Leopards Are More Vulnerable Than Believed, Study Finds
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05...tudy-finds.html?_r=0Leopards Are More Vulnerable Than Believed, Study Finds
By ERICA GOODEMAY 4, 2016
Leopards are reclusive and known for their ability to adapt, traits that have led some wildlife biologists to assume that the animals remained relatively abundant in the wild.
But a study published on Wednesday suggests that leopards have lost as much as 75 percent of their historic range since 1750. At that time, the big cats roamed over about 13.5 million square miles in Africa, Asia and parts of the Middle East. But that vast area has shrunk to about 3.3 million square miles, according to the study, conducted by a team of 14 scientists representing 15 universities and organizations, including the Zoological Society of London, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Iranian Cheetah Society, National Geographic and Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization.
The study, which appears in the journal PeerJ, is believed to be the first to assess the leopard’s status globally across nine subspecies and won immediate praise from other scientists for its scope and detail.
Partly on the basis of the findings, the cat specialist group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature has recommended that the leopard (Panthera pardus) be reclassified on its Red List of threatened species as “vulnerable,” indicating that stronger conservation efforts are needed, said Andrew B. Stein, an author on the study who is a member of the group.
The species is currently listed as “near threatened,” with three subspecies classified as “critically endangered” and two others as “endangered.”
Luke Hunter, president and chief conservation officer of Panthera, said that the study’s findings highlighted the fact that many of the world’s most iconic animals are disappearing from the wild.
“Their trajectory is just the same,” he said. “Lions and tigers are faster to disappear than leopards, and yet it’s exactly the same process.”
Like lions, leopards have been threatened primarily by human activities, including the destruction of habitat; the hunting of smaller animals that leopards depend on for prey; revenge killings by farmers who have lost livestock; illegal trade in leopard skins and parts; and, to a lesser extent, trophy hunting in countries where it is allowed.
The researchers analyzed 6,000 records from 2,500 locations and more than 1,300 sources to map the leopard’s current and past ranges (1750 was picked as a starting point because it was before the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the colonial era in Africa). The records included studies, reports, photographs and newspaper clippings.
Over all, the study found, the leopard’s range had decreased by 63 percent to 75 percent, with the difference representing areas where the data was less clear-cut. But of the nine subspecies, only three were represented in 97 percent of the cat’s current range.
Three other subspecies — the Arabian leopard, the North Chinese leopard and the Amur leopard, a shaggy cold-weather cat found in far eastern Russia — retained only 2 percent of their historic range, the researchers found. In large parts of Asia, including Southeast Asia and the Middle East, leopards had almost vanished. Only about 17 percent of the big cat’s current range was protected land.
Even in places where leopards still had expansive ranges, the researchers found, they were often fragmented, their habitat broken up by farms, villages or other human development.
That did not augur well for some leopard subspecies, which had only a few patches left, the researchers wrote. In general, the more clusters of dense population there are of a species, and the more “corridors” of land that exist, allowing animals to travel from one area to another, the more likely the species is to survive, they noted.
“This is a sophisticated and very comprehensive study,” said Tim Caro, a professor of wildlife biology at the University of California, Davis, who was not involved in the study.
Dr. Caro called the tiny pockets of leopards that the researchers found still existed “particularly depressing.”
“Without strong action by governments, their fates are sealed,” he said.
Theodore N. Bailey, a retired wildlife biologist and the author of a 1993 book, “The African Leopard: Ecology and Behavior of a Solitary Felid,” said the study was “the most comprehensive and detailed analysis of the status and distribution of the leopard to date.” He noted that, although the leopard could adapt to a wide variety of landscapes, from rain forest to desert, and to different type of prey, the study found that its loss of range was greater than that of other predators.
Dr. Stein, of the cat specialist group, said that techniques developed in the last 10 years had changed the way scientists surveyed leopard populations. The new methods, he said, had “revolutionized our ability to capture information on the species.”
Scientists have no reliable estimates of how large the global population of leopards is, and the study did not try to provide such an estimate. But wildlife biologists say that leopards still far outnumber the remaining lions or tigers.
Yet leopards have received far less attention from conservationists than their higher-profile counterparts.
“I think the biggest threat to the leopard on a global scale is that it’s been just under the radar,” said Philipp Henschel, the lion program survey coordinator for Panthera. “Nobody really cared about the leopard because everybody assumed they were really abundant and widespread.”
That neglect was reflected in the scientific literature. Although scientific reports had increased steadily since 2000, the new study found that of 330 articles on leopards published from 2000 to 2015, 69 percent dealt with only two subspecies. Three subspecies had fewer than five research articles each devoted to them.
