Leopard (Panthera pardus) status, distribution, and the research efforts across its range

PeerJ - Tập 4 - Trang e1974
Andrew P. Jacobson1,2,3, Peter Gerngross4, Joseph Lemeris1, Rebecca F. Schoonover1, Corey Anco5, Christine Breitenmoser‐Würsten6, Sarah M. Durant3,7, Mohammad S. Farhadinia8,9, Philipp Henschel10, Jan F. Kamler10, Alice Laguardia11, Susana Rostro‐García9, Andrew Stein6,12, Luke Dollar1,13,14
1Big Cats Initiative, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., United States
2Department of Geography, University College London, London, United Kingdom
3Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, United Kingdom
4BIOGEOMAPS, Vienna, Austria
5Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, United States
6IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group, c/o KORA, Bern, Switzerland
7Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx Zoo, Bronx, NY, United States
8Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS), Tehran, Iran
9Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Tubney, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
10Panthera, New York, NY, United States
11The Wildlife Institute, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
12Landmark College, Putney, VT, United States
13Department of Biology, Pfeiffer University, Misenheimer, NC, United States
14Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States

Tóm tắt

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,andsaxicolor) account for 97% of the leopard’s extant range while another three (P. p. orientalis, nimr,andjaponensis) 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 km2of 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.

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