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Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict Populations of Big Cats: Their Controversial Stories and Implications for Conservation

Authors:
  • Museo Ecologia Cesena
  • National Center for Wildlife Riyadh Saudi Arabia

Abstract and Figures

The vanishing population of big cats is a global problem difficult to solve. In modern era several subspecies and populations of felids of the genus Panthera have become extinct, or locally extinct. The review of their story seems to show a common trend: a decrease of prey due to hunting and habitat destruction that leads to the decrease of predators, which switch to livestock creating conflicts with human. In many cases the micro populations of big cats are very difficult to detect, surviving for several years after their official extinction without it being possible to implement conservation strategies. To be effective, conservation measures must be as interdisciplinary as possible and include the active involvement of the locals.
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FrancescoMariaAngelici
LorenzoRossi Editors
Problematic
Wildlife II
New Conservation and Management
Challenges in theHuman-Wildlife
Interactions
393© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
F. M. Angelici, L. Rossi (eds.), Problematic Wildlife II,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42335-3_12
Chapter 12
Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict
Populations ofBig Cats: Their
Controversial Stories andImplications
forConservation
LorenzoRossi, CarmeloMariaScuzzarella, andFrancescoMariaAngelici
12.1 Introduction
The impact of modern humans (Homo sapiens) on wildlife has increased in histori-
cal times with the advent of the industrial era (Zalasiewicz etal. 2010), but our
species has always had a negative effect on many animal populations (e.g., Braje
and Erlandson 2013).
Several carnivorous species suffered strong demographic loss, such as the gray
wolf (Canis lupus), once the most widespread mammal in Eurasia and North
America (Boitani etal. 2018). All species of the genus Ursus also had a decline in
North America, Europe, and Asia, disappearing from North Africa (McLellan
etal. 2017).
Among the predators that suffered the impact of human, there are the big cats,
mainly afferent to the genus Panthera (e.g., Dinerstein etal. 2007; Bauer etal. 2015;
Jacobson etal. 2016).
These animals have always represented for human beings not only competitors
but also species of great emotional impact. In fact, they appear in prehistoric art
(e.g., Bar-Oz and Lev-Yadun 2012; Killin 2013), in ancient folklore (e.g., Ge 2007),
religion (Benson 1998), and heraldry (Ross 2006) as symbols of strength and pride.
Some species have also been the focus of recreational (and sometimes controver-
sial) activities in the past and present such as ancient games in arenas (Lindstrøm
2010), big game hunting (Storey 1991), ecotourism (Mossaz etal. 2015), and circus
L. Rossi (*)
Museo dell’Ecologia di Cesena, Cesena, FC, Italy
e-mail: info@associazioneorango.com
C. M. Scuzzarella
Università di Parma, Facoltà di Scienze Politiche e delle relazioni internazionali, Parma, Italy
F. M. Angelici
Fondazione Italiana per la Zoologia dei Vertebrati (FIZV), Rome, Italy
394
shows (Tait 2009) and as attractions for the public in the modern zoos (Bashaw
and Maple 2010). Even today they are still the focus of modern urban legends
(e.g., Goss 1992; Hurn 2009).
Currently the species of the genus Panthera have legal protection in the states
where they are present in the wild, with very few exceptions such as South Africa,
Namibia, Zambia, Ecuador, and French Guiana, where it is possible to hunt these
felids, in a controlled manner, in some private or state areas, or even throughout the
national territory (e.g., Silvius etal. 2004). Many conservation plans were initiated
in the second half of the last century (Nowell and Jackson 1996), and thanks to this,
in some areas, the populations are now stable or even increasing, but their future
remains uncertain (Meena etal. 2014; Jhala etal. 2019).
The historical range of the tiger (Panthera tigris) once covered an area from
Turkey to the east coast of Russia, but today it has decreased by 93% and the popu-
lations are highly fragmented (Natesh etal. 2017). Currently it is the most threat-
ened large felid and its habitat has declined due to forestry, agriculture, and oil palm
plantations (Hunter 2015). The species is also under intense threat from illegal hunt-
ing due to the direct demands of traditional Chinese medicine and increased bush-
meat trafcking in Southeast Asia, which has led to a decrease in its prey.
