor, we can fool the camera into thinking it's night even during the day, so it always flashes." With the infrared flash firing, the seemingly black leopards suddenly showed complex patterns of spotting. These spots could be used to distinguish different animals, and help estimate the population size of the species. The researchers tested this method in the north east of Peninsular Malaysia. "We found we could accurately identify 94% of the animals," said Dr Clements, who also works with a local research institute from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. "This will allow us to study and monitor this population over time, which is critical for its conservation." The researchers want to use their new method to study black leopards in other parts of Peninsular Malaysia where there is abundant prey but few leopards to be seen. It's thought widespread poaching is to blame. "Many dead leopards bearing injuries inflicted by wire snares have been discovered in Malaysia," said Distinguished Professor William Laurance from James Cook University. He said that leopard skins and body parts are increasingly showing up in wildlife trading markets in places such as on the Myanmar-China border. At the same time, suitable leopard habitats are disappearing faster in Malaysia than perhaps anywhere else in the world, as forests are felled for timber and replaced with oil palm and rubber plantations. "Understanding how leopards are faring in an increasingly human-dominated world is vital," said Laurie Hedges from the University of Nottingham -- Malaysia, lead author of a study on the cats just published in Journal of Wildlife Management. "This new approach gives us a novel tool to help save this unique and endangered animal." · Leopards, found from the frozen forests of Russia to the scorching sands of the Kalahari Desert, are the most widely distributed large cat on earth. Their iconic spotted coat has been admired and coveted by humans for millennia. · The black leopards of Peninsular Malaysia are extremely rare. "This is perhaps the only known example of a wild mammal with virtually an entire population composed of black individuals," said Laurie Hedges. · Black coloration -- also known as 'melanism' -- is found in some mammal species, especially big cats, where individuals that normally have patterns or colours in their coat are instead completely black. However, scientists have no idea why it predominates in the Malay Peninsula. Story Source: James Cook University. "Mysterious black leopards finally reveal their spots." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150713095310.htm (accessed July 14, 2015). Journal Reference: Laurie Hedges, Wai Yee Lam, Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, D. Mark Rayan, William F. Laurance, Chris J. Latham, Salman Saaban, Gopalasamy Reuben Clements. Melanistic leopards reveal their spots: Infrared camera traps provide a population density estimate of leopards in malaysia. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2015; 79 (5): 846 DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.901 ABSTRACT To date, leopards (Panthera pardus) in Peninsular Malaysia have been overlooked by large carnivore researchers. This is in part due to the country's unique population of individuals that are almost all melanistic, which makes it nearly impossible to identify individuals using camera traps for estimating leopard density. We discovered a novel modification to infrared flash camera traps, which forces the camera into night mode, that allows us to consistently and clearly see the spots of a melanistic leopard. The aim of this project was 1) to determine the feasibility of identifying melanistic leopards with confidence using infrared flash camera traps, and 2) to establish a density estimate for the leopard population in a wildlife corridor in Malaysia using maximum likelihood and Bayesian spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models. Both SECR approaches yielded a leopard density of approximately 3 individuals/100 km2. Our estimates represent the first density estimate of leopards in Malaysia and arguably, the world's first successful attempt to estimate the population size of a species with melanistic phenotypes. Because we have demonstrated that melanistic leopards can be monitored with confidence using infrared cameras, future studies should employ our approach instead of relying on scars or body shape for identification. Ultimately, our approach can facilitate more accurate assessments of leopard population trends, particularly in regions where melanistic phenotypes largely occur. © 2015 The Wildlife Society. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.901/abstract;jsessionid=19E11B88428EED425F2798053B62FA8A.f01t01 |
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| chui | Dec 1 2015, 11:38 PM Post #141 |
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Heterotrophic Organism
