Cat of the Month ~ May 2011

Wild female Leopard

The story of how this particular female Leopard came to be up a tree is recounted by Patrick, the photographer:

The African Leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) is a leopard subspecies occurring across most of Sub-Saharan Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified leopards as Near Threatened in 2009, stating that they may soon qualify for the Vulnerable status due to habitat loss and fragmentation. They are becoming increasingly rare outside protected areas and the population is decreasing gradually. The most secretive and elusive of the large carnivores, Leopards are solitary creatures and predominately nocturnal.

Leopards are known for their ability in climbing (and said to be the strongest climber of the large cats). By climbing, the Leopard can use this vantage point to gain a better view of possible prey in an area. These cats have been observed dragging their kills up trees and hanging them there.
They are powerful runners, reaching speeds of up to 36 mph in the chase. They are also capable swimmers (although not as strong as some other big cats, such as the tiger). They are very agile, and can leap over 6 metres (20 ft) along the ground, and jump up to 3 metres (10 ft) vertically.

Leopards are versatile, opportunistic hunters, and have a very broad diet. They feed on a greater diversity of prey than other members of the Panthera species, and will eat anything from dung beetles to male giant elands, up to 900 kilos in weight. Their diet consists mostly of ungulates (hooved animals) and monkeys, but they also eat rodents, reptiles, amphibians, insects, birds, and fish. In Africa, mid-sized antelopes provide a majority of their prey, especially impala and Thomson's gazelles.

They have been heard producing a number of vocalizations, including grunts, roars, growls, meows, and "sawing" sounds. To hear some of these recorded sounds you may want to try this link.

Until 2006, there was thought to be a single clouded leopard species (Neofelis nebulosa). However, recent genetic and morphological studies have led researchers to conclude that there are two completely separate species of clouded leopards. Researchers estimate that the two species diverged approximately 1.5 million years ago due to geographical isolation.

Officially recognised as new species of Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi or 'the Sundaland clouded leopard') in March 2007, these cats were discovered on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Sadly these cats are already on the endangered species list, with an estimated 18,000 of them remaining in the wild.

If you would like to find out more please visit the following websites
The National Geographic Big Cats Initiative
The Clouded Leopard Project Leopard Conservation & Research.

How's this for a beautiful photograph of a Snow Leopard Ed?

Cat of the month ~ August 2007

Snow Leopard at rest

Conservation Philosophy

How do you save a snow leopard? Or a tiger, rhino, rare butterfly, or for that matter a patch of rainforest? These are the questions that every conservation organization faces, and that challenges all of us. Conservation actions can take many forms; setting aside lands, answering critical research questions, working to change government policies, partnering with communities, enforcing anti-poaching laws, or some mix of these and other efforts.

The Snow Leopard Trust use a combination of approaches that focus on partnering with communities in snow leopard habitat. They build community partnerships in addition to using science and research to determine key snow leopard habitat, assess wildlife-human conflict levels, and identify potential resources for conservation programs.
High priority areas are then chosen including key snow leopard habitat, with a history of conflict between predators and the communities, and potential resources to sustain a community-based conservation program.

When the science and research identifies an area as a priority site time is spent with local residents, listening to their hopes and concerns, and only then is a conservation program jointly developed.

Conservation efforts must meet four important goals.

1. The protection of snow leopards and their habitat, involving local communities in this effort.
2. An improved quality of life for the members of the community.
3. The program developed must have a path to becoming self-sufficient � where after a time it is no longer dependent on donor dollars.
4. The results of the program must be verifiable through monitoring programs.

The Snow Leopard Trust strives to follow these principles in all its community-based conservation efforts.
Visit the website via the link above and read about the different projects that are being implemented.

The Snow Leopard Trust constantly endeavor to improve our conservation projects to better meet the needs of cats and humans, and they are seeing wonderful results at their project sites. Here the livelihoods of families and communities have been improved greatly whilst snow leopards are being protected and their populations growing.

[Extract and Photograph from the Snow Leopard Trust Website]