Three subspecies are traditionally recognized to be extinct, the Javan tiger
(Panthera tigris sondaica), the Bali tiger (P. t. balica), and the Caspian tiger (P. t.
virgata). The latter is now being considered the same subspecies as the Amur tiger
(P. t. altaica) (see Driscoll etal. 2009). A fourth subspecies, the southern Chinese
tiger (P. t. amoyensis), has experienced a huge decline (Tilson etal. 2004) and is
extinct in the wild (Hunter 2015).
Even the lion (Panthera leo) suffered an impressive demographic decline: over
the last century, it has lost about 82% of its former distribution range (see Trinkel
and Angelici 2016). Currently the largest population lives in eastern and southern
Africa, while the species has declined in Central Africa and become extinct in
most of West Africa (Henschel etal. 2014). It is also extinct throughout the Middle
East and Asia, with the exception of the Indian population, consisting of approxi-
mately 650 individuals, although currently growing (Singh and Gibson 2011;
Singh 2017; Kaushik 2017). The decline of the African lion is mainly due to the
extensive loss of habitat and prey due to agriculture and cattle breeding, but also
to direct persecution and poaching on potential prey (e.g., Trinkel and
Angelici 2016).
In historical times, the Cape lion (Panthera leo melanochaita) and the Barbary
lion (Panthera leo leo) become extinct. These populations are now considered part
of the new taxonomy of southern and northern subspecies (Black 2016; Bertola
etal. 2016).
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is the felid with the largest natural range (Jacobson
etal. 2016) and the most varied diet (Hayward etal. 2006). Despite its extreme
plasticity that allows it to survive in a wide variety of different environments
(e.g., Nowell and Jackson 1996), and its surprising tolerance to human activities
(Hunter 2015), the decline of its populations is compatible with that of the other
large carnivores (Ripple etal. 2014). Currently the species occupies 25% to 35% of
L. Rossi et al.
395
its historical range (Jacobson etal. 2016). The survival of the species is threatened
by the loss of habitats and prey and by the persecution to which it is subjected in
grazing areas. The leopard is also hunted for the skin and for the parts sold in the
trafcking of traditional Asian medicine (Hunter 2015).
Despite the fact that the jaguar (Panthera onca) is the only species of the genus
Panthera not considered “endangered” or “vulnerable” by the IUCN (its actual
status is “NT”), since 1900 its historical range decreased from 19,000,000 to
9,000,000km2 (Seymour 1989), and this big cat is now considered extinct in the
USA– but in recent years there has been sporadic sightings in Arizona and New
Mexico (see Brown and Gonzalez 2000) and Uruguay and El Salvador (Hunter
2015). Furthermore, assessments of the conservation status of the species have
indicated a decline in its current range (Sanderson etal. 2002).
Even the snow leopard (Panthera uncia), despite being perceived as an animal
living in remote and inhospitable areas, has frequent interactions withhuman and
his activities (e.g., Hussain 2003; Bagchi and Mishra 2006). Also the populations of
this species are in decline (McCarthy and Chapron 2003), and among the threats
there is climate change (Forrest etal. 2012) and the loss of prey species (Namgail
etal. 2007).
The purpose of this work is to summarize the information available on some
populations and subspecies, mainly of the genus Panthera, extinct or considered
extinct in historical times. We identify common features in these extinctions of big
cat subspecies and signicant populations, in terms of patterns of conservation
importance and risk of biodiversity loss (i.e., unique taxa, genetics, etc.) and impact
on ecosystem balance. Some historical pictures, often representing the last available
visual documents of some very rare or already extinct subspecies, have also been
collected.