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Due to the fact the leopard is sympatric with its larger relatives, the lion and tiger, in much of its range its niche is relatively restricted. Therefore, in most of its range even though it may be capable of doing so it rarely hunts particularly large prey. However, in certain regions where the leopard has evolved as the top predator it appears to have expanded its niche to incorporate large prey animals into its diet where available. Specifically, the leopards of the Congo Basin and Sri Lanka will predate on very large ungulates due to their position as apex predators and probably larger body size. Buffalo due to their robustness and aggression are particularly impressive prey taken by these leopards. Predation on subadult water buffalo has been documented in Sri Lanka and limited observations have revealed the same with subadult forest buffalo in the Congo Basin. Admittedly, the Sri Lankan water buffalo it seems is smaller than those from the mainland and the forest buffalo is of course smaller than the Cape buffalo. Nonetheless, such predation remains very impressive given the size of the leopard itself. From "Leopard attack on and consumption of gorillas in the Central African Republic" 1995 by Michael Fay. ![]() From "For the Leopard: A Tribute to the Sri Lankan Leopard" 2002 by Rukshan Jayewardene ![]() ![]() |
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| Taipan | May 4 2016, 09:59 PM Post #142 |
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Leopards Have Lost Three Fourths of Their Territory The most comprehensive study to date sounds a warning about the survival of the iconic big cat. ![]() A remote camera reveals a leopard in South Africa's Timbavarti Game Reserve. PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVE WINTER, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE By Brian Clark Howard Photographs by Steve Winter PUBLISHED MAY 4, 2016 Leopards are the most widespread big cats in the world, with historical territory that ranges across much of Eurasia and Africa. They are powerful and adaptable, able to live everywhere from the parched deserts of the Arabian Peninsula to the teeming jungles of Java. Leopards are occasionally seen on the streets of big cities and they hunt a wider range of prey than any other big obligate carnivore. But that doesn't mean they haven't suffered at the hand of man. The most comprehensive worldwide study of leopards (Panthera pardus) to date shows that the cats now occupy just 25 to 37 percent of their historic range, a team of scientists report in the journal PeerJ Wednesday. And while leopards are doing relatively well in parts of Africa and India, some of the nine subspecies in other areas have experienced precipitous decline of more than 90 percent. The overall decline is worse than the average for large land carnivores. Further, only about 17 percent of existing leopard range is legally protected, with lower percentages for the most at-risk subspecies. "We found that many leopard populations are much more threatened than people thought," says Andrew Jacobson, the study's lead author and a National Geographic explorer with the society's Big Cats Initiative. Jacobson is also affiliated with the Zoological Society of London and University College London. The big cats have declined in West and North Africa and have been nearly wiped out from much of the Arabian Peninsula and China. Overall, their range has shrunk to 8.5 million square kilometers (3.3 million square miles), from a historic high of 35 million square kilometers (13.5 million square miles). Six of the nine subspecies of leopard are now in significant trouble, the scientists reported. The study comes as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is expected to change its official Red List status for leopards this year. The big cat is expected to be listed as vulnerable, an upgrade in severity from the previous listing of near threatened. Some subspecies of the leopard may also receive a listing of endangered or critically endangered. Over the past three years, the team compiled the new analysis by combing through the literature, examining thousands of recent and historical records, and speaking with dozens of experts in many countries. The authors are affiliated with a diverse range of institutions, also including Panthera, IUCN, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and several universities, from Duke to Beijing Forestry University. “Leopards’ secretive nature, coupled with the occasional, brazen appearance of individual animals within megacities like Mumbai and Johannesburg, perpetuates the misconception that these big cats continue to thrive in the wild—when actually our study underlies the fact that they are increasingly threatened,” said Luke Dollar, a co-author and the program director of the National Geographic Society’s Big Cats Initiative. In reviewing the paper, conservation biologist Stuart Pimm of Duke says it "sets a new—and high—standard for doing assessments." Pimm, who is also a National Geographic explorer but who did not work on the study, says the team went "to exceptional efforts to compile a vast amount of scattered information on the distribution of the leopard. All too often, scientists have drawn vague boundaries on maps and assumed they mean something." Big Threats Over time, the leopard has suffered from loss of habitat and prey species, as well as from direct persecution. It has long been hunted for its spotted skin, which is still prized in parts of Africa, as well as Southeast Asia. Unsustainable trophy hunting also continues in some areas, Jacobson says. The leopard has generally declined most severely in areas where it was less prevalent to begin with. In harsh deserts, the big cats were often found at the density of one per one hundred square kilometers. In a rainforest, they may be found at 30 per hundred square kilometers. Yet, in many places the leopard occupies a key ecological role as the top carnivore, helping