Panthera pardus ssp. adersi (Zanzibar Leopard)

[Bhagatí]

I found on Wikipedia:

The Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi) is an elusive and possibly extinct subspecies of leopard endemic to Unguja Island in the Zanzibar archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania. Increasing conflict between people and leopards in the 20th century led to their demonization and determined attempts to exterminate them. Efforts to develop a leopard conservation programme in the mid-1990s were shelved when wildlife researchers concluded that there was little prospect for the animal's long-term survival.

Evolutionary history

The evolutionary history of the Zanzibar Leopard parallels that of other endemics on Unguja, including the Zanzibar Servaline Genet and the Zanzibar Red Colobus. It is thought to have evolved in isolation from the African Leopard since at least the end of the last ice age, when the island was separated from mainland Tanzania by rising sea levels. The founder effect and adaptation to local conditions produced a smaller leopard than its continental relatives and one which; changed its spots;, or rather saw its more numerous rosettes partially disintegrate into spots.

Biology and behaviour

The biology and behaviour of the Zanzibar Leopard are poorly understood. Only five skins have been located in museums, including the type specimen in the Natural History Museum, London, and a much-faded mounted specimen in the Zanzibar Museum.[3] The Zanzibar Leopard has never been studied in the wild and the last time a researcher claimed in print to have seen one was in the early 1980s.[4] Most zoologists presume the Zanzibar Leopard to be extinct or very nearly so.[5] However, Zanzibar government statistics indicate that leopards were still being killed by hunters in the mid-1990s, and islanders continue to report sightings and the predation of livestock.

Demonization and extermination

Rural Zanzibaris’ descriptions of the leopard and its habits are coloured by the widespread belief that a large number of these carnivores are kept by witches and sent by them to harm or otherwise harass their fellow villagers. This belief comes together with an elaborate package of ideas about how leopards are bred, trained, exchanged and sent to do the evil bidding of their owners. For local farmers this supplies a neat explanation for predation by leopards, and more generally for their appearance "out of place" in the vicinity of farms and villages.
The growth of human population and agriculture in the 20th century was largely responsible for this state of affairs, as people encroached on the habitat of leopards and the animals they preyed upon. Increasing conflict with leopards and the fear that this generated led to a series of campaigns to exterminate them. These were localized at first, but became island-wide after the Zanzibar Revolution of 1964, when a combined anti-witchcraft and leopard-killing campaign was launched under the leadership of Unguja’s most famous witch-finder, Kitanzi. The long-term result of this campaign and the subsequent classification of leopards as “vermin” was to bring them to the brink of extinction.

Conservation and other proposals

Serious attention was not paid to the Zanzibar leopard's plight until the mid-1990s, by which time some authorities were already listing it as extinct.[8] A leopard conservation programme was drafted by the CARE-funded Jozani-Chwaka Bay Conservation Project, but abandoned in 1997 when wildlife researchers failed to find evidence for the leopard's continuing presence in and
around Jozani Forest.

Local wildlife officials, however, have remained more optimistic about the leopard's survival, and some Zanzibaris have proposed approaching alleged leopard keepers in order to ask them to display their leopards to paying visitors. Villagers sometimes offer to take tourists or researchers to see "domesticated" leopards in return for cash, but so far none of these "kept leopard chases" has been known to end in a successful sighting.