Dr. Henschel said that the subspecies that were listed as critically endangered “could be lost in the next five years or so.”
“We really have to act urgently,” he said.
In the case of the Amur leopard, whose population has dwindled to below 60, efforts by conservation groups working with the Russians and Chinese seem to be slowly reversing the downward trend, Dr. Henschel said.
But he added that wildlife biologists were partly at fault for failing to notice the leopard’s decline. Lions and cheetahs were easier to study, he said, because they could be observed from a Land Rover, while leopards, elusive creatures that they are, were mostly seen in photographs from camera traps that required extra effort to set up.
“I think that’s something that biologists have to be honest about,” he said. “Biologists have to start picking up and be ready to invest a lot of sweat into counting these cats to show the world how rare they have become.”
05 May 2016, 07:57
crbutlerI would have had a field day with this as a peer reviewer.
Firstly, documentation from 1750 would be very suspect-- either way; could be more or less by a pretty wide margin.
Secondly, while I have no doubt that unrestricted trapping has caused leopard populations to be severely cut, I really doubt that "trophy hunting" played any role in removal of leopard populations from any substantial areas. In any case, stating that trophy hunting played a role is entirely inappropriate in this situation- the study only looked at leopard habitat as documented.
Third, they neglect how adaptable leopard are. Do they consider urban India wiped out? Yet one hears of leopard in urban areas in India regularly.
Finally, the comment of the species being more vulnerable also is not proven- what has been proven is that the habitat (again as defined by this study) for leopard has substantially shrunk.
Of course, I am just interpreting the article's conclusions as I don't have a subscription to PeerJ to read the actual article (and thus be able to debate the conclusions that the various reviewers are making.) but all wildlife has been pushed into smaller areas by man from any research anyone has done.
I will also state that leopard population density can be extremely high in good habitat from personal experience. Even places with relatively high human numbers like Masailand have remarkable density. Where you don't see them is where there is a very strong poaching presence, especially using poison.
05 May 2016, 11:26
Jan Dumonquote:
Originally posted by fairgame:
Soon scientists will realise that all species are threatened by human encroachment and that the only complete ecosystems are protected in Parks and the hunting concessions.
100 % .
We need to take care to trust groups like Panthera who advocate to us that they are pro sustainable use to protect. They pulled the wool over the eyes of the powers that be in South Africa to implement a new take off system in South Africa ( Limpopo ) in 2015 , based on adult males only and the next year an added age restricted system like on the lions
. I spoke my strong disapproval and said so on AR also -- " I smell a rat " I think my words were. The experts and some outfitters told me I was paranoid . The season produced a mass of big old male leopard in Limpopo. ( I took one of 206 pounds and a 17.5 inch skull ). Sure , there were a handful of females taken and some unsuccessful hunts, but we showed them many big cats with big skulls , killing the unfounded theory that there are no more big male leopards.
Panthera subsequently advised and saw to it that we did not get a single permit this year and next year is doubtful. So , on who's side are they ?
Maybe they were hoping that we all checked in sub standard cats. Well , that didn't stop them.
07 May 2016, 07:55
fujotupuquote:
Today with night vision and game cameras the studies show how adaptable the leopard is in urban areas.
This is not a question of adaptability in urban areas.
The Leopard is and always has been at ease with human presence in his habitat as this kind of situation has provided forage for its species in many ways; scraps from the rubbish heap, livestock and on rare occasion, an inhabitant every now and then.
A classic exaample on how Leopards co-exist with humans is their nonchalant presence in and around hunting camps particularly once the lights go out and the occupants turn in for the night; some can be so cocky that they dont wait that long.
Night vision and game cameras will prove that the theory of Leopard populations being thin due to over-hunting, human encroachment, poaching and all the other bullshit comments by pen-pushing white collar "scientists" who need to google Africa to know where it is, will have been a myth.
Fulvio's right of course. How many times have you seen leopard tracks in or around camp? Look at Masailand. The leopards are pretty cagey due to the Masai harassing them every chance they get, but they are still there. And some big ones!
And then the non-hunting tourists: Just this week a leopard grabbed a 6 year old child in Kruger. Thankfully the father chased the cat and he dropped his prey. The child is recovering.
I hunted outside Tarangire in 2012 and a French couple, lawyers, who were working on the prosecution of the whole Rwanda mess didn't attend to their child and the child was taken out of camp by a leopard. They sued the government if I recall. Don't know how it turned out.
Bottom line is leopards are very adaptable and they are among us. I'm convinced we will go extinct as a species before they do.