to keep prey species in balance. And the big cat often has cultural and historical significance in many parts of its range. Subspecies in Trouble The three leopard subspecies that showed the most decline are the Amur, P. p. orientalis, Arabian, nimr, and north Chinese, japonensis. The authors noted that the Chinese leopard is particularly under studied, since they could only find two recent academic papers about the animal in English. Other leopard subspecies at high risk of extinction include the Javan, P. p. melas, Persian, P. p. saxicolor, Indochinese, P. p. delacouri, and Sri Lankan, P. p. kotiya. "We hope our work will catalyze conservation action in the areas that need it the most," says Jacobson. The team found some hopeful spots as well. In the Russian Far East and the Caucasus Mountains, leopards experienced marked declines until the government increased the size of protected areas and stepped up anti-poaching efforts. As a result, the populations have stabilized there, says Jacobson. "Leopards breed pretty well, so elimination of active persecution allows their populations to start growing again," says Jacobson. The big takeaway is that more research and protection efforts are needed for leopards, says Jacobson. "People should think of them as a threatened animal, like a lion or an elephant," he adds. "They are not as bad off as tigers, yet, but they have lost a significant portion of their range." Philipp Henschel of Panthera says the study should be taken as a call to action. “The international conservation community must double down in support of initiatives protecting the species," he says. "Our next steps in this very moment will determine the leopard’s fate.” http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/160504-leopard-range-shrinks-endangered-subspecies/ Journal Reference: Jacobson AP, Gerngross P, Lemeris Jr. JR, Schoonover RF, Anco C, Breitenmoser-Würsten C, Durant SM, Farhadinia MS, Henschel P, Kamler JF, Laguardia A, Rostro-García S, Stein AB, Dollar L. (2016) Leopard (Panthera pardus) status, distribution, and the research efforts across its range. PeerJ 4:e1974 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1974 Abstract The leopard’s (Panthera pardus) broad geographic range, remarkable adaptability, and secretive nature have contributed to a misconception that this species might not be severely threatened across its range. We find that not only are several subspecies and regional populations critically endangered but also the overall range loss is greater than the average for terrestrial large carnivores. To assess the leopard’s status, we compile 6,000 records at 2,500 locations from over 1,300 sources on its historic (post 1750) and current distribution. We map the species across Africa and Asia, delineating areas where the species is confirmed present, is possibly present, is possibly extinct or is almost certainly extinct. The leopard now occupies 25–37% of its historic range, but this obscures important differences between subspecies. Of the nine recognized subspecies, three (P. p. pardus, fusca, and saxicolor) account for 97% of the leopard’s extant range while another three (P. p. orientalis, nimr, and japonensis) have each lost as much as 98% of their historic range. Isolation, small patch sizes, and few remaining patches further threaten the six subspecies that each have less than 100,000 km2 of extant range. Approximately 17% of extant leopard range is protected, although some endangered subspecies have far less. We found that while leopard research was increasing, research effort was primarily on the subspecies with the most remaining range whereas subspecies that are most in need of urgent attention were neglected. https://peerj.com/articles/1974/ |
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| Taipan | May 9 2016, 04:19 PM Post #143 |
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Evolution of the Javan leopard Urgent need for its conservation, say researchers Date: May 4, 2016 Source: Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB) Summary: New insights into the evolutionary history of the Javan leopard have been gained by new research. The results of the study confirm that Javan leopards are clearly distinct from Asian leopards and probably colonized Java around 600,000 years ago via a land bridge from mainland Asia. The study highlights the urgent need for concerted conservation efforts to preserve the Javan leopard from extinction. An international team of researchers from Germany and Indonesia has discovered new insights into the evolutionary history of the Javan leopard. The results of the study confirm that Javan leopards are clearly distinct from Asian leopards and probably colonised Java around 600,000 years ago via a land bridge from mainland Asia. The study, published in the scientific journal Journal of Zoology, highlights the urgent need for concerted conservation efforts to preserve the Javan leopard from extinction. Scientists from the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Tierpark Berlin (Germany), Taman Safari Indonesia, Potsdam University (Germany) and Conservation International Indonesia (Indonesia) worked in close collaboration to answer the question whether the Javan leopard is a separate subspecies of the leopard, as this would heighten the need for efforts to improve its viability through active conservation measures. The results show that Javan leopards diverged from mainland Asian leopards in the