topic: Leopards

topic: Leopards

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Rare snow leopard sighting in Nepal’s ‘home of tiger’ puzzles conservationists
- Residents of Urlabari town in Nepal’s plains were surprised to spot a snow leopard (Panthera uncia), a species known to live in the mountains.
- Local authorities, including veterinarians, captured the snow leopard, which had sustained injuries, and treated it at the Central Zoo in Kathmandu.
- Conservationists and researchers speculate on the reasons for the snow leopard’s presence in the plains, considering possibilities such as climate change, escape from illegal captivity or disorientation during dispersal.

Leopards, Nepal’s other, other big cats, face unprecedented threats
- Common leopards in Nepal face unprecedented threats, often making headlines for attacking people and livestock, leading to instances where local authorities resort to shooting them down.
- Conservationists express concerns about the transmission of canine distemper from feral dogs to wildlife, including leopards and tigers, emphasizing the virus’s proliferation among wildlife populations.
- A study suggests that adopting predator-proofing practices for livestock can mitigate human-leopard conflicts, identifying livestock and human density, along with rugged terrain, as key drivers of leopard attacks.

‘Predator-proof’ husbandry could help curb human-leopard conflict in Nepal: Study
- A study conducted in Nepal suggests that adopting predator-proofing practices for livestock can potentially reduce human-leopard conflicts and benefit both humans and leopards.
- The study identified three main drivers of leopard attacks on humans: livestock and human densities, as well as rugged terrain, and suggested measures to address these factors at the municipal level.
- Predator-proofing husbandry practices, regular monitoring of hotspot areas for leopard presence and raising awareness about potential leopard attacks were proposed as potential solutions to mitigate human-leopard conflict.

Return of the wolf to Nepal’s Himalayas may threaten snow leopards
- The return of wolves to Nepal’s Himalayan region is putting greater pressure on populations of naur, or blue sheep — and by extension on snow leopards, whose main prey is naur.
- New research shows that naur tend to exhibit greater vigilance in areas where both wolves and snow leopards are present, while lowering their guard somewhat when no wolves are around.
- Conservationists say the growing wolf presence threatens snow leopards through direct competition for food and through stressing out, and weakening, naur populations.
- Snow leopards already face pressure from common leopards and tigers, which are moving further uphill in response to both human threats and a changing climate.

Nepali researchers yet again photograph snow leopard, leopard in same place
- Nepali researchers capture images of a snow leopard and a common leopard in the same location in the Gaurishankar Conservation Area, adding to the evidence of habitat overlap between the two species.
- The recently analyzed images were taken by camera traps at an altitude of 4,260 meters (13,976 feet) in January 2023.
- Researchers say that climate change is likely to increase interactions between snow leopards and common leopards, as the latter move northward in search of suitable habitat and prey, encroaching on the territory of the former.
- They also warn that habitat overlap could pose a threat to snow leopards, which are smaller and less agile than common leopards, and call for more long-term data and research to understand the impacts of climate change on both species.

In Sri Lanka, humans mistakenly attempt to ‘rescue’ leopard cubs
- Leopard mothers often hide their cubs when they are going out hunting or in the process of relocation, and in Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands, workers on tea estates often pick up these cubs, assuming they are either abandoned or lost.
- When baby leopards are fetched by humans, many people gather to watch what’s unfolding, forcing the leopard mom to retreat rather than approach the cub, making reunion efforts extra difficult for wildlife rangers.
- Other wild cats, specially fishing cats and rusty-spotted cats living close to human settlements are also picked up, sometimes by well-meaning people who assume these cubs, too, are lost or abandoned.
- As leopards partly share the same tea estate as humans, their territories often cross into fragmented forests where they take refuge in the absence of quality wildernesses, roaming closer to humans and increasing encounters which can escalate into conflicts.

Study: Snares claim another local extinction as Cambodia loses its leopards
- Researchers say the Indochinese leopard is functionally extinct in Cambodia after a 2021 camera-trap survey failed to capture a single individual from what was once thought to be the country’s last viable population of the big cat.
- The study points to hunting as the most significant contributor to the decline of the subspecies, noting that the number of snares and traps observed in the study area increased despite years of law enforcement efforts.
- Experts have called for focused conservation measures in the critically endangered subspecies’ remaining strongholds in Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand.