References
^ Pakenham, R.H.W. (1984). The Mammals of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands. Harpenden: privately printed.
^ Kingdon, J. (1989). Island Africa: The Evolution of Africa's Rare Animals and Plants. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
^ a b Walsh, M.T. & Goldman, H.V. (2003). "The Zanzibar Leopard Between Science and Cryptozoology". Nature East Africa 33 (1/2): 14-16.
^ a b Swai, I.S. (1983). Wildlife Conservation Status in Zanzibar. Unpublished M.Sc. dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam.
^ a b Stuart, C. & Stuart, T. (1997). A Preliminary Faunal Survey of South-eastern Unguja (Zanzibar) with Special Emphasis on the Leopard Panthera pardus adersi. African-Arabian Wildlife Research Centre, Loxton, South Africa.
^ Goldman, H.V. & Walsh, M.T. (2002). "Is the Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi) Extinct?". Journal of East African Natural History 91 (1/2): 15-25.
^ Goldman, H.V. & Walsh, M.T. (1997). A Leopard in Jeopardy: An Anthropological Survey of Practices and Beliefs which Threaten the Survival of the Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi). Zanzibar Forestry Technical Paper No. 63, Jozani-Chwaka Bay Conservation Project, Commission for Natural Resources, Zanzibar. Retrieved on 2007 January 17.
^ Nowell, K. & Jackson, P. (1996). Wild Cats. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
^ Marshall, S. (1994). The Status of the Zanzibar Leopard. SIT Tanzania & Commission for Natural Resources, Zanzibar.
^ Selkow, B. (1995). A Survey of Villager Perceptions of the Zanzibar Leopard. SIT Tanzania & Commission for Natural Resources, Zanzibar.

External links
Department of Commercial Crops, Fruits & Forestry (DCCFF), Zanzibar

dccff.com/archives/tp063.pdf/
www.dccff.com/

This I'm founded on:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar_Leopard

and from this page is a 2 pictures of zanzibar leopard:



and second from post stamp, historic photo:


This is all of me about zanzibar leopard.

[another specialist]

Thanks baghira for showing us the enlargement of that image. Had previously uploaded that same photo but they were much smaller. It's nice to see a close up of it.

[sordes]

The colour pattern of this leopard is really interesting, looks nearly a bit similar to a cheethas coat.

[another specialist]

To me it was definately a unique subspecies with that different colour coat and patterning.

[sebbe67]

Yes the Zanzibar subspecies is most likely to have been (is ?) a very unique subspecies, just like the Kirk red colobus on Zanzibar (among the most distinct primates in Africa); there is several more examples of this, Aders duiker for ex (remains in tiny numbers in Kenya as well though). I have had the joy of visiting this Island, and its least said, very special

[another specialist]

Your a lucky bloke to have visited all these special places.

[leopard81]

i agree very lucky indeed

[another specialist]

Zanzibar is an archipelago made up of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands, and several islets. It is located in the Indian Ocean, about 25 miles from the Tanzanian coast, and 6° south of the equator. Zanzibar Island (known locally as Unguja, but as Zanzibar internationally) is 60 miles long and 20 miles wide, occupying a total area of approximately 650 square miles. It is characterised by beautiful sandy beaches with fringing coral reefs, and the magic of historic Stone Town - said to be the only functioning ancient town in East Africa and recently declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

www.rasnungwi.com/zanzibar/

[another specialist]

Panthera pardus adersi: Zanzibar (once believed to be extinct, this subspecies is believed to inhabit the nearby island of Unguja.)

www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal=57

[Melanie]

IS THE ZANZIBAR LEOPARD (PANTHERA
PARDUS ADERSI) EXTINCT?
Helle V. Goldman 1
Jozani-Chwaka Bay Conservation Project
Commission for Natural Resources
P.O. Box 3526, Zanzibar, Tanzania
[e-mail]
Martin T. Walsh
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich,
Chatham Maritime, Kent, ME4 4TB, U.K.
[e-mail]
ABSTRACT
The Zanzibar leopard, Panthera pardus adersi (Pocock, 1932), is a little-known island
endemic assumed by some authorities to be extinct. In 1996 a survey of local
practices, beliefs and knowledge about the leopard was conducted on Unguja Island.
Data were collected through interviews with Zanzibaris in villages across the island
and from official documents (records of the National Hunters). In total 52 villagers,
over half of whom were former or current part-time hunters, were interviewed. The
interviews yielded compelling indications for an extant population of leopards:
interviews included reports of leopard sightings for every year between 1990 to 1996.
Combining this with National Hunters' records, which documented killed leopards in
each year from 1985 to 1995, we conclude that the species was probably still to be
found on the island as of 1996. However, a subsequent effort undertaken by other
researchers and involving camera traps, audio playbacks and searches for leopard sign
failed to yield physical evidence of leopards.
INTRODUCTION
With recognition of the decisive role local people often play in the success of conservation
initiatives, studies of local attitudes toward wildlife, protected areas, and conservation
programmes have come to constitute an important part of the literature (e.g., Infield, 1988;
Hackel, 1990; Newmark et al., 1993; Reading & Kellert, 1993; Akama et al., 1995; Nepal
& Weber, 1995; Badola, 1998; Bjerke et al., 1998; Hill, 1998; Mehta & Kellert, 1998).