Middle Pleistocene approximately 600,000 years ago and have already reached a degree of genetic distinctiveness which clearly warrants the classification of Javan leopards as a subspecies (Panthera pardus melas) of the leopard (Panthera pardus). Leopards likely migrated from mainland Asia to Java during a prolonged period of low sea levels via a Malaya-Java land bridge that by-passed the island of Sumatra. This might be one reason why leopards exist on mainland Asia and on Java today, but do not occur on Sumatra or Borneo. However, fossils show that leopards occurred at least in some parts of Sumatra during the Pleistocene. "We assume that leopards became extinct on this island after the massive eruption of the Toba volcano about 74,000 years ago. On Java, the impact of this eruption was minor, allowing leopards to survive there," explains Andreas Wilting, scientist at the IZW and lead author of the study. The scientists reconstructed the evolutionary history of the Javan leopard using mitochondrial DNA sequenced from museum specimens of leopards from Java and compared this genetic information to leopard sequences from Asian mainland and Africa. The potential historical distribution was reconstructed using species distribution models with environmental data from the Last Glacial Maximum and the Mid-Holocene. The Javan leopard is the last big cat still roaming on Java after the Sunda clouded leopard (in the Holocene) and the Javan tiger (in the early 1980s) went extinct. Subjected to anthropogenic pressures such as deforestation, the subspecies has dwindled significantly and is now listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. With only a few hundred individuals still existing in the wild and 52 living in captivity, the Javan leopard is one of the most threatened subspecies of big cats. "The data presented in our study highlight the urgent need for concerted conservation efforts for this unique and distinctive subspecies," emphasizes Anton Ario from Conservation International Indonesia. Conservation measures need to combine numerous management activities guided by a One Plan Approach, such as protecting leopard habitats, raising awareness in communities and establishing a coordinated breeding programme for Javan leopards in captivity. A first step for such an integrated approach was established in 2014: an international studbook was established, coordinated by Taman Safari Indonesia and Tierpark Berlin. Now additional measures are required and further conservation actions for the remaining fragmented wild Javan leopard populations are needed to ensure that the last big cats on Java will continue to roam the island for the foreseeable future. Story Source: Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB). "Evolution of the Javan leopard: Urgent need for its conservation, say researchers." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160504085111.htm (accessed May 9, 2016). Journal Reference: A. Wilting, R. Patel, H. Pfestorf, C. Kern, K. Sultan, A. Ario, F. Peñaloza, S. Kramer-Schadt, V. Radchuk, D. W. Foerster, J. Fickel. Evolutionary history and conservation significance of the Javan leopard Panthera pardus melas. Journal of Zoology, 2016; DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12348 Abstract The leopard Panthera pardus is widely distributed across Africa and Asia; however, there is a gap in its natural distribution in Southeast Asia, where it occurs on the mainland and on Java but not on the interjacent island of Sumatra. Several scenarios have been proposed to explain this distribution gap. Here, we complemented an existing dataset of 68 leopard mtDNA sequences from Africa and Asia with mtDNA sequences (NADH5 + ctrl, 724 bp) from 19 Javan leopards, and hindcasted leopard distribution to the Pleistocene to gain further insights into the evolutionary history of the Javan leopard. Our data confirmed that Javan leopards are evolutionarily distinct from other Asian leopards, and that they have been present on Java since the Middle Pleistocene. Species distribution projections suggest that Java was likely colonized via a Malaya-Java land bridge that by-passed Sumatra, as suitable conditions for leopards during Pleistocene glacial periods were restricted to northern and western Sumatra. As fossil evidence supports the presence of leopards on Sumatra at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene, our projections are consistent with a scenario involving the extinction of leopards on Sumatra as a consequence of the Toba super volcanic eruption (~74 kya). The impact of this eruption was minor on Java, suggesting that leopards managed to survive here. Currently, only a few hundred leopards still live in the wild and only about 50 are managed in captivity. Therefore, this unique and distinctive subspecies requires urgent, concerted conservation efforts, integrating in situ and ex situ conservation management activities in a One Plan Approach to species conservation management. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.12348/abstract;jsessionid=9DB90781B498F873F9940C97F92363AD.f03t02 |
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| Kurtz | May 26 2016, 10:36 PM Post #144 |
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Kleptoparasite
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This leopardess was falsely accused of being a problem animal when she was hunting common duiker and not cattle on the farm: Edited by Taipan, Nov 7 2016, 11:30 AM.