Currently there are different viewpoints on the systematics of the genus Panthera
with regard to the subspecies (see Kitchener etal. 2017), but in this work we have
decided to adhere more to the previous approach (Wozencraft 2005), in particular to
underline the importance of the concept of subpopulations and local extinction with
regard to conservation.
12.2 Case Studies
12.2.1 Cape Lion (Panthera leo melanochaita Smith,
1842)EX
The Cape lion (Fig.12.1) inhabited the western part of the Cape Province of South
Africa. It was the rst taxon of the genus Panthera to be extirpated in historical time
and the one with the least information available. Smith (1842) described it as a large
subspecies with ears edged with black and a thick black mane that covered also the
shoulders and the belly. Some lions killed near the Vaal River reached weights of
12 Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict Populations ofBig Cats: Their Controversial…
396
about 272kg, a size comparable to that of the Barbary lion that populated North
Africa (Pease 1913). Its extinction followed soon after the arrival of the European
settlers, making the subsequent destruction of the habitats an irrelevant factor (Day
1981). In fact, the population was exterminated because it was considered harmful
to livestock (Haagner 1920). The last known specimen was hunted down and killed
by General J.Bisset in Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), in 1865 (Day 1981). Actually
only a few skeletal remains and stuffed specimen are known and stored in museums
(Christiansen 2008).
12.2.2 Barbary Lion (Panthera leo leo Linnaeus, 1758) EX
The Barbary lion (Fig. 12.2) was formerly widespread in Mediterranean Africa
(Guggisberg 1963). Thousands of years ago, the Barbary lion inhabited the whole
area of the present Sahara desert, once characterized by a savannah similar to that of
today’s East Africa. Males could reach a length of 3.5m and a weight of 280–300kg.
The mane was black and abundantly developed around the head, neck, and shoul-
ders and under the belly (Day 1981).
Its decline began with the desertication that started in the second millennium
BC.This reduction of the range lead to three isolated subpopulations: one on the
Atlas mountains between Morocco and Algeria, one in the Nile delta, and one in the
Nubia mountains (Pease 1899).
Fig. 12.1 A Cape lion at the Jardin du Plantes, Paris, 1860. (Public domain)
L. Rossi et al.
397
The Roman conquest of North Africa further decreased the lion population:
thousands of specimens were captured and imported every year for games in the
arenas (Pease 1899), but the populations started to seriously dwindle in Libya by the
late 1700s.
Deprived of its main habitat and prey, the Barbary lion began to feed on domestic
livestock, which thus contributed to its persecution. The subsequent introduction of
rearms signicantly accelerated its demographic decline (Guggisberg 1963): in
Algeria, lions were numerous enough for a bounty to be issued by the French colo-
nial government (see Yamaguchi and Haddane 2002).
Between 1500 and 1700, lions were still reported in the northern Moroccan
coast, and until 1830 they were still spotted on the Rif mountains and in the
Mamora forest (Guggisberg 1963), but from 1880 they began to retreat on the
Atlas chain and in the Saharan regions, where there was less human pressure
(Cabrera 1932). Lions from Morocco survived in captivity for a certain time
before the extinction in nature due to the custom of the sultans to keep specimens
in the gardens of the palace in Fez. In fact, for centuries, lion cubs were offered
by tribes from the Atlas mountains as tributes. In the late 1960s, to improve life
for the lions, a new enclosure (which in 1973 will become the Rabat zoo) was
built in Tamara (Yamaguchi and Haddane 2002).
The last lion of the Rif was killed in 1895 (Lavauden 1932), and in 1925 a male
was photographed by an airplane who was ying on the Casablanca-Dakar route
Fig. 12.2 Male Barbary lion at Lincoln Park Zoo, NewYork, 1900. (The Field Museum Library)
12 Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict Populations ofBig Cats: Their Controversial…
398
(Black etal. 2013). In 1930 some footprints were found in the area of Ouiouane
(Morocco), and in the summer of the same year, some lions were observed at an
altitude of 3000m on the Toubkal massif (Panouse 1957).