Study shows Javan leopard habitat shrinking, but real picture may be worse
- Leopards lost more than 1,300 km² (500 mi²) of suitable habitat across the Indonesian island of Java between 2000 and 2020, a new study shows.
- It found that “highly suitable” habitat for the critically endangered Javan leopard shrank during this period by more than 40%.
- Other researchers say the big cat’s situation is likely even direr, with half of the suitable habitat occurring outside protected areas, and with a total population of some 350 individuals surviving in isolated forest fragments.
- They emphasize that conservation efforts for the Javan leopard must be underpinned by a thorough population assessment, but this is still lacking.

India cheetah births spark interest in fast felines in neighboring Nepal
- The cheetah reintroduction program in India has rekindled debate in neighboring Nepal about whether to bring the species there too.
- But while the history of cheetahs is well-documented in India, from where the cats went extinct some 70 years ago, there’s little agreement among experts about whether they ever occurred in Nepal.
- One “radical” proposition is to introduce them to the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, one of the few in Nepal without established populations of tigers or leopards, but this could spawn conflicts with people living nearby.
- Some conservationists say Nepal already has its hands full conserving its three native big cats — tigers, leopards and snow leopards — and doesn’t need to add cheetahs to the mix.

Himalayan catfight looms as tigers, leopards venture into snow leopard land
- A warming climate threatens to push Nepal’s three big cat species — tigers, leopards and snow leopards — into closer proximity to each other, with unknown consequences for the survival of each.
- Conventional wisdom says tigers prevail in the country’s southern plains, leopards in the mid-country hill region, and snow leopards in the Himalayas.
- But both tigers and leopards have been observed at elevations above 3,000 meters (9,800 feet), well within snow leopard territory, although conservationists say tigers are less likely to persist at these altitudes over the long term.
- A complicating factor is the role of humans, with human settlements also moving up in altitude in search of more suitable conditions, and putting all four apex species in direct competition.

Nepal’s community forest program misses the biodiversity for the trees
- Nepal increased its forest cover from 26% to 45% in two-and-a-half-decades, but the success has translated into a limited win for biodiversity conservation, experts say.
- The reforestation gains came largely from the country’s community forestry program, which encourages communities to grow, manage and harvest their own forest resources.
- As such, the program’s focus has been an economic one, with many of the newly forested areas consisting of pine monocultures that are ideal for providing wood but make for poor wildlife habitat.
- Experts say there needs to be a greater emphasis on wildlife management in the community forestry program to address growing issues such as human-wildlife conflict and the spread of “green deserts” devoid of biodiversity.

In Nepal, conservationists suspect link between canine distemper and human-leopard conflict
- A new study shows for the first time that leopards in Nepal are exposed to canine distemper virus.
- Researchers suggest the virus could make the big cats less fearful of humans and thus more likely enter settlements in search of food.
- Conservationists have long warned of the risk of feral dogs passing on diseases like canine distemper to wildlife in Nepal, including tigers and leopards.
- Other studies show that while initial infections may have come from dogs, multiple strains the virus are now circulating among wildlife, making the latter carriers too.

With climate change, Nepal’s leopards get a bigger range — and more problems
- Climate change will make higher-elevation areas of Nepal suitable habitat for leopards, a new study shows.
- This is expected to push the big cats into increased conflict with humans and more competition with snow leopards.
- Most of the current and new habitat will fall outside protected areas, and the leopards’ preferred prey may not be available there, which could prompt the predators to hunt livestock.
- But the finding could also be an opportunity to conserve leopards in their potential new habitat, by educating communities there, ensuring availability of wild prey, and drawing up wildlife management plans.

Wild cats threatened by ‘underrecognized’ risk of spillover disease
- Researchers warn that disease spillover from livestock and domestic animals represents a serious conservation threat to wildlife, including felids in tropical areas around the world. Spillover is most likely to occur on rapidly advancing forest-agricultural frontiers or within fragmented habitats.
- Tracking the spillover and spread of diseases from humans and domestic animals to wildlife is extremely challenging, particularly among wild felid species, which tend to be secretive and solitary, making ongoing observation difficult.
- Possible cases of disease spillover have been documented in wild cats in India, Malaysian Borneo, Thailand, Brazil, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Russia and Nepal. These are likely the tip of the iceberg, say scientists, who believe much disease among wild species is going undetected, with case numbers and outbreaks unknown.
- Scientists stress the need for greater health monitoring of wildlife to reduce this “invisible threat.” But funding for health testing is often scant, and treatment difficult. One researcher sees disease transmission from domestic animals to wildlife as perhaps the most “underrecognized conservation threat today.”