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| Kurtz | Jun 11 2016, 10:20 PM Post #145 |
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Kleptoparasite
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For visual comparison two male the bigger one from Namibia and smaller one from Cape Province 61 kilograms vs 42 kilograms ![]() but still this from male 61 kilograms and female 39 kilograms both from namibia ![]() ![]() Edited by Kurtz, Jun 11 2016, 10:28 PM.
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| chui | Jun 12 2016, 09:21 PM Post #146 |
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Heterotrophic Organism
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Cool comparison Kurtz. Of course it is very speculative estimating the size of a leopard from pictures alone but which features do you think are most useful in identifying big leopards? From what I have read and seen IMO the relative size of the ears seems to be a good indicator of overall size in leopards. As I'v mentioned before the ears don't appear to grow in proportion to the size of the head and the really big males generally seem to have relatively smallish looking ears. You also notice this trend in the above two specimens, the 42kg male appears to have noticeably bigger ears in proportion to his head than the 61kg male. However, as with most things there are always exceptions. This is also supported by the measurements of leopards captured by Ted Bailey in Kruger. Here we can see that while leopards grow in overall size from the subadult stage to old adult stage, ear length appears to remain fairly constant. From "The African Leopard" 1993 by Ted Bailey. ![]() Here are the details of the age classifications used by Bailey. IMO the term 'old' and 'prime' adult here is a bit misleading, it would've been more appropriate to use the terms 'mature' and 'young' adult, respectively.
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| Kurtz | Jun 12 2016, 10:07 PM Post #147 |
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Kleptoparasite
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Great stuff chui, thank you for details of the age classifications used by Bailey. Truly hard to estimate size of leopard by pics, some time even these field researchers can mistake the size of the leopards and they have to dart them for anesthetize! One thing i noticed is that worst pics to estimate leopard size come from bridge cameras, while using full frame(35 mm) camera like at Phinda GR and some accuracy and some little attentions they give us a good idea of the size of the leopard. |
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| ManEater | Jun 13 2016, 07:28 AM Post #148 |
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Omnivore
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World's second oldest leopard dies at Raipur's Nandanvan Zoo RAIPUR: The country's oldest and world's second-oldest living leopard Devi, who celebrated her 25th birthday on May 22, died at Raipur's Nandanvan Zoo on Friday early morning. Born in the zoo in 1992, Devi was the last of the oldest animals at Nandanvan. Zoo authorities had celebrated her birthday by decorating her enclosure and had also cut a cake in presence of lots of visitors which was distributed among people and zoo staff. -> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/raipur/Worlds-second-oldest-leopard-dies-at-Raipurs-Nandanvan-Zoo/articleshow/52470008.cms The record holder is still alive: ![]() UPDATE: 02/12/15 - Our records team have confirmed that Ivory has reached the grand old age of 24 years 58 days, as of 20 November 2015. http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2015/2/oldest-leopard-ivory-is-a-roaring-record-breaker-370987 Edited by ManEater, Jun 13 2016, 07:31 AM.