In 1942 a male was shot on the Tizi-N’Tichka pass, High Atlas: it was the last
conrmed individual in Morocco (Guggisberg 1963). In Tunisia the last lion was
shot in 1891 and rumors about the presence of the species in the Khmir mountains
and near Feriana continued until the early 1900s (Guggisberg 1963). In Algeria,
the last lion of the Saharan Atlas was killed around 1920 (Yamaguchi and
Haddane 2002).
Another individual was shot in 1943: it was the last Barbary lion conrmed in
nature (Yamaguchi and Haddane 2002). The last known sighting of a Barbary lion,
however, took place in 1956 in Algeria: passengers on a bus claimed to have
observed one in a forest (Haddadou 1994).
On the basis of a mathematical model, Black etal. (2013) hypothesize that small
populations of lions survived until the early 1960s in Algeria (later eradicated by the
Franco-Algerian war) and probably until the 1960s in remote areas of Morocco.
12.3 Tiger (Panthera tigris)
12.3.1 Bali Tiger (Panthera tigris balica Schwarz, 1912) EX
The Bali tiger (Fig.12.3), the smallest subspecies of tiger, was the rst to become
extinct. The largest males were 220–230 cm long and weighed a maximum of
90–100kg (Mazak 1981).
Its skull was similar in size to that of the Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica)
but with more marked zygomatic arches, and the hair was short and bright orange,
with fewer black stripes than other subspecies (Schwarz 1912).
The Bali tiger lived on the Indonesian island of the same name. Because of the
small size of the territory (5780 km2), it is very likely that this tiger was never
numerous, another factor that probably contributed to its rapid extinction.
In the late nineteenth century, rice and oil palm crops developed a great deal,
taking advantage of the rich volcanic soil and the alluvial plain along the perimeter
of the island (Seidensticker 1986). Tigers were hunted and shot for sport. The kills
perpetrated by Western hunters and the disappearance of its habitat and its prey led
to the extinction of the species.
On September 27, 1937, an adult female was killed in the western region of Bali:
it was the last individual known in nature (Day 1981).
Based on unconrmed reports, Seidensticker (1986) believes that some tigers
could have survived until the 1940s and maybe until the 1950s. The last alleged
sightings were reported in 1970 and in 1972 in the western region of the island
(Maas 2010).
L. Rossi et al.
399
12.3.2 Javan Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica Temminck,
1884) EX
The Javan tiger (Fig.12.4) was a subspecies native to the Indonesian island of
Java. It was one of three island subspecies, together with the Sumatran tiger (P. t.
sumatrae) in danger of extinction, and the Bali tiger (extinct), all originating from
the Sunda Islands.
Its size was between that of the Sumatran tiger and the Bali tiger, but the color
was much lighter and faded into yellow. Its footprints were larger than those of the
Fig. 12.3 Bali tigers at the Ringling Bros circus, USA, circa 1915. (Harry A.Atwell 1915)
12 Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict Populations ofBig Cats: Their Controversial…
400
Bengal tiger (P.t. tigris), most likely an adaptation to the mud and soft ground of the
tropical forest (Seidensticker 1986).
Once widespread throughout the island, until 1850 it was still so numerous that
it was considered a pest by the population (Figs.12.5 and 12.6), but since 1940 it
survived only in the most remote mountain forests (Seidensticker 1987). In 1970 the
Fig. 12.4 Javan tiger at London Zoo, 1942. (F.W.Bond)
Fig. 12.5 Female tiger killed at Besuki, Java, 1934. (Public domain)
L. Rossi et al.
401
only known tigers were believed to live exclusively on Mount Betiri, in the eastern
end of Java: the area was declared a nature reserve in 1972, and in 1976 the last
tigers were observed inside it (Seidensticker 1987).
The factors that led to the extinction of the Javan tiger were the same as the Bali
tiger: a growing human population that destroyed forests by replacing them with
crops and rarefying its main prey. In Java, forest cover fell from 23% in 1938 to 8%
in 1975 (Seidensticker 1987).