Protect Persian leopards, and their defenders, for World Environment Day (commentary)
- For World Environment Day 2022 on June 5, Jane Goodall and 50 other conservationists published a letter urging protection for Persian leopards and and clemency for seven scientists imprisoned for their work studying the cats.
- In an open letter, the scientists highlight the impact of current conflicts, sanctions, and political tensions on the conservation of the leopard, whose range spans 11 countries, including Iran. It was in Iran where nine conservationists associated with the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation were arrested in January 2018, accused of spying because they were using camera traps. One of the conservationists, Kavous Seyed-Emami, who died in jail. The rest still sit in prison.
- Goodall and her colleagues call for the release of the imprisoned scientists and actions to facilitate international cooperation beyond recent political circumstances.
- This letter is a commentary containing the opinions of its writers and signers, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Indonesian park officials douse wildfire in Javan leopard habitat
- Authorities in Indonesia have put out the second major fire of the current dry season in Indonesia’s Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, an area that’s home to rare leopards and eagles.
- The fire spread from nearby community lands on Oct. 9 and were put out by the next day.
- Burning is an annual problem in the park, with farmers in adjacent communities using fire to clear the land for planting, or tourists inside the park leaving behind lit campfires or discarding cigarette butts.
- The park is home to iconic wildlife like the Javan leopard and Javan hawk-eagle, and endangered plants like the Javan edelweiss.

Javan leopards, the dwindling ‘guardians’ of Java’s forests
- Tradition holds that the Javan leopard is a symbol of prosperity, and a guardian of forests that provide people with healthy water and fresh air.
- However, this big cat species is critically endangered and relegated to small patches of forest scattered about the heavily populated Indonesian island of Java.
- Mongabay spoke with biologist Hariyo “Beebach” Wibisono about its status and the conservation strategies which could be successful, if supported by officials, citizens and donors.

In Indonesia, an illegal leopard trade thrives out of sight, new study shows
- A new paper documents significant illegal trafficking of Javan leopards and Sunda clouded leopards in Indonesia.
- The research uncovered 41 seizure records, amounting to approximately 83 individual animals, from between 2011 to 2019. The authors say that these numbers likely represent only a fraction of the true trade.
- With both species facing significant population declines, any level of poaching and trading could tip the scales toward extinction.

Southeast Asian wild pigs confront deadly African swine fever epidemic
- A recent study in the journal Conservation Letters warns that African swine fever, responsible for millions of pig deaths in mainland Asia since 2018, now endangers 11 wild pig species living in Southeast Asia.
- These pig species generally have low populations naturally, and their numbers have dwindled further due to hunting and loss of habitat.
- The authors of the study contend that losing these species could hurt local economies and food security.
- Southeast Asia’s wild pigs are also important ecosystem engineers that till the soil and encourage plant life, and they are prey for critically endangered predators such as the Sumatran tiger and the Javan leopard.

Brutus or Caesar? Now visitors can identify individual leopards at Sri Lanka park
- A citizen science initiative that identifies and visually records leopard behavior at Sri Lanka’s Yala National Park, world famous for its leopards, hopes to give visitors a better insight into each of the big cats.
- The new information center was commissioned soon after the COVID-19 lockdown to educate visitors on how to identify the park’s many leopards individually, adding more value to their wildlife experience.
- The data generated through the initiative is expected to support leopard conservation initiatives in the region and assist wildlife rangers to monitor and manage the park’s leopard population more effectively.

For Sri Lanka’s dwindling leopards, wire snares are the leading killer
- Snares are the leading cause of death among Sri Lanka’s leopards, accounting for 42 recorded deaths in the past 10 years.
- The most recent death was of a rare black leopard, which succumbed to its injuries three days after getting snared, prompting public outrage over the use of snares.
- Snares are technically banned in Sri Lanka, but an exception is allowed for trapping “pest species” such as wild boars; however, the indiscriminate nature of the devices means that all wildlife are potential targets.
- A local environmental organization has declared May 29 Leopard Day in Sri Lanka to highlight the importance of protecting the fast-vanishing iconic species and to raise awareness against existing and potential threats to the big cats.

Leopard lens: Looking for Sri Lanka’s charismatic big cat (commentary)
- Among Sri Lanka’s charismatic species, the native subspecies of the leopard, Panthera pardus kotiya, is a favorite among wildlife enthusiasts and specialist photographers.
- Since 2018, there have been a spate of killings of leopards, including inside nature reserves, sparking concerns about the fate of a big cat population that has dwindled to an estimated 1,000 today.
- The leopard’s popularity among tourists and photographers has also led to disruptions in its habitat by large groups of visitors who cause traffic jams and noise in the midst of the wilderness.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