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| Kurtz | Jun 15 2016, 01:58 AM Post #149 |
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Kleptoparasite
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100-pound male leopard escapes Indian Zoo after mauling three people: Sunday’s leopard incident in Bengaluru has brought the endangered spotted feline back in the spotlight. The animal entered a school premises and attacked half a dozen people as it attempted to escape. It was finally captured after being shot with two tranquillizer darts. Read more: Captured in pics: When a leopard strolled into a Bengaluru school A couple of similar incidents have already been reported this year, adding to a growing list of man-animal conflicts, a cause for concern for environmentalists and those in prone areas. The species, which is endangered, is losing its habitat as urban boundaries grow and is likely to come more in contact with humans. The country’s first-ever leopard census was in fact conducted last year to help monitor the animal. The numbers revealed both good and bad news. The good news was that the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) estimated there are 12,000 to 14,000 in the wild – a very healthy number for the endangered spotted big cats. The bad news was that almost half live outside protected areas and are vulnerable to conflict with people. The damage this is doing to their numbers is borne out by data collected by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), which stated that 299 leopards had been killed by September; and 329 were killed in 2014. The highest number of deaths was reported in Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. ![]() The first-of-its-kind survey by the Dehradun-based WII collected data on leopards while conducting the tiger census in 2014 – the tiger population, incidentally, is at an estimated 2,226, a 30% increase from 2010. Using the same methodology of double sampling – camera traps and scat DNA analysis – and extrapolation, the WII arrived at a leopard population of 7,872 in five landscapes, including the Gangetic plains, central India and the Western and Eastern Ghats. While camera traps covered 9,735 locations across the five major tiger landscapes – spread across 350,000 sq km -- a total of 10,000 surveyors also walked a combined 459,096 sq km across 18 states to gather data. Areas left out include Gujarat, West Bengal, the eight states of the north-east, and the higher reaches of Uttarakhand. “The leopard data gathered in the tiger habitats was extrapolated to arrive at an estimated national leopard population, on the basis of prey populations, the ratio of spotted cats to tigers, and other factors,” says YV Jhala, senior biologist with the WII. Typically, there are five leopards for every tiger in the wild. As with the tiger census, there has been some debate among wildlife experts over the methodology used in the leopard count, and the accuracy of the extrapolation. “The methodology of extrapolation using linear regression is fundamentally flawed and the results are not dependable as the methodology fails to take into account other extraneous factors that impact animal population,” says biologist K Ullas Karanth, Padma Shri awardee and director of the Bengaluru-based Wildlife Conservation Society. “Even within the tiger survey region, the basic methodology employed by the WII was flawed statistically. For this reason, I do not think the tiger and leopard numbers it generates for larger landscapes are reliable.” ![]() While senior WII biologists Qamar Qureshi and Jhala dispute this claim, PR Sinha, former director of WII and India representative of global wildlife monitoring body International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), vouched for data collected but not the final inference. “To me, the data collected through a long process of field surveys is robust. Scientists can differ on the final statistical inference,” says the biologist who introduced the methodology for tiger estimation in India in 2006. Karanth and WII scientists agree on one point - the actual number of leopards in the wild could be much higher, since the survey was restricted to tiger landscapes, which cover just 6% of the country’s wildlife areas. “Even presence-absence estimations are vital for conservation strategy, adds Bittu Sahgal, editor of wildlife magazine Sanctuary Asia. The concern being raised now is whether India has a plan to manage these numbers in light of the country’s degrading wildlife habitats. Sinha calls this a major worry because the leopard’s prey base is extremely poor. The WII survey has revealed that the small wild animals that are the prey for leopards in non-protected areas are in distress because of human encroachment and degradation of forests. As a result, leopards are forced to enter human habitats looking for food and water, especially during summer months. This has been in evidence from Mumbai to Meerut, where scores of leopards have been caught after they ventured into residential areas, some of them killed, others trapped, still others rescued from wells. “The fact is, leopards are more adaptable and therefore able to live in closer proximity to humans, often without people even knowing they are around,” Sahgal says. This proximity is becoming increasingly fatal, with the monthly death rate for leopards this year rising to 37, from 27 in 2014. The WII exercise could lead to a better protection and leopard management strategy, since we now know the forest locations with large leopard populations, Sinha says. For that to happen, there will have to be a will among foresters to protect the vulnerable animals, adds Sahgal. “The more natural forests we destroy, the