South-Eastern Lesser Caucasus: the most important landscape for conserving the Leopard (<i>Panthera pardus</i>) in the Caucasus region (Mammalia: Felidae)

Askerov, Elshad; Talibov, Tariel; Manvelyan, Karen; Zazanashvili, Nugzar; Malkhasyan, Alexander; Fatullayev, Parviz; Heidelberg, Aurel

doi:10.1080/09397140.2015.1035003

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Researchers have previously called for increasing protected area coverage in the Middle East for leopards ( Al-Johany, 2007 ). Increasing well-managed protected area coverage in other regions has demonstrated that this can contribute to leopard population recovery ( Askerov et al, 2015 ). However, we acknowledge that the percentage of protected range may be less appropriate for wide ranging and widespread species such as the leopard whose home ranges can be larger than some protected areas, and where a greater percentage of protected range may actually reflect a diminished extant range.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Jacobson

Gerngross

Lemeris

et al. 2016

PeerJ

292

357

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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, and saxicolor) account for 97% of the leopard’s extant range while another three (P. p. orientalis, nimr, and japonensis) 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 km2 of 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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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Jacobson

Gerngross

Lemeris

et al. 2016

PeerJ

292

357

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“…Our study provides a protocol for achieving this, while mindful of minimizing operational costs. This is particularly timely in the Middle East and the Caucasus, where several of the last remnant populations of leopards occur along international borders, such as Iraq, Turkey and Iran 23 , the Lesser Caucasus 22,58,59 , the Kopet Dag Mountains along the Iran-Turkmenistan borderlands 60 , and Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia 61 . Unfortunately, many of these areas are badly affected by military conflicts and security concerns, which are not currently attractive for conservation investment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A paradox of local abundance amidst regional rarity: the value of montane refugia for Persian leopard conservation

Farhadinia

McClintock

Johnson

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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The population densities of leopards vary widely across their global range, influenced by prey availability, intraguild competition and human persecution. In Asia, particularly the Middle East and the Caucasus, they generally occur at the lower extreme of densities recorded for the species. Reliable estimates of population density are important for understanding their ecology and planning their conservation. We used a photographic spatial capture-recapture (SCR) methodology incorporating animal movement to estimate density for the endangered Persian leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor in three montane national parks, northeastern Iran. We combined encounter history data arising from images of bilaterally asymmetrical left- and right-sided pelage patterns using a Bayesian spatial partial identity model accommodating multiple “non-invasive” marks. We also investigated the effect of camera trap placement on detection probability. Surprisingly, considering the subspecies’ reported low abundance and density based on previous studies, we found relatively high population densities in the three national parks, varying between 3.10 ± SD 1.84 and 8.86 ± SD 3.60 individuals/100 km2. The number of leopards detected in Tandoureh National Park (30 individuals) was larger than estimated during comparable surveys at any other site in Iran, or indeed globally. Capture and recapture probabilities were higher for camera traps placed near water resources compared with those placed on trails. Our results show the benefits of protecting even relatively small mountainous areas, which accommodated a high density of leopards and provided refugia in a landscape with substantial human activity.

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“…Transboundary conservation initiatives have been endorsed for many of Asian leopard subspecies (Knight et al, 2011; Askerov et al, 2015; Farhadinia et al, 2015; Feng et al, 2017). However, only two transboundary initiatives are actively working to facilitate leopard conservation across borders, in the Caucasus (Askerov et al, 2015) and in the Russian Far East and north-east China (Feng et al, 2017; Vitkalova et al, 2018). Transboundary conservation was not considered in the latest IUCN assessment of leopards (Stein et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 10 countries the Persian leopards' range occurs exclusively in borderlands (Fig. 1, Table 2), with small populations of generally < 10 individuals (Askerov et al, 2015; Avgan et al, 2016). These appear to be sink populations on the brink of extinction (Askerov et al, 2015; Avgan et al, 2016; Stein et al, 2016; Maharramova et al, 2018), although under intensive conservation efforts they are able to recolonize suitable habitats (Askerov et al, 2019).…”

Section: Transboundary Rangesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Big cats in borderlands: challenges and implications for transboundary conservation of Asian leopards

Farhadinia

Rostro‐García

Feng

et al. 2020

Oryx

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Large carnivores have extensive spatial requirements, with ranges that often span geopolitical borders. Consequently, management of transboundary populations is subject to several political jurisdictions, often with heterogeneity in conservation challenges. In continental Asia there are four threatened leopard subspecies with transboundary populations spanning 23 countries: the Persian Panthera pardus saxicolor, Indochinese P. pardus delacouri, Arabian P. pardus nimr and Amur P. pardus orientalis leopards. We reviewed the status of these subspecies and examined the challenges to, and opportunities for, their conservation. The Amur and Indochinese leopards have the majority (58–100%) of their remaining range in borderlands, and the Persian and Arabian leopards have 23–26% of their remaining ranges in borderlands. Overall, in 18 of 23 countries the majority of the remaining leopard range is in borderlands, and thus in most countries conservation of these subspecies is dependent on transboundary collaboration. However, we found only two transboundary initiatives for Asian leopards. Overall, we highlighted three key transboundary landscapes in regions that are of high importance for the survival of these subspecies. Recent listing of the leopard in the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals is important, but more international collaboration is needed to conserve these subspecies. We provide a spatial framework with which range countries and international agencies could establish transboundary cooperation for conserving threatened leopards in Asia.

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South-Eastern Lesser Caucasus: the most important landscape for conserving the Leopard (Panthera pardus) in the Caucasus region (Mammalia: Felidae)

Cited by 14 publications

References 2 publications

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

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

A paradox of local abundance amidst regional rarity: the value of montane refugia for Persian leopard conservation

Big cats in borderlands: challenges and implications for transboundary conservation of Asian leopards

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