What is needed to keep Sri Lanka’s leopards roaming free? (Commentary)
- The recent killing of a leopard at a national park in Sri Lanka, apparently for its claws and teeth, has sparked a fresh debate on the protection available to these majestic animals and whether conservation efforts are capable of protecting the dwindling leopard population.
- The leopard has been a protected animal since 1964; despite this, Sri Lanka is fast losing its leopard population, estimated to be around 1,000 at present.
- Following the recent killing, there are calls to introduce practical and proactive measures to better protect leopards in the wild.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

How Laos lost its tigers
- A new camera trap study finds that tigers vanished from Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area by 2014, their last stand in Laos.
- Leopards were killed off 10 years prior, making these big cats also extinct in Laos.
- Scientists believe it’s most likely that the last tigers and leopards of Laos succumbed to snares, which are proliferating in astounding numbers across Southeast Asian protected areas.
- The Indochinese tiger now only survives in Thailand and Myanmar, and may be on the edge of extinction.

A lifeline for the last leopards (commentary)
- From being extinct in the wild, the Arabian oryx was reclassified in 1986 as “Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species after its reintroduction to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. In 2011, with its global numbers increased to thousands, the Arabian oryx was the first animal ever to revert to “Vulnerable” status after having previously been listed as extinct in the wild.
- Today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) aims to replicate this miraculous turnaround for the Arabian leopard – a little-studied, desert-dwelling subspecies listed as “Critically Endangered” on the IUCN’s Red List – and for leopard populations everywhere with a new $20 million commitment to the Global Alliance for Wild Cats.
- The Arabian Leopard Initiatives will support a holistic and urgent program to rigorously monitor the Arabian leopard’s population and distribution, as well as halt its decline through community conservation projects. The cornerstone will be a captive breeding program dedicated to shoring up Arabian leopard populations and reintroducing them into their former habitats.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Snow leopard population overestimated in Nepal? DNA study suggests it may be
- Researchers conducted a large-scale survey of potential snow leopard habitat in Nepal to re-estimate the species’ population density using the non-invasive technique of collecting environmental DNA from scat samples combined with standard genetic analyses.
- This method enabled the researchers to sample a larger, more representative, area than many previous studies, often conducted in prime leopard habitats; they also found that they could obtain reliable DNA from scat samples.
- Previous studies on which conservation policies have been based may have over-estimated the big cat’s population. The researchers say similar studies are needed to more accurately estimate the population of snow leopards in Nepal and 11 other range countries.

New map shows every forest matters in helping save the Javan leopard
- A new study outlines where Javan leopards live – and where suitable habitat remains on the densely inhabited island.
- National parks remain the most stable habitat for the critically endangered species, but the study finds that half its potential habitat is in unprotected areas.
- Partnering with companies and local people is necessary to keep Java’s last big cat from going extinct.

The good luck black cat, revealed by camera traps
- Camera traps enabled researchers and a professional photographer to document the presence of a rare melanistic (black) leopard, confirming reports of the cat in northern Kenya.
- Five different remote camera stations, positioned near water sources and trails, recorded the young female leopard over three months.
- The case demonstrates the value of remotely placed sensors in capturing both shy, cryptic animals and rare events in nature, such as melanism, which results from genes producing a surplus of pigment in an animal’s skin or hair so that it appears black.

Pumas engineer their environment, providing habitat for other species
- A new study finds that mountain lions in the western United States change their surroundings and as a result are “ecosystem engineers.”
- A team of scientists tracked 18 lion kills in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Wyoming and identified 215 species of beetles living in, on and off the carcasses — that is, the kills provided habitat as well as food for scavengers.
- The work demonstrates the critical role mountain lions play in providing resources to other species in the ecosystems in which they live.

AI simplifies statewide study of leopards in south India
- A six-year study of leopards in the wildlife-rich southern Indian state of Karnataka, using grids of motion-sensor camera traps across the state, suggests the big cats are thriving in a variety of habitats and land uses.
- The researchers’ use of machine-learning algorithms significantly reduced the workload needed to identify 363 individual leopards from the sample’s 1.5 million camera-trap images. The figure indicates there are an estimated 2,500 leopards living in Karnataka.
- Although a forest department official said the state was unlikely to expand its protected forests in the foreseeable future, the researchers said such a policy was necessary for leopard conservation, stressing that the proximity of natural landscapes to agricultural fields allows leopards to use those unprotected areas.

Fires tear through East Java park, threatening leopard habitat
- Authorities in East Java, Indonesia, are trying to stop a wildfire from spreading into core zone of the Coban Wisula forest, home to Javan leopards.
- The fire is burning within Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, a major tourist attraction. An iconic landscape in the park, known as Teletubbies Hill, has already gone up in flames.
- A local NGO is monitoring the situation to make sure none of the leopards are flushed out of their habitat and into contact with humans, which could turn violent.