quicker we will push these animals towards extinction.” Buffer zone turns conflict zone As the buffer zones have shrunk over the past decade, under the influence of human activity, prey populations have fallen and wild animals have been forced to forage further afield. Here, they are increasingly running into people, fields, wells and construction projects. The impact is clearly visible in the number of casualties – 769 humans, 179 elephants and 110 tigers have been killed around wildlife zones between 2012 and 2014, according to data released by the government. This is about five times the number of these animals killed by poachers during this period. “It is the rising human population in many of these green corridors that is causing the rise in conflict,” says Dipankar Ghose, director of species and landscapes with the advocacy group World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature. The quality of buffer zones is an area of concern and the prey population is not sustainable for the large populations of wildlife residing outside the protected areas, adds a biologist with WII. ![]() About half of the 12,000 to 14,000 leopards in the country, a third of India’s 2,226 tigers, and 60% of its 29,000 wild elephants live in the buffer zones outside national parks and sanctuaries. Studies in states with a high density of wildlife, such as Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Assam, show that new conflict zones have been created in such areas over the past decade. The government’s response has, in many cases, been counterproductive. Sensing that protecting wild animals will not fetch votes, the environment ministry earlier this year authorised state governments to declare wild animals vermin if they pose a threat to farms. The vermin tag means that these species can then be hunted or eliminated until their numbers are sufficiently reduced. In a fresh advisory, the ministry recently added that forest departments can allow “elimination” of animals responsible for “habitual crop raiding”… “in rarest of rare cases”. ‘Rarest of rare’ has not been defined. While these options do not apply to endangered species such as the tiger, leopard and elephant, they help explain why prey populations are dwindling in buffer zones, forcing the endangered species into conflict with humans. The union ministry has also asked state governments to adopt Gujarat’s volunteer programme to rope in civilians to help protect human habitats from wild animals. In Gujarat, the scheme was used to protect lions in and around the Gir National Park. Experts say people living around Gir have traditionally protected lions, but most of those in tiger and elephant conflict zones will most likely not have the same approach. The truth is, it will be difficult to prevent the conflict unless governments - state and centre - begin to work to fix the root of the problem: protecting and revitalising buffer zones and restoring crucial wildlife corridors between protected areas. The WII study will likely reiterate why this is crucial. It is the government’s response that might fall short. Its latest measure, for instance, has been to open up degraded forests to ‘private management’, a move that wildlife experts say could destroy complex ecosystems altogether. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/in-defence-of-the-stray-leopard-why-it-s-forced-into-human-habitats/story-r2ksAT6E2tG7UikhLbkExO.html http://www.newsjs.com/url.php?p=http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/leopard-that-injured-five-escapes-1985084 ---- A speeding vehicle killed a female leopard in Ramnagar, gateway to the renowned Jim Corbett National Park. The incident happened on Ramnagar-Haldwani highway. Forest officials said the six-year-old mammal died on the spot after being hit by the vehicle. Forest officials have sent the body of the leopard for post-mortem. Police have filed a case against unknown persons and launched a manhunt to trace the culprits. There have been several incidents in the past where tigers and leopards were killed on the highway outside the 1,300-square km reserve at the Himalayan foothills. https://www.facebook.com/savetheleopard/videos/10153449910742278/ A leopard was found dead outside an urban health centre in Dhararnagar area of Junagadh city. The forest department said that the big cat died due to old age. Residents of Dhararnagar were scared to spot a leopard lying outside the urban health centre in Dhararnagar area on Bilkha Road of Junagadh. Soon, forest department was informed and forest officers concluded that the big cat was dead. “After we were informed at around 8 am, we shifted the leopard carcass to Sakkarbagu Zoo to conduct post-mortem. After the autopsy, veterinary doctors concluded that the big cat had died due to old age,” Parbat Maru, range forest officer of Dungar South Range in Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary said. Maru further said that the dead animal was a male leopard believed to be around 15 year old. “Since Junagadh city is located on the border of the sanctuary, it is not uncommon to find leopards straying into the city area. Leopards love to prey on dogs and we believe this one also could have come in search of food. In any case, the urban health centre is barely 150 metres away from the border of the sanctuary,” Maru further said. Incidentally, a leopard was stranded in the official residential bungalow of police superintendent of Junagadh district last year. ![]() --------------------------- And this 3 old male was well size specimen for his age what a shame: https://www.facebook.com/savetheleopard/photos/pb.339054752277.-2207520000.1465923043./10153050779072278/?type=3&theater Edited by Taipan, Nov 7 2016, 11:29 AM.