In addition, several epidemics exterminated populations of maned sambar (Rusa
timorensis), the main prey of the Javan tiger, and the villagers began to attract the
tigers with poisoned morsels to protect the crops (Seidensticker 1987).
After the period of civil unrest in 1965, several armed groups withdrew to the
forests where they killed the last remaining tigers (Seidensticker 1987). In 1971 an
old female was killed in a plantation near Mount Betiri (Seidensticker and
Suyono 1980).
No offsprings have been sighted in the area since then. In 1976, on the basis of
footprints, 3–5 tigers were estimated to exist in the eastern part of the reserve of
Meru Betiri (Seidensticker and Suyono 1980).
Since 1979 no tiger has been sighted in Meru Betiri, but in 1987 a survey
conducted by 30 students of the Agricultural University of Bogor (Java) found
alleged scats and footprints (Istiadi etal. 1991).
In the western part of the island, the last conrmed shooting of a Javan tiger took
place: in 1984 a tiger was killed in the Halimun nature reserve (now a national park
Fig. 12.6 Tiger killed in Malingping, Banten province, western Java region, 1941. (Public domain)
12 Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict Populations ofBig Cats: Their Controversial…
402
of Mount Halimun Salak), and in the same area in 1989, alleged footprints were
found, but a survey conducted in 1990 did not nd any tiger (Istiadi etal. 1991).
Further surveys were carried out between 1992 and 1994in Meru Betiri, using cam-
era traps, but no data were collected (Raastanto 1994). So, the Javan tiger was
declared extinct (Kemf and Jackson 1994).
A further attempt made in 1999 again in Meru Betiri, with the help of the staff of
the Sumatran Tiger project, failed in its intent (Tilson 1999).
12.3.3 Caspian Tiger (Panthera tigris virgata Illiger, 1815)
Probably EX
Once widespread from western Anatolia to the western regions of China and
Mongolia, the Caspian tiger (Fig.12.7) was among the largest: the maximum weight
recorded in nature was 240kg, and a tiger killed in the valley of the river Sumbar
(mountains Kopet-Dag, Turkmenistan) in January 1954 had a skull length of
385mm, larger than the average of Amur tigers (Heptner and Sludskii 1972).
The distribution of the Caspian tiger was associated with rivers, swamps, and
lakes where the riparian forest offered cover to itself and its prey (Heptner and
Sludskii 1972). The rst hard blow to the population of Caspian tigers was inicted
by the Romans, who brought back thousands of individuals from Anatolia and the
Caucasus for games in the arenas of the Empire: stone traps for tigers and leopards
are still visible on the mountains of Taurus in Turkey (Şekercioĝlu etal. 2011).
Fig. 12.7 Caspian tiger, Berlin Zoo, 1899. (Public domain)
L. Rossi et al.
403
This caused the extirpation of the Caspian tiger from a large part of the Anatolian
peninsula, but the most impactful factor was the colonization of Central Asia by
Tsarist Russia at the end of the nineteenth century when the tiger’s hunting grounds
were converted into cotton elds and an intense campaign of persecution took place.
Until the First World War between the Amu-Darja and Pjandi rivers, about 50 tigers
were killed every year (Prokhorov 2002). At the beginning of the twentieth century,
a tiger skin could be sold for between 1500 and 2500 rubles, while, for example, a
snow leopard skin was worth only 300–500 rubles (Prokhorov 2002).
The strong demand for tiger bones and parts for use in traditional Chinese medi-
cine also encouraged hunting (Heptner and Sludskii 1972; Prokhorov 2002). The
Russian army was also employed in the ght against animals considered harmful,
and for each killed tiger, a large bounty was given until 1929 (Jungius etal. 2009).
Large swamps and rivers in Central Asia were infested with malaria and there-
fore not populated, providing a safe area for the tigers, but in the 1930s malaria was
eradicated which lead to the colonization of the territories and consequent destruc-
tion of habitat for agriculture (Jungius etal. 2009).