Local perceptions of species, such as large felids, that pose direct threats to people and
livestock are often particularly charged (Oli et al., 1994; Saberwal et al., 1994; Kellert et
ai., 1996; Mishra 1997).
In 1996, the Jozani-Chwaka Bay Conservation Project engaged the authors (both
anthropologists) to survey beliefs and practices concerning leopards on Unguja Island. The
managers of this integrated conservation and development project were considering whether
to include a leopard conservation initiative in their efforts to protect several endemic wildlife
species and subspecies. Due to morphological differences (its small size and distinctive coat
pattern), the Zanzibar leopard is recognised as a distinct subspecies, Panthera pardus adersi
(Pocock, 1932; also Swynnerton & Hayman, 1951; Kingdon, 1977, 1989; Pakenham, 1984),
but little is known about this felid.
At the time of the study, some sources in the literature had assumed the Zanzibar leopard
was extinct (e.g., Miththapala et al., 1996; Nowell & Jackson, 1996). However, recent
unpublished reports (Archer, 1994; Marshall, 1994; Selkow, 1995) indicated that Zanzibaris
believed leopards were still to be found. Non-native residents and researchers had not been
able to confirm the presence of the Zanzibar leopard, although pugmarks thought to be
leopard were encountered in 1996 (A. Archer, R. Wild, pers. comm.). The last outside
researcher to claim an actual sighting of the leopard was Swai (1983 and pers. comm.).
The aim of this study was to investigate people's knowledge of leopards, their attitudes
toward the species, and whether there were indications that leopards were still extant on the
island. This paper reports the findings which relate most directly to the question of whether
leopards survived on Unguja at the time of the survey in 1996.
Background
In 1919 British authorities in the Zanzibar Protectorate prohibited the hunting of leopards by
listing them in the Wild Animals Protection Decree. However, as the human population
grew, attacks upon people and livestock increased. In 1950, the government lifted the total
ban on leopard hunting by issuing the Zanzibar Leopard Exception Order.
After the Zanzibar revolution of 1964, the newly independent government sponsored a
joint leopard-eradication and witch-purging campaign. Since at least colonial times, it has
been believed that witches exercise their magical control over leopards to harass other
people. Leopards thought to be controlled in this way are described as being "kept".
Harming, or even just catching sight of, a witch's leopard was, and is, believed to result in a
range of grave afflictions. The post-revolution leopard/witch eradication programme, known
as the Kitanzi Campaign, gradually petered out, but widespread animosity towards leopards
and their alleged "keepers" survives to the present day.
Today, the government supports leopard hunting by subsidising the National Hunters.
This is a diverse group of men, mainly townsmen engaged in various occupations, who
organise hunts in rural Unguja on the officially-sanctioned pretext of eliminating agricultural
pests. The Zanzibar leopard is counted among these "vermin". The government pays for
their transport and supplies, but National Hunters are not directly paid for their participation.
They are, however, permitted to sell the products of what they succeed in killing.
Zanzibar enjoys a semi-autonomous status within Tanzania. Tanzania is party to CITESendorsed
hunting quotas for leopards and other endangered or vulnerable species. Although
the conditions of international agreements made by Tanzania theoretically apply equally to
Zanzibar, they are not enforced, and the mainland wildlife authorities do not monitor or
interfere in Zanzibari affairs.

