The leopard -An ideal conservation umbrella

Article 3 – This series of articles on the leopard will be featured over the course of the coming months

A pair of Arabian leopards: A pair of courting Arabian leopards (Panthera pardus nimr) – the smallest of all leopard sub-species - camera-trapped in arid Jabal Samahan Nature Reserve, Oman. (From “Spalton et al 2006 Status Report for the Arabian Leopard in the Sultanate of Oman, Cat News, Special Issue 1”).

• Arabian leopard day” has been declared and annual global charity walks (“Catwalks”) organized for the cause – an amazing scenario given the absence of the key actor!
• As it is throughout SE Asia, snaring is a big issue in Java, with wire traps laid even in the few remaining leopard habitats.
• The North Chinese leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis) – IUCN Status: Critically Endangered. Estimated range loss (2016): 98%

The Critically Endangered Sub-species

The Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) – IUCN Status: Critically Endangered. Estimated range loss (2016): 98%

The Arabian leopard is the smallest of all of the sub-species, coming in at roughly half the size of most others (18 – 35 kgs). Despite the fact that exhaustive searches have yet to turn up evidence of these diminutive, pale-coloured leopards still living anywhere in Saudi Arabia (the last known observation was in 2014), the oil-rich nation has an ambitious plan – supported strongly by the royal family - to conserve leopard habitat and reintroduce the species. A national “Arabian leopard day” has been declared and annual global charity walks (“Catwalks”) organized for the cause – an amazing scenario given the absence of the key actor! Currently the Arabian leopard is limited to 3 small pockets on the Arabian Peninsula, 2 in Yemen and 1 in Oman with a total population estimated to be <200 individuals. Three new protected areas have been declared holding ~30 – 50 individuals in Yemen and ~10 in Oman. The Saudi Arabian landscape might yet be populated with captive bred leopards as there are four active ex-situ breeding facilities (in Oman, UAE and Saudi Arabia) which currently hold ~60 leopards.

The Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) – IUCN Status: Critically Endangered. Estimated range loss (2016): 84%
Java is the world’s most populated island with 141 million people living in its 128,297 km2, giving it a human population density of > 1000/km2 - more than 3x that of Sri Lanka. It’s a miracle that any leopards remain here - the last definitive sighting of a Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) was in 1976 and it was declared extinct in 2003. Not surprisingly, the remaining leopards are extremely scarce and live in fragmented populations, mostly restricted to the volcanic mountains (e.g. Mt Muria, Mt Betiri) that form the spine of the island. Only recently have there been efforts to estimate population size and density in some of the estimated 9% of the island where leopards are found. This remaining habitat is divided into roughly 22 patches of which only 3 are protected and this research will provide much-needed baselines for future conservation. A central focus of leopard conservation in Java is on community projects to teach schoolchildren about the species, its distribution and ecology, and to try and encourage them to care about their long-term future. As it is throughout SE Asia, snaring is a big issue in Java, with wire traps laid even in the few remaining 
leopard habitats.

The North Chinese leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis) – IUCN Status: Critically Endangered. Estimated range loss (2016): 98%
With almost its entire range having been lost, the key research programme for the North Chinese leopard, apart from ongoing basic documentation and presence/absence surveys, is to identify and conserve corridors between the highly fragmented patches in which the sub-species remains. The Taihang mountains which run for ~400 km along the eastern edge of Loess Plateau, is one of the strongholds for the North Chinese leopard and is therefore a reference point for conservation initiatives. One bold programme is aiming to connect landscapes from this mountain range ~250 km NE towards Beijing, from where the type specimen for the sub-species was found in 1862. There are estimated to be only ~350 North Chinese leopards remaining across eight Chinese provinces.

The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) – IUCN Status: Critically Endangered. Estimated range loss (2016): 98%
Despite the immense range loss and very low numbers, the Amur leopard story is one of modest success - heartbreaking loss followed by encouraging gain. In the 1970s, when the first attempts to understand the population were made, there were already only ~50 individuals spread across 3 isolated sites. By the 1980s, two of the sites no longer held leopards with the third site in far southeastern Russia holding ~25 animals. There have been efforts to save this sub-species, which was very much in peril, since that time, with one of the most important events being the declaration in 2012 of “Land of the Leopard” National Park in Primorsky Krai along the border with China. With trapping and hunting outlawed in this 2799 km2 PA and park rangers taking a hard stance on poaching, the Amur leopard population has increased from ~30 – 40 in 2014 to >100 in 2021. Four hundred remote cameras are used to continuously monitor the population. There remain serious issues, with inbreeding being a real potential threat with various studies showing extremely low heterozygosity and low genetic diversity. Amur leopards with short and or kinked tails, or with white spots on their feet are being increasingly detected, which suggests inbreeding - not surprising given the genetic bottleneck that occurred during the end of the last century. Utilizing ex-situ (captive) animals to increase genetic diversity is being planned. That both the Russian and Chinese governments are taking an interest in the long-term conservation of the Amur leopard is key to their long term probability of success.

The Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) – IUCN Status: Critically Endangered. Estimated range loss (2016): 96%
The Indochinese leopard inhabits SE Asia, with the most well-known sub-population in the thick rainforests of peninsular Malaysia. Intriguingly, here, majority of leopards are black. Black leopards – often called black panthers - are melanistic variants of normal leopards. It is a double recessive gene, which means that both parents must have this genotype (even if it is not expressed) and is therefore typically quite rare. They are not a different species or sub-species and in fact a black leopard can have spotted siblings. Typically, the black colouration is not helpful as it makes the leopard stick out in certain habitat types, but in dark, dense forest systems this variation may be adaptive as it can have benefits for hunting and therefore survival. Initially it was thought that all leopards in the Peninsular Malyasian rainforests were black, but more recently spotted ones have been detected with remote cameras. Despite this potential advantage in this particular part of its range, the story for most Indochinese leopards is much more sobering with massive range loss, poaching and incidental capture in snares having dramatic effects on the population. Although still found in eastern Myanmar and Thailand, both Laos and Vietnam are thought to no longer hold leopards at all, with the species just clinging on in neighboring Cambodia and Southern China. 

© Copyright Kittle & Watson, WWCT.org (2023), Wilderness & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Sri Lanka. All work by WWCT is conducted under the purview of and often in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka.

Amur leopard: An adult female Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) approaching her den site, where cubs await her return. Note the thick, long fur adapted for the harsh Eastern Russian winters. (From: “Monitoring Amur Leopards and Tigers in the Russian Far East. Wildlife Conservation Society 2012”).