Indochinese Leopard
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The Indochinese leopard (''Panthera pardus delacouri'') is a
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
native to mainland
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
and
southern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions that display certain differences in terms of their geography, demographics, economy, and culture. Extent The Qinling–Daba Mountains serve as the transition zone between ...
. In
Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...
, leopards are rare outside protected areas and threatened by habitat loss due to
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...
as well as
poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...
for the illegal wildlife trade. In 2016, the population was previously thought to comprise 973–2,503 mature individuals, with only 409–1,051 breeding adults. The historical range had decreased by more than 90%. However, as of 2019, it is estimated that there are 77-766 mature Indochinese leopards and that their numbers are decreasing.


Taxonomy

''Panthera pardus delacouri'' was described in 1930 by
Reginald Innes Pocock Reginald Innes Pocock, (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist. Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edward's ...
based on a leopard skin from Annam.


Characteristics

Pocock described an Indochinese leopard skin as almost rusty-red in ground colour but paler at the sides. It had small rosettes that were mostly in diameter and so closely set that it looked dark. The fur was short with less than long hair on the back. He commented to have seen only black leopards from
Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...
and other areas in the
Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...
exhibited in
menagerie A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoo or zoological garden. The term was first used in 17th-century France, referring to ...
s. He therefore assumed that the proportion of black leopards increases farther south. Records from camera trapping studies conducted at 22 locations in southern Thailand and peninsular Malaysia between 1996 and 2009 show that Indochinese leopards recorded north of the
Kra Isthmus The Kra Isthmus (, ; ), also called the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand, is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailan ...
are predominantly spotted. South of the Isthmus, only melanistic leopards were recorded. Melanism is quite common in dense
tropical forest Tropical forests are forested ecoregions with tropical climates – that is, land areas approximately bounded by the Tropic of Cancer, tropics of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing ...
habitat, and black leopards are thought to have a selective advantage for ambush.


Distribution and habitat

The Indochinese leopard is distributed in Southeast Asia, where today small populations remain only in
Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
,
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
,
Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...
,
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
and southern
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. In Myanmar's Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary, the leopard population declined so drastically between the 1940s and 1980s, that by 2000 it was estimated as being close to locally extinct. In 2015, leopards were recorded for the first time by camera traps in the hill forests of Karen State. The Northern Tenasserim Forest Complex on the Thailand-Myanmar border was considered a stronghold in 2016. In Thailand, the Indochinese leopard is present in the Western Forest Complex, Kaeng Krachan- Kui Buri and Khlong Saeng- Khao Sok protected area complexes. But since the turn of the 21st century, it has not been recorded any more in the northern and south-central forest complexes of the country. In Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary on the Thai-Malaysian border, only two leopards walked past camera traps deployed between October 2004 and October 2007. In Malaysia, the leopard is present in Belum-Temengor, Taman Negara and Endau-Rompin National Parks. In April 2010, a spotted leopard was seen in a camera trap in Taman Negara National Park, where previously only black leopards were thought to occur. It has also been recorded in secondary forests in
Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...
and Johor states. In Laos, 25 different leopards walked past camera traps set up over an area of in the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Biodiversity Conservation Area between April 2003 and June 2004. In 2010, leopards were reported to also occur in Nam Kan National Protected Area. Due to absence of records, leopards are suspected to have been extirpated in the country as of 2019. In Cambodia, leopards were recorded in deciduous dipterocarp forest in Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary between December 2008 and August 2009, and in Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary in 2009 and 2014. In 2021, no individual was detected in eastern Cambodia, indicating that this population was also extirpated. In southern China, camera trap surveys were conducted in 11 nature reserves between 2002 and 2009, but leopards were only recorded in Changqing National Nature Reserve in the Qinling Mountains. The leopard is extinct in
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
and
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
.