Study Area
The main island of Zanzibar, Unguja (1,600 km2) (figure 1), lies approximately 6° south of
the equator and 40 km from mainland Tanzania. The deeper soil zone of the western part of
the island formerly supported moist lowland forest, while a mosaic of thicket and dry
lowland forest covered the coral rag zone of the east and much of the south. With an
estimated population of 524,000 people, Unguja then had a mean rural population density of
approximately 171 persons per km2 (range 0-300) (figures based on 1988 census results and
1991 estimates; United Republic of Tanzania, 1991; Zanzibar Revolutionary Government,
1992). Rural Zanzibaris subsist from various combinations of cultivation, small-scale
livestock husbandry, fishing, and charcoal and lime production. Hunting also contributes to
some livelihoods.
Much of the island's wildlife inhabits the patches of intact or degraded thicket in the
eastern part of the island, as well as the Jozani Reserve (25 km2), which encompasses
Unguja's only remaining older-growth forest (Robins, 1976; Williams et ai., 1998). The
larger species of mammals in Zanzibar include Aders I duiker Cephaiophus adersi, Zanzibar
blue duiker Cephaiophus monticoia sundevalli, suni Neotragus moschatus moschatus,
bushpig Potamochoerus porcus, Zanzibar red colobus Procoiobus kirkii, Sykes' monkey
Cercopithecus mitis, African civet Viverra civetta schwarzi, and a newly identified servaline
genet, Genetta servalina archeri (Van Rompaey & Colyn, 1998).
METHODS
Undertaken in July 1996, the research consisted primarily of semi-structured interviews in
Swahili with villagers and a review of National Hunt records. Nineteen villages located in the
southern and eastern three-quarters of the island were visited. These areas contain the largest
tracts of remaining forest and thicket. Recent reports and interviews with Forestry officials
and National Hunters suggested that leopards were concentrated here.
In some cases, the Zanzibari members of the research team knew someone in the village
who might be willing to talk about leopards. Other interviewees were encountered by chance.
Most interviewees were men over 30 years old (table 1). This bias was not considered a
disadvantage as men partake in hunting and have more direct knowledge of wildlife. Twentyeight
of the 52 villagers interviewed were current or former part-time hunters. Most
preferred to hunt alone, but some participated in group hunts organised at the village level.
Table 1. Age and sex characteristics of villagers interviewed in a survey of beliefs and
knowledge of the leopard (Panthera pardus), Unguja Island, Tanzania, 1996.
Age (years)'
Male
Female ---
<18
1
18 - 30 P3
31 - 50
'f5"'3
1
> 50
264
4
Total
44
8
1 Some ages are estimates.
2 One was a part-time hunter.
3Ten were current or former part-time hunters.
4 Seventeen were current or former part-time hunters.