Cross-border camera trap research puts wild Amur leopard number at 84
- Scientists working in Russia and China have used camera traps to estimate that 84 Amur leopards remain in the wild.
- Previous studies tracked the cats using their footprints in snow, but the camera trap photographs allowed the researchers to identify individual animals by their unique spot patterns.
- The team found that 20 percent of the Amur leopards appeared on both sides of the border between China and Russia, highlighting the importance of cross-border collaboration.

Tiger, clouded leopard skins among illegal wildlife parts seized in Malaysia
- Malaysian authorities have seized wildlife parts worth 500,000 ringgit ($124,000) during a raid in the town of Kuala Lipis, outside Taman Negara, the country’s oldest national park.
- Officials also arrested six Vietnamese nationals — four men and two women — alleged to be part of a larger tiger-poaching gang.
- The confiscated animal parts include two entire tiger pelts suspected to have come from critically endangered Malayan tigers. Each of those pelts is estimated to be worth 200,000 Ringgit ($50,000) on the black market.

Tanzania’s Maasai losing ground to tourism in the name of conservation, investigation finds
- An investigation by the Oakland Institute, a policy think tank, has turned up allegations that the government of Tanzania is sidelining the country’s Maasai population in favor of tourism.
- The government and some foreign investors worry that the Maasai, semi-nomadic herders who have lived in the Rift Valley for centuries, are degrading parts of the Serengeti ecosystem.
- The authors of the Oakland Institute’s report argue that approaches aimed at conservation should focus on the participation and engagement of Maasai communities rather than their removal from lands to be set aside for high-end tourism.

Leopards could reduce rabies by controlling stray dog numbers in India, study finds
- Stray dogs make up about 40 percent of the diet of the roughly 40 leopards currently living in Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park, according to a recent study.
- Dog bites lead to perhaps 20,000 deaths from rabies each year in India, according to the World Health Organization.
- A team of scientists figures that leopards kill 1,500 stray dogs each year, reducing the number of bites by about 1,000 per year and the number of rabies cases by 90.

Ecotourism payments for more wildlife sightings linked to conservation benefits in Laos
- A four-year research project in a national protected area in Laos established a connection between higher payments for more wildlife sightings and improved protections for wildlife.
- Over the course of the study, sightings of common wildlife rose by more than 60 percent.
- Payments were funded by the entry fees paid by tourists.
- They were placed in village development funds, which would then finance projects like school construction and healthcare.

Cambodia’s banteng-eating leopards edge closer to extinction, new study finds
- In just five years, the population density of Indochinese leopards within a protected area in eastern Cambodia has fallen from about 3 leopards per 100 square kilometers in 2009 to 1 leopard per 100 square kilometers in 2014, a new study has found.
- This is one of the lowest densities of leopards reported in Asia, researchers say.
- This statistic is worrying because the eastern Cambodian population is the last remaining breeding leopard population within a huge region spanning southeastern China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
- Eastern Cambodia’s leopards are also part of the only leopard population in the world to prey predominantly on an animal weighing more than 500 kilograms — the banteng.

Films celebrate big cats on World Wildlife Day
- Big cats is the theme of the global celebration of this year’s World Wildlife Day on March 3.
- A big cats film festival hosted by CITES and Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival at the UN headquarters in New York City will screen 16 films selected as finalists.
- Big cats are key apex predators that keep ecosystems healthy, and eight species are being celebrated for the event: the clouded leopard, jaguar, cheetah, leopard, lion, snow leopard, tiger and puma.

Friend, not foe: Review highlights benefits of predators and scavengers
- Predators are typically better known for harassing pets and livestock or being the source of disease than they are for the valuable — and often less visible — services they provide.
- A review published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution catalogs benefits provided by predators to humans documented in the scientific literature.
- Authors of the review highlighted instances that ranged from the potential for mountain lions to cut down deer-vehicle collisions, bats that save corn farmers at least $1 billion annually, and vultures that clear away tons of organic waste.

Top 10 most widely traded animals in the Golden Triangle identified in new report
- Recent surveys by WWF and TRAFFIC have identified 10 of the most widely trafficked animals in the Golden Triangle.
- These top 10 animals are: the tiger, elephant, pangolin, bear, rhinoceros, serow, helmeted hornbill, gaur, leopard, and turtles.
- The wildlife markets in the Golden Triangle cater mostly to tourists from China and Vietnam, the report noted.