In the meantime due to intense agricultural development, especially in the
Fergana valley (eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan, and northern Tajikistan),
large portions of the wild territories were converted into cotton elds and farms.
Several roads were built and the consequent water exploitation (with the construc-
tion of numerous canals that drew water from the Syr-Darya and the Amu-Darya,
which started the inesorable decline of the Aral Lake) caused a desertication that
fragmented furthermore the tiger’s habitat into smaller and more distant groups
(Jungius 2010).
Today only 10% of the ancient habitat of the Caspian tiger remains intact. The
excessive hunting of its prey and the consequent attacks on livestock (and some-
times people) forever marked its fate: shepherds, hunters, and soldiers used traps,
poison, and rearms to exterminate tigers (Jungius etal. 2009).
The only known tiger in Iraq was killed near Mosul in 1887 (Kock 1990). In
western China, the tigers disappeared from the Tarim River basin in the 1920s, due
to desertication (Ognev 1935). From the basin of the river Manasi, in the Tien
Shan, they were eliminated during the period immediately after 1960 (Heptner and
Sludskii 1972).
The last tiger in the Caucasus was killed in 1922in Georgia, near Tbilisi, after
attacking cattle (Ognev 1935). Its stuffed body is now on display at the National
Museum of Georgia. In the Amu-Darya delta, tigers were common until the begin-
ning of the twentieth century: in the early 1940s, 12–15 specimens were estimated
to be in the area, and the last of them were killed in 1947. Unconrmed sightings in
the same area were reported in 1953, 1955, and 1963 (Heptner and Sludskii 1972).
In Uzbekistan, a tiger was killed near Nukus in 1938, and another was shot near
the capital Tashkent in 1942. Yet near Nukus another individual was spotted twice
in 1968 (Heptner and Sludskii 1972).
In 1972 a tiger was killed in Uzbekistan: it was probably the last conrmed
specimen in the whole of the former Soviet Union (Heptner and Sludskii 1972).
It is now exhibited at the State Museum of Karakalpakstan.
12 Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict Populations ofBig Cats: Their Controversial…
404
In Tajikistan, the last tiger in the Gissar valley was shot in 1938. Four more were
shot in 1950 on the Tajik bank of the Pjandi River (Heptner and Sludskii 1972).
In 1938 the rst protected area of Tajikistan was founded: Tigrovaya Balka (“the
old river channel of the tiger” in Russian). The name comes from an event that hap-
pened years earlier, when a tiger attacked two Russian army ofcers riding along a
dry river channel.
In the early 1930s, 15–30 individuals were estimated in the reserve, but by the
end of the 1940s, the number collapsed to no more than 5 (Heptner and Sludskii
1972). The last tiger in the reserve and probably the last in Tajikistan was observed
in 1953. Individuals (probably roaming from neighboring Afghanistan) were
reported in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, and 1967 (Heptner and Sludskii
1972). In the middle course of the Syr-Darya river, tigers disappeared in the
mid- 1930s. In the lower part of the river’s valley, the last tiger was killed in 1933
(Jungius 2010). Individuals from Amu-Darya were seen in 1937 and 1945 and for
the last time in the early 1950s (Jungius etal. 2009).
In Iran in the 1930s, the Caspian tiger was still present with hundreds of indi-
viduals in the northern part of the country. In 1953 a tiger was killed in the province
of Golestan, and another specimen was sighted in the same area in 1958 (Firouz
2005). In 1955 a young female was captured and sent to Hamburg Zoo with a herd
of onagers (Humphreys and Kahrom 1995; Firouz 2005). It died in 1960. It was
most likely the last Caspian tiger kept in captivity in Europe. In a protected area of
the Menkalech peninsula, on the Caspian coast, the last tiger was shot in 1957: in
the 1960s, 15–20 individuals were estimated in the area and probably survived until
the 1970s (Humphreys and Kahrom 1995, Firouz 2005).