Conducting semi-structured and open-ended interviews, we sought answers to the
questions listed in table 2. Although all interviews were voluntary, many villagers were
uneasy discussing leopards, fearing that a willingness to do so might result in them becoming
targets of "leopard keepers" or would be construed as evidence that they themselves were
"leopard keepers". Probably increasing their reserve was the fact that the researchers were
affiliated with the government (the Commission for Natural Resources).
The second source of information was the records of the National Hunters. Although
National Hunters are not closely monitored by the government, they keep records of their
activities in the form of individual hunt reports and annual summaries. These are also
supposed to include the results of village hunts. The records are stored in Zanzibar's
Department of Regional Administration.
Table 2. Questions guiding semi-structured interviews in a survey of beliefs and knowledge of
the leopard (panthera pardus), Unguja Island, Tanzania, 1996.
1) Did the interviewee engage in hunting, currently or formerly
2) Did the interviewee believe there were leopards in the area he/she lived?
3) Did the interviewee believe there were more or fewer leopards now compared to the past?
4) What did the interviewee believe was the cause of any perceived increase or decrease?
5) Had other wildlife increased, decreased, or remained stable in number? Why?
6) Had the interviewee ever encountered signs of leopards, such as faeces or pugmarks, or
ever heard leopard calls?
7) Had the interviewee ever seen a leopard? If so, when, where, and under what
circumstances?
8) If the interviewee was or had been a hunter, had he ever killed a leopard? When, where,
and under what circumstances?
9) What could the interviewee tell us about the appearance and behaviour of leopards?
10) Did the interviewee look positively or negatively on leopards?
11) Did the interviewee believe that leopards should be protected?
RESULTS
Interviews
Interviewees varied widely in their level of contact with, and knowledge about, leopards and
other wildlife. Informants' descriptions of the physical appearance of leopards-their size and
body shape, the form of their paws, colouration and coat patterning, and facial features-all
matched what we know of leopard morphology. This accuracy is partly accounted for by the
sizeable proportion (54 %) of informants who reported having seen leopards at close
quarters, including dead leopards that the informants themselves had directly participated in
killing or which had been hunted by Kitanzi agents or National Hunters, and live leopards
trapped during the Protectorate period or the Kitanzi era. Predictably, it was with respect to
less directly observable aspects of leopard natural history, e.g. gestation length and
longevity, that the accuracy of the information became more variable. Some informants
offered good descriptions of behaviours which probably few Zanzibaris have directly
observed (or seen on television), e.g. males' scent-marking behaviour and the habit of
hauling kills into trees where these are available, suggesting that the accurate observations of
some individuals have entered into the body of general Zanzibari knowledge. The scientific
accuracy of some of the interviewees' information about leopards-such as crabs fonning part of the diet of leopards whose ranges include mangrove forests-seems plausible but
requires further work to confirm or discount.
All interviewees believed that there were still leopards on Unguja, but that they had
decreased in numbers over the years, as had other wildlife. Interviewees attributed the
reduction in leopards to the Kitanzi campaign and subsequent hunting pressure, combined
with a slow reproduction rate and high cub mortality. Only one informant (2 %) offered
habitat reduction and degradation as reasons for the decline in leopards.
Though interviewees were preponderantly negative in their attitudes toward leopards and
a possible leopard conservation programme, 14 informants (27 %) did not support the
complete extermination of leopards. These were mostly younger interviewees. Ten of them
were of the opinion that if leopards could be securely contained, as in a zoo or fenced park,
and thus kept from harming people and livestock, then the conservation of a small number
leopards might generate much-needed tourism income in rural areas. It is widely known that
thousands of tourists visit Jozani Forest annually to see Zanzibar red colobus monkeys.
Generally, however, witchcraft levels and leopard numbers were perceived to have dropped
in tandem during the last three to four decades and informants had no wish for these to rise to
former levels.
Thirteen part-time hunters (25 % of informants) disclosed having killed leopards at some
time in their lives. Most of these leopard kills reportedly occurred before 1990; some were in
connection with pre-Independence British hunting parties or with Kitanzi campaign or
National Hunter activities. One man reported having shot a leopard in 1990 and then another
in 1994 (table 3).
The interviewees related numerous leopard sightings (table 3). Leopards were reported to
have been seen during each of the years spanning 1990 and 1996. There were seven reported
sightings for 1996. Five (10 %) interviewees reported indirect evidence of leopards (table 3).
This included pugmarks and scat thought to belong to leopards, as well as attacks on
domestic animals attributed by the interviewees to leopards.
National Hunt records
According to records of the National Hunters, leopards were reportedly killed in every year
from 1985 through 1995. The records for this last year on file, which showed only one
leopard killed, were recognised to be incomplete when we reviewed them in 1996 (table 4).
As recently as 1994, 12 or 13 leopards had reportedly been taken. The figures in the annual
summaries were sometimes higher than the totals in the individual hunt reports, suggesting
that individual hunt reports were produced or filed somewhat sporadically.
DISCUSSION
Taken at face value, these fmdings support the conclusion that leopards were probably still
present on Unguja at the time of the study. Leopards are probably the most versatile of the
big cats, able to adjust their behaviour and diet to local conditions and known to survive in
settled areas, including the suburbs of Nairobi (Seidensticker, 1991). Hamilton (1986)
reported leopards in an area of western Kenya with a human population density of l50/km2
(about the same as Unguja), large livestock numbers, and little undisturbed habitat or natural
prey.