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| Taipan | Aug 16 2016, 03:00 PM Post #150 |
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Administrator
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Blog Entry: The Range Collapse of the Indochinese Leopard Jan Kamler, PhD Coordinator, Southeast Asia Leopard Program August 11, 2016 In recent years, scientists had believed that while tiger populations had decreased dramatically throughout Southeast Asia, leopard populations were stable. A new paper published in Biological Conservation refutes that belief. A survey of the current distribution of the Indochinese leopard showed that the unique species had disappeared from a massive 94% of its range in Southeast Asia. ![]() An Indochinese leopard in Malaysia © DWNP/PANTHERA/RIMBA Importantly, this paper identifies all the remaining viable populations of Indochinese leopards in Southeast Asia on a country-by-country basis as well as the sites where conservation action is most needed to prevent this subspecies from going extinct. We also examined the likely reasons for their range collapse, with poaching for the illegal wildlife trade being the greatest factor. Leopard parts are used as substitutes for tiger parts in traditional Asian medicine, so as tiger populations plummet, there is consequently a growing demand for leopard parts. Additionally, the practice of setting snares to catch animals for meat and other uses has exploded in many parts of the region, devastating leopard populations. To assist with the conservation of the Indochinese leopard, Panthera has recently expanded its Leopard Program to include Southeast Asia, and this year we’ve started collaborations in 4 countries to begin long-term monitoring of leopards in the last remaining landscapes where they occur. After conducting surveys in Cambodia, I’m now initiating surveys in one of the leopard’s last strongholds in Malaysia. Nearly all leopards in Malaysia are black, so we’re using specially made Panthera cameras with an infrared flash to help illuminate their hidden spots, allowing for individual identification for accurate population estimates. Despite the tough field conditions in the jungles of Malaysia, which I’ll detail in future posts, our efforts are already producing important data about this unique and rare subspecies. https://www.panthera.org/blog/2016/08/11/range-collapse-indochinese-leopard Journal Reference: S. Rostro-García, J.F. Kamler, E. Ash, G.R. Clements, L. Gibson, A.J. Lynam, R. McEwing, H. Naing, S. Paglia Endangered leopards: Range collapse of the Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) in Southeast Asia Biological Conservation Volume 201, September 2016, Pages 293–300 Abstract The Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) is a genetically distinct subspecies that historically occurred throughout mainland Southeast Asia, but might have experienced recent declines in numbers and distribution. This study aimed to determine the current distribution of the Indochinese leopard, and estimate its population size, by reviewing data from camera trap and other wildlife surveys conducted during the past 20 years. Our results showed the Indochinese leopard likely now occurs only in 6.2% of its historical range, with only 2.4% of its distribution in areas of confirmed leopard presence. The leopard is extirpated in Singapore, likely extirpated in Laos and Vietnam, nearly extirpated in Cambodia and China, and has greatly reduced distributions in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. There are plausibly only two major strongholds remaining, which we consider priority sites: Peninsular Malaysia, and the Northern Tenasserim Forest Complex. We also identified a small isolated population in eastern Cambodia as a third priority site, because of its uniqueness and high conservation value. We estimate a total remaining population of 973–2503 individuals, with only 409–1051 breeding adults. Increased poaching for the illegal wildlife trade likely is the main factor causing the decline of the Indochinese leopard. Other potential contributing factors include prey declines, habitat destruction, and possibly disease. We recommend a separate IUCN assessment for the Indochinese leopard, and that this subspecies be classified as Endangered. Our findings provide important information that can help guide where conservation actions would be most effective in preventing the extinction of this subspecies. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320716302658 |
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