In Turkey two tigers were shot in 1943 near Selcuk (western Anatolia), far from
their usual range (Johnson 2002). A tiger was killed near Uludere, in the province of
Sirnak, in 1970 (Can 2004). Subsequent investigations discovered that in the Far
East of Turkey (Kurdistan) until the mid-1980s, one to eight tigers were killed each
year and that they most likely survived until the early 1990s (Can 2004). Further
reports continued in the 1990s and 2000s, with villagers and border guards report-
ing that they had heard roars and had observed a large striped cat with night vision
equipment.
The last possible report of the Caspian tiger dates back to 1998 and came from
Tajikistan, in the Babatag Mountains (Jungius etal. 2009). In Afghanistan, Soviet
soldiers and Soviet border guards reported several times that they had seen tigers
during the occupation (from 1979 to 1989) and the same was reported by military
staff of the international coalition in 2007 (Jungius etal. 2009). A Kazakh hunter
claimed to have seen a female with cubs in the Balkhash Lake region in May 2006
(Jungius etal. 2009; Jungius 2010). However, the sighting remains uncertain and
unconrmed. Very few Caspian tigers are known to have been kept in captivity in
recent times. A young domesticated female was given to the Soviet ambassador to
Iran in 1924 (Chikin and Tsaruk n.d.) . It died at the Moscow Zoo in 1942. The last
Caspian tigers in captivity were killed in Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s personal zoo
in 1979, during the Islamic Revolution (Chikin and Tsaruk n.d.).
L. Rossi et al.
405
12.4 Leopard (Panthera pardus)
12.4.1 Anatolian Leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana
Valenciennes, 1856) EX?
The Anatolian leopard is native to western Turkey (Valenciennes 1856), and under
current taxonomy, it is considered as a Persian leopard subspecies (P. p. saxicolor)
(Stein etal. 2016).
Anatolian leopards once populated the Aegean regions, the Mediterranean coasts,
and the mountain forests of central and western Anatolia. Leopards and other preda-
tors were imported in large numbers from Anatolia to Rome and to the various
provinces of the Roman Empire for games in the arenas (Kullman 1967). In any
case, it did not suffer particularly from human pressure until May 5, 1937, when the
rst hunting regulations of the newborn Republic of Turkey were passed: leopards,
tigers, wolves, and many other animals were declared pests and therefore huntable
at any time of the year (Ertüzün and Ergir 2017).
At the same time, intensive rural development began in Asia Minor. Large areas of
forest were converted into olive groves and the main prey of the leopard began to be
hunted relentlessly (Borner 1977). Deprived of their natural refuge and food source,
leopards began to attack domestic livestock, thus completing the vicious circle that
ended with felids being shot dead with rearms or poisoned (Borner 1977). In 1942 a
cub was found by a shepherd in Urla, near Izmir. The individual, a female dubbed
Zoza, was sold to a hunter who let it grow for 9months and who then donated it to the
zoo in Izmir (M. Ertüzün, pers. comm.) (see Fig.12.8).
Fig. 12.8 Zoza, Izmir zoo, 1946 (Cafer Tayyar Türkmen)
12 Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict Populations ofBig Cats: Their Controversial…
406
In the 1970s, the Turkish Department for National Fund nanced a 2-month
survey to investigate the leopard status in western Turkey and collected several
anecdotes.
In 1972 two specimens were spotted: one near the village of Catacik (Samandağ
province) and the other on Mount Agri. On January 17, 1974, in the village of
Bagozu (province of Beypazari, not far from Ankara), an Anatolian leopard attacked
a woman who was going to the elds, inicting several wounds. On the same day,
the hunters of the village tracked down and killed the leopard. Also in 1974 a leop-
ard was poisoned between Ikistas and Ketendere and in Samsun-Dag National Park
(where a leopard had been spotted in 1972). In January and February 1975, a game-
keeper found alleged footprints, and in the same period, soldiers and road workers
reported that they heard roars of leopards and that a horse was been killed in the
park, presumably by a leopard. In the Spring of 1975, an individual attacked and
killed a cow near the village of Kacanci: the inhabitants shot the leopard, but it man-
aged to escape. In the same year a leopard was killed near Seferler. In the Spring of
1976, several goats were presumably killed by a leopard near the village of Viran:
the area was sieved but no sign of the presence of the feline emerged. In the same
period, an individual was shot near Asar, and in September of the same year, a mule
was most likely killed by a leopard, according to the description of the villagers
(Borner 1977; Ertüzün and Ergir 2017).