Judging the reliability of these results presents a challenge. Some reported leopard
sightings may have been sightings of other animals, such as civets or servaline genets.
Villagers' reports of pawprints, faeces, and leopard calls may also have been mistaken.
Indigenous people's knowledge of their natural environment has achieved recognition as
extremely intimate and is now prized by Western scientists as valuable (see e.g., Alvard,
1993; Poizat & Baran, 1997; Stander et at., 1997; Ferguson et ai., 1998). Yet indigenous
knowledge is not infallible, and the accuracy of information about wildlife and other aspects
of the natural environment varies among people depending on their degree of dependence on
it and a range of other factors (Walsh & Harvey, 1997).
Hunters' reports of having killed (vs. merely seen) leopards are not easily dismissed.
Misidentification of a carcass that a hunter actually handles seeQ'lShighly improbable. Several
studies have relied at least in part on interviews to determine the quantities and types of game
hunted and consumed (e.g., Ayres et ai., 1991; Silva & Strahl, 1991; Alvard, 1993; Alvard
et al., 1997). The possibility cannot be ruled out that hunters (and other informants)
deliberately misinformed us, perhaps to hold our attention and thereby to gain prestige in
their communities or to foster reputations as brave hunters. However, in light of what we
know about people's deep-seated fear of "leopard-keeping witches", it is equally likely that
villagers under-reported leopard kills (and sightings).

The internal contradictions of the National Hunt records called into question their
accuracy. Nonetheless, these records do strongly support the thesis that in the mid-1990s
there was still an extant leopard population.
The results of this study are intriguing because, to our knowledge, no foreign researcher
has come upon direct, irrefutable evidence of Zanzibar leopards in recent years. During the
course of the study, we were shown pieces of leopard skin purportedly of local provenance,
and received reliable reports from two foreign residents and a Zanzibari museum advisor
who were offered the purchase of leopard skins on the island. However, the local provenance
of these partial and whole skins could not be confirmed.
For about 3 weeks in 1997, two wildlife researchers sought firm evidence for the
leopards' continued existence, but failed despite deploying two automatic "camera traps",
playing audio-taped leopard calls, and searching for pugmarks and other sign (Stuart &
Stuart, 1997). It is difficult to reconcile these results with our own. That the only wildlife
represented in the 80 photographs produced by the camera trapping effort were African civet
and crested guinea fowl (Guttera pucherani) may be attributed to its relatively short duration,
the small number of camera kits deployed and their locations in the same area of forest, and
the quality of the equipment.
In the years following the study reported here, reports of leopard sightings continued to
come in from rural Unguja, particularly the Jozani area. Further fieldwork is required to
determine whether there are still leopards on Unguja. Two fruitful avenues are more
extensive camera trapping and direct observations of National Hunts. If a leopard population
is confirmed, every effort should be made to protect these unique felids in their natural
habitat (not in captivity). The outlines of a conservation programme, focussing on education,
legislation and enforcement, are on file with the conservation authorities in what is now the
Department of Commercial Crops, Fruits and Forestry.
Because of the complexity of this case and the difficult questions it raises, we believe the
results of this study may prove interesting and useful to conservation biologists, and to
scientists interested in species which play roles in complex indigenous belief systems.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The 1996 study was commissioned by the Jozani-Chwaka Bay Conservation Project
(JCBCP), then a partnership between the Zanzibar government and CARE Tanzania. We
would like to thank everyone who supported the study and provided assistance to us, in
particular all those who agreed to be interviewed and/or who provided us with access to
records. Special thanks are due to Thabit S. Masoud, then Head of Conservation in the
Commission for Natural Resources; Rob Wild, former Conservation Advisor for the JCBCP;
and Tony Archer for sharing his experience and ideas with us. We are particularly grateful to
our principal partners in fieldwork: Ali Ali Mwinyi, then Wildlife Officer in the Commission
for Natural Resources, and Suleiman Iddi Hamadi, then Assistant Secretary of the National
Hunters. Without their help we could not have completed the field survey in the short time
allocated. The manuscript was improved by the critiques of two anonymous reviewers.

www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2982/0012-8317%282002%2991%5B15%3AITZLPP%5D2.0.CO%3B2?prevSearch=%255Bfulltext%253A%2Bzanzibar%255D%2BAND%2B%255Bpublisher%253A%2Bbioone%255D&searchHistoryKey=

[ct]

I didn't know that such a big carnivore could survive on such a small island for so long (10.000 years ). Interesting!