Ecology and behaviour

Since the mid-1980s, leopard-oriented field research was carried out in three protected areas in Thailand: *Between 1985 and 1986, leopard scats were collected in an
evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
dipterocarp mountain forest in
Chiang Mai Province Chiang Mai is the largest Provinces of Thailand, province (''changwat'') of Thailand by area. It lies in Northern Thailand#Regional classification of northern Thailand, upper northern Thailand and has a population of 1.78 million people. It ...
of northwestern Thailand. Prey species found in scats comprised foremost Indian muntjac, followed by
wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
, long-tailed goral, dusky leaf monkey, Malayan porcupine, and
Indian hog deer The Indian hog deer (''Axis porcinus''), or Indochinese hog deer, is a small cervid native to the region of the Indian subcontinent and Indo-Gangetic Plain. Introduced populations are established in Australia, as well as the United States and Sri ...
only in the hot season from February to April. * In 1996, three leopards were fitted with radio collars in the south–central part of Kaeng Krachan National Park, a hilly terrain with seasonal evergreen forest. The study revealed
home range A home range is the area in which an animal lives and moves on a periodic basis. It is related to the concept of an animal's territory which is the area that is actively defended. The concept of a home range was introduced by W. H. Burt in 1943. ...
s of two male leopards of , and of a female of . They all preferred habitat where prey species accumulated and offered potential hunting opportunities, namely at altitudes of , river and valley corridors, and the main road, prior to higher elevations and forested terrain. Both male leopards slightly extended their home range during the wet season of June to October.
Sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent, South China and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe huntin ...
, red muntjac, Malayan porcupine and gaur are the most abundant potential prey species in this protected area. * Between 1994 and 1999, ten leopards were fitted with radio collars in the northwestern part of Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary and followed over 9–41 months. The analysis of tracking data revealed mean annual home ranges of adult males of . Six adult females had the largest in
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
recorded home ranges of , which they all extended in the dry season from November to April. All leopards preferred dry evergreen and mixed
deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flo ...
with flat slope near water courses. Wild boar, macaque and lesser mouse deer were identified as the main potential prey species for the leopard in a highly fragmented secondary forest in Malaysia's Selangor area.


Threats

There are few contiguous areas left where leopards have a chance of long-term survival. They are primarily threatened by
habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...
following large–scale
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...
, and prey depletion through illegal hunting. An increasingly growing threat is hunting for the illegal
wildlife trade Wildlife trade refers to the exchange of products derived from non-domesticated animals or plants usually extracted from their natural environment or raised under controlled conditions. It can involve the trade of living or dead individuals, tis ...
, which is showing its potential to do maximum harm in minimal time: leopards are increasingly being used as substitutes for tiger parts in
traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...
, with the price of leopard parts rising as tiger parts become scarce.


Habitat destruction

Human traffic inside protected areas negatively affects leopard movements and activity. They show less diurnal activity in areas more heavily used by people. In villages located in Laos' protected areas, local people consume about meat of
deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
and wild boar annually per household. This offtake amounts to
ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...
s per , which is equivalent to the meat required to sustain several leopards per . In a highly fragmented tropical rain forest within Malaysia's capital agglomeration of
Klang Valley Klang Valley () is an urban agglomeration in Malaysia that is centered in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and including their adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. It is the urban area of the much larger Ku ...
leopard density has been estimated at 28.35 individuals per , which is one of the highest leopard densities reported. As a result of rapid shrinking of the forests, individuals may have been pushed into the remaining forest in this area, so that their population is unexpectedly high. Leopards were mostly affected by construction activities conducted inside the forest.


Illegal wildlife trade

Substantial domestic skin markets exist in Myanmar, in Malaysia for traditional medicines, and in China for skins and bones, the latter particularly as a substitute for the
tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
in traditional Asian medicines and tonics. In China, the use of stockpiles of leopard bone is still permitted by the government by medicinal manufacturers, despite the domestic trade ban. In Myanmar, 215 body parts of at least 177 leopards were observed in four markets surveyed between 1991 and 2006. Among the body parts, a leopard
penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...
and
testes A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of androgens, primarily testosterone. The ...
were openly traded, along with other parts of freshly killed animals. Three of the surveyed markets are situated on international borders with China and Thailand, and attract international buyers, although leopards are completely protected under Myanmar's national legislation. Effective implementation and enforcement of
CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...
is considered inadequate. In early 2018, the carcass of a black leopard was discovered in Thailand's Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, along with other animals. They were in the possession of a businessman who presided over the construction company Italian-Thai Development.


See also

* Leopard subspecies * Chinese leopard * Zanzibar leopard


References


External links


Leopards .:. wild-cat.org — Information about leopard research and conservation

Asian Leopard Specialist Society, Iran


* ttps://born2invest.com/articles/cambodia-leopards-extinction/ Cambodia’s leopards are on the brink of extinction {{Taxonbar, from=Q153061 Leopards Mammals described in 1930 Carnivorans of Malaysia Mammals of Myanmar Mammals of Cambodia Mammals of Laos Mammals of Vietnam Mammals of Thailand Fauna of Yunnan