‘Record’ number of migratory species protected at October wildlife summit
- The Convention on Migratory Species adopted 34 proposals to protect species threatened with extinction.
- Attendees adopted proposals to bolster protections for chimpanzees, giraffes, leopards, lions and whale sharks.
- India will host the next such meeting in 2020.

Photo of ‘resurrected’ extinct Indonesian tiger is actually leopard, scientists say
- A recent photograph of a big cat by park rangers in Java sparked suggestions that it could be the Javan tiger, which was officially declared extinct in 2003.
- Scientists, however, have concluded that the animal in the picture is a Javan leopard.
- The sighting of the critically endangered leopard subspecies has renewed calls to protect it from also going extinct.

Five promising stories for Global Tiger Day
- Since the last Global Tiger Day in 2016, researchers have discovered tiger populations in unexpected areas, such as forested corridors along riverbanks and in areas that recently served as theaters of war.
- Several countries have worked to protect the tigers that live within their borders, including the creation of a massive national park and taking steps to end tiger farming.
- Camera trap surveys continue to prove invaluable to wildlife researchers in tracking down tigers and other species that can range over huge areas.

First ever photos of wild lion nursing leopard cub
- Five-year-old lioness named Nosikitok is currently collared and monitored by KopeLion, a conservation NGO in Tanzania.
- The circumstances that brought the lioness and the leopard cub together still remain a mystery.
- She is believed to have recently given birth to her second litter of cubs and scientists think that the lioness’s maternal instincts may have driven her towards caring for the little leopard.

Nepal burns more than 4,000 confiscated wildlife parts
- These illegally trafficked items were burned in Chitwan National Park in front of nearly 300 people.
- The wildlife parts, which were part of the burn, have been collected over the last 20 years.
- Officials hope that this burning will act as a deterrent to wildlife traffickers.

With poaching curtailed, a new menace to Nepal’s wildlife
- Since 2011, with poaching largely under control in the country, conservationists in Nepal have been paying increasing attention to the risks of diseases spreading to wildlife from domesticated animals.
- Domesticated animals near Chitwan National Park form a reservoir of pathogens that could cross to wildlife. Veterinarians have already identified tuberculosis in a dead rhino and a suspected case of canine distemper in a leopard.
- The country currently lacks facilities to fully analyze and respond to the threat of diseases, but local and international groups are working to rapidly increase capacity.

Survey of previously inaccessible region of Myanmar reveals many endangered species
- 17 of the 31 species are threatened, including tigers, Asian elephants, Phayre’s langurs, and dholes.
- The camera traps also detected images of the indochinese leopard across all survey sites, suggesting that Karen State could be supporting one of the most significant leopard populations remaining in South-east Asia.
- A major concern in the region is poaching of high value species like tiger and elephant for the international illegal wildlife trade, the researchers say.

Nigerian superhighway project draws international attention over threats to local communities and wildlife
- The Ekuri Initiative, a forest stewardship organization run by one of the indigenous communities whose land lies in the path of the Cross River Superhighway, has already delivered 253,000 signatures to the federal government asking for their ancestral forests to be protected.
- Several protected areas, including the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, the Afi River Forest Reserve, Cross River National Park, Cross River South Forest Reserve, and Ukpon River Forest Reserve, would also be impacted by development of the highway, WCS notes.
- A number of threatened species live in these protected areas, including forest elephants, Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees, drills, Preuss’s red colobus monkeys, pangolins, slender-snouted crocodiles, African gray parrots, and many others.

Over 200 snow leopards killed every year: new report
- According to the report, these numbers could be considerably higher since many illegal killings in remote mountain areas go undetected.
- Five countries — China, India, Mongolia, Pakistan and Tajikistan — account for more than 90 percent of the estimated snow leopard poaching.
- Skins, usually used as wall displays in homes and restaurants, are the most commonly seized snow leopard products, the report found.

Leopards and landmines: Post-war carnivore research in Sri Lanka
- Researchers recently completed the first leopard study in Wilpattu National Park after its closure during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
- Camera traps and scat analysis are helping biologists learn more about the ecology, diet and distribution of leopards across Sri Lanka.
- Survey results show that the leopard population appears robust within the core of Wilpattu National Park, but further research in other parts of the country is required to better understand this endangered subspecies.

Indochinese leopard has disappeared from 94% of its historical range
- An estimated 973 to 2503 Indochinese leopards remain in the wild, a new study has found, of which only 409 to 1051 are breeding adults.
- The Indochinese leopard is now extinct in Singapore, functionally extinct in Laos and Vietnam, and nearly extinct in Cambodia and China.
- Researchers have identified three priority sites for Indochinese leopard conservation: Peninsular Malaysia, the Northern Tenasserim Forest Complex on Thailand-Myanmar border, and a small isolated population in eastern Cambodia.