[Bhagatí]

The last Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi)

Sources:
www.wildafrica.sk/index_soubory/NATURAL%20HISTORY%20MUSEUM/album/slides/P8310164.html
www.wildafrica.sk/index_soubory/NATURAL%20HISTORY%20MUSEUM/album/slides/P8310167.html
www.wildafrica.sk/index_soubory/NATURAL%20HISTORY%20MUSEUM/album/slides/P8310165.html

- main source:
www.wildafrica.sk/index_soubory/NATURAL%20HISTORY%20MUSEUM/album/index.html

[Melanie]

Is Panthera pardus adersi still valid? If i have understood this paper correctly it seems not the case

www.biosoil.ru/files/00001386.pdf

[Bhagatí]

Melanie wrote: Is Panthera pardus adersi still valid? If i have understood this paper correctly it seems not the case

Panthera pardus adersi is valid subspecies.
Seen:
The leopards of Africa. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1932, Pocock
Source:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1932.tb01085.x/abstract

And this source: www.biosoil.ru/files/00001386.pdf
Info from this source is not actual, since from year 2001.
HMW1 from 2009 this subspecies recognized. That is a fact!

[Peter]

Actually we don't know for sure. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences revealed abundant diversity that could be partitioned into a minimum of nine discrete leopard populations, tentatively named in the 2001 paper as revised subspecies: P. pardus pardus, P. p. nimr, P. p. saxicolor, P. p. fusca, P. p. kotiya, P. p. delacouri, P. p. japonensis, P. p. orientalis and P. p. melas. The paper says "However, because of limited sampling of African populations, this may be an underestimate of modern phylogeographic population structure." They admit there can be more than nine subspecies. For example, they did not use DNA samples from the Zanzibar Leopard (P. p. adersi). So they can not be sure/conclude that this island leopard is a valid subspecies or not.

[Melanie]

Thank you Peter. My problem is that the IUCN currently accepted 9 subspecies of the Leopard. They have synonymised the Barbary Leopard with the Subsaharan Leopard but they have excluded the Zansibar Leopard.

[Peter]

Indeed. They have done the same with the Barbary lion. They consider all African lions to be one subspecies: Panthera leo leo. Not right in my humble opinion, so you can image that I don't always agree with the taxonomy they use on the list. The problem is that there is no consensus among different scientists in these kind of cases. So information can be conflicting.

There is now simple no evidence to conclude that the Zanzibar leopard in not a valid subspecies. At least according to the information that I currently have in my possession. And as it is an island leopard, it can certainly be genetically quite different (don't know when it became separated from the mainland population). However, future research / evidence could bring us a final answer.

[Bhagatí]

Zanzibar leopard Panthera p. adersi Pocock, 1932

Light-colored form with very small rosettes that decays almost entirely to small spots. It is small, feeding on fish and has brown spots.

Lives on the island of Zanzibar.

Citated: publication Big Cats and Cheetahs; autor is Vratislav Mazak

This subspecies is very different from all other subspecies of leopard.
"Light-colored form with very small rosettes that decays almost entirely to small spots. It is small, feeding on fish and has brown spots."
And this is a fact!

And I ask? How many subspecies of leopard has on skin brown spots, while counting zanzibar subspecies? How many subspecies of leopard feeds solely on fish? How many subspecies of leopard has very small rosettes that decays almost entirely to small spots?

Sorry, but it can not conceal!

[Peter]

That is also why we here still see it as a valid subspecies!

[surroundx]

Helle and Goldman have published a new paper on the Zanzibar leopard. The paper is available for free download to a limited number of people so get in quick if you would like a free copy. The link is in the latest blog post:

zanzibarleopard.blogspot.com.au/