‘Nobody was expecting this’: range loss puts leopards in big trouble
- Currently, leopards occupy only a quarter of their historic range, less than 17 percent of which is legally protected, researchers found.
- The available habitat for Southeast Asian subspecies of leopards has declined to critically low levels, and the team suggests uplisting the IUCN threat status of North Chinese and Indochinese leopards to “Critically Endangered” and “Endangered” respectively from “Near Threatened”.
- The study also found that most research efforts tend to focus on African and Indian leopards, the two subspecies that have the most remaining range among all leopards.

A small team in Tanzania is using nothing but lights to save lions and leopards
- Since December 2014, the Tanzania Lion Illumination Project (TLIP) has installed lights on 69 bomas in northern Tanzania.
- The lights are solar-powered, using a large battery to store energy collected during the day and expended at night.
- The lights flash about twice a second, from dusk til dawn, disorienting predators like leopards and lions, even hyenas and wild dogs, scaring them away from livestock and thereby reducing human-wildlife conflict.

Environmentalists win ‘landmark’ case against biofuel project in Sri Lanka
- Yala National Park, on the southern coastline of Sri Lanka, is one of the nation’s most popular parks, home to dense populations of both Asian elephants and leopards, as well as nearly 100 types of waterbirds and thousands of other species.
- In 2012, environmental groups were notified that a mysterious company had began clearing vegetation in the region for a biofuel monoculture plantation.
- Three of these groups took the company to court in late 2012, accusing it of illegally clearing land, building access roads and refusing to get the required permissions.

Rare spotted leopards sighted on Malaysian Peninsula
- Previous research determined that only melanistic black leopards likely lived in the forested regions of Southeast Asia.
- The discovery of two spotted leopards may have shed some doubt on the previous hypothesis that the forested regions of Southeast Asia was the only place in the world where an entire population of animals is almost completely composed of the melanistic form.
- This new discovery points to the need for the conservation of the Ulu Muda Forest where these regionally rare spotted leopards were found, especially in light of the area’s escalating environmental pressures.

How do Sumatra’s wild cats coexist?

At least six species of wild cats live, and seem to do so harmoniously, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is critically endangered and several of the other cat species on the island are threatened, according to the IUCN. But with the exception of the Sumatran tiger, little is […]
Zambia lifts hunting ban on big cats

Lions in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Nine months after Zambia lifted its general trophy hunting ban—including on elephants—the country has now lifted its ban on hunting African lions (Panthera leo) and leopards (Panthera pardus). The Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) lifted the ban after surveying its big cat populations and […]
Photos: Amur leopard population hits at least 65

Camera trap of Amur leopard. The Amur leopard evolved its thick coat to keep warm in the cold, long winters. Photo by: WWF. Most of the world’s big predators are in decline, but there are some happy stories out there. This week, WWF announced that the Amur leopard population has grown to a total of […]
Cats’ best friend? A new role for guard dogs in South Africa

Dogs protect livestock from predators, predators from humans The last couple centuries have seen the decline of many large predator species. While there has been a surge of recovery and reintroduction programs to combat this problem, human population growth and limited protected areas have led to increased rates of human-wildlife conflicts in many regions of […]
Four donors pledge $80 million for big cats

Four donors from around the world have pledged $80 million to cat conservation group, Panthera. The money will fund projects working to preserve tigers, lions, jaguars, cheetahs, leopards, snow leopards, and cougars over ten years. “Today marks a turning point for global cat conservation,” said Panthera Founder and Chairman of the Board, Thomas Kaplan, who […]
Over 75 percent of large predators declining

The world’s top carnivores are in big trouble: this is the take-away message from a new review paper published today in Science. Looking at 31 large-bodied carnivore species (i.e those over 15 kilograms or 33 pounds), the researchers found that 77 percent are in decline and more than half have seen their historical ranges decline […]
Curious bears take ‘selfies’ with camera traps

“Selfies” are all the rage this year, and even bears have jumped on the trend. Especially the shaggy-coated, termite-loving sloth bears (Melursus ursinus), who seem particularly fascinated by the cameras that scientists have put up in forests to secretly capture their stealthy moves. On November 26 at 7:30 PM, one curious sloth bear decided to […]
Unraveling the secrets of one of the world’s most mysterious big cats

The Sunda clouded leopard has always been shrouded in mystery. Only declared a separate species from its mainland cousin, the Borneo clouded leopard, in 2006, the IUCN lists the cat as Endangered. The distinction between the Borneo clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulas) and the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) was made by ground-breaking molecular coding technologies […]
Camera traps reveal Amur leopards are breeding in China (photos)

Good news today about one of the world’s rarest mammals: camera traps in China’s Wangqing Nature Reserve have captured the first proof of breeding Amur leopards in the country, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The photos show a mother Amur leopard with two cubs. A recent survey by WWF-Russia estimated the total wild […]
Protecting predators in the wildest landscape you’ve never heard of

A Ruaha male lion in his prime. Photo © : Sasja van Vechgel. The Serengeti, the Congo, the Okavango Delta: many of Africa’s great wildernesses are household names, however on a continent that never fails to surprise remain vast wild lands practically unknown to the global public. One of these is the Ruaha landscape: covering […]
Snowy tigers and giant owls: conservation against the odds in Russia’s Far East

The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th – July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&As with presenters. For more interviews, please see our ZACC feed. An Amur tiger in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, […]
Scientists capture one of the world’s rarest big cats on film (photos)

Less than a hundred kilometers from the bustling metropolis of Jakarta, scientists have captured incredible photos of one of the world’s most endangered big cats: the Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas). Taken by a research project in Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park, the photos show the magnificent animal relaxing in dense primary rainforest. Scientists believe that […]
Amur leopard population rises to 50 animals, but at risk from tigers, poachers

In the remote Russian far east, amid pine forests and long winters, a great cat may be beginning to make a recovery. A new survey estimates that the Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) population has risen to as many as 50 individuals. While this may not sound like much, it’s a far cry from a […]
Three developing nations move to ban hunting to protect vanishing wildlife

African savannah elephants on the Chobe River in Botswana. From 2014 on, hunting will no longer be allowed in Botswana’s public lands. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. Three developing countries have recently toughened hunting regulations believing the changes will better protect vanishing species. Botswana has announced it will ban trophy hunting on public lands beginning in […]
In the kingdom of the black panther

A black panther (in this case a leopard) caught on camera trap in the Kenyir Wildlife Corridor. Photo courtesy of Rimba. The black panther has a mythical aura: Rudyard Kipling chose the animal for one of his heroes in The Jungle Book, in the 1970s it became the symbol of an African-American socialist party, while […]
Photos: Chinese leopard wins camera trap contest

A young male leopard (Panthera pardus) in China’s Shuishui River Reserve is this year’s contest winner. Photo by: Zhou Zhefeng/BBC Wildlife Magazine. The third annual BBC Wildlife Magazine Camera Trap Photo of the Year contest has produced some stunning and surprising images, including a snow leopard sticking its tongue out, a rare giant pangolin, and […]
Development halted in crucial wildlife corridor in Malaysia

Kenyir Wildlife Corridor in northeast Malaysia is teeming with wildlife: elephants, gibbons, tigers, tapirs, and even black panthers (melanistic leopards) have been recorded in the 60 kilometer (37 mile) stretch of forest. In fact, researchers have recorded over 40 mammal species (see species list below), including 15 threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red […]
Leopard poaching is a bigger problem in India than previously believed

Leopard skin. © TRAFFIC. A recent study conducted by wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC uncovered unnerving statistics about the illegal trade of leopards (Panthera pardus) in India: at least four leopards have been poached every week for the past decade in the country. The study, entitled Illuminating the Blind Spot: A study on illegal trade […]
Illegal hunting threatens iconic animals across Africa’s great savannas, especially predators

Lion with a snare around its neck. Photo by: Frederike Otten. Courtesy of Panthera. Bushmeat hunting has become a grave concern for species in West and Central Africa, but a new report notes that lesser-known illegal hunting in Africa’s iconic savannas is also decimating some animals. Surprisingly, illegal hunting across eastern and southern Africa is […]
Tigers vs. coal in India: when big energy meets vanishing cats

Surface coal mining in Bihar, India. Around 70-80 percent of India’s power is currently provided by coal. Burning coal fuels climate change, causes acid rain, and spreads toxic pollutants into the environment, but now a new Greenpeace report warns that coal may also imperil the world’s biggest feline: the tiger. Home to world’s largest population […]
Animal picture of the day: leopard with giant prey

BPL-223 with the carcass of gaur calf, an animal that may be twice the size of the leopard. Photo by: Vinay S. Kumar. Click to enlarge. It’s true: a leopard cannot change its spots—even after eight years! Using a computer program that looks at leopard spot patterns, researchers were able to identify the above leopard, […]

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