Surveys carried out recently showed that small populations of leopards still sur-
vive: in 1992 two chamois hunters saw a leopard between Yusufeli and Artvin, and
in 2007, not far from this area, a leopard was sighted from a Discovery Channel
operator (Spassov etal. 2016).
Photographs of a dead male specimen were taken in February 2008in Cumhuriyet
village, Bitlis province (Toyran 2018).
In 2010 a leopard was killed and skinned in the Sirnak Province (Avgan 2013a),
and in 2013 another individual was killed in Diyarbakir Province (Avgan 2013b).
In September 2013, Sagdan Baskaya of Forestry Faculty of the Karadeniz
Technical University, Trabzon, declared that he had obtained several camera trap
pictures of leopards in the province of Trebisonda (northeast of Turkey), but the
pictures clearly show feral domestic cats and not big cats (Spassov etal. 2016).
Alleged leopard videos were captured by thermal cameras found in a military base
in Buzulup and gendarmerie station of Karınca village (Toyran 2018).
12.4.2 Barbary Leopard (Panthera pardus panthera,
Schreber 1777) CR-EX?
Very little is known about the history and the decline of these leopards. Until 1900
they were still quite common and widespread in the forests of cedar, juniper, and
Aleppo pine of the Middle and High Atlas (Aulagnier etal. 2015), but already in the
rst decades of the last century, they disappeared from Algeria, and its strongholds
remained in the mountain valleys, gorges, and dense Moroccan forests of the roughest
L. Rossi et al.
407
points of the Atlas, and in the 1950s the population was estimated at 50 individuals
(Panouse 1957).
Like other big cats, the Barbary leopard was intensely hunted as a trophy and for
livestock losses (see Fig.12.9). Morocco banned leopard hunting in 1952, but after
a population increase (about 100 individuals), from the 1970s onwards, the popula-
tion has drastically decreased: about ten individuals estimated in the 1980s
(Aulagnier and Thévenot 1986) and 2–5 individuals in 1996 (Cuzin 1996).
Considered extinct due to the lack of credible data from 1994 onwards (see
Cuzin 2003), almost 20years later, there remains the possibility that a small popu-
lation still persists (Purroy Iraizoz 2010).
Fig. 12.9 A leopard hunting in Morocco, no data available
12 Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict Populations ofBig Cats: Their Controversial…
408
12.4.3 Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi, Pocock,
1932) EX?
Once considered an endemic subspecies of Unguja, the largest island in the Zanzibar
archipelago, the Zanzibar leopard (Fig.12.10) was not scientically studied until
the 1920s (Walsh and Goldman 2017), when a specimen was shot and sent to the
British Museum (Pocock 1932). Leopards on this island population were smaller in
size and had a different coat than all other known leopards. In particular, the rosettes
appeared “disintegrated” in small points very close together (Pocock 1932).
Currently there are only six specimens stored in museums, all dating back to the
British colonial period (Walsh and Goldman 2008), and its taxonomic status remains
uncertain, given its exclusion from a recent review of the species on genetic basis
(Miththapala etal. 1996; Uphyrkina etal. 2001).
Zanzibar leopard has never been studied in the wild, and very little is known
from the literature of the time (e.g., Manseld-Aders 1920). Although it was the
largest carnivore on the island, nothing is known about its diet, but it is likely that
Aders’s duikers (Cephalophus adersi), blue duikers (Philantomba monticola), and
sunis (Neotragus moschatus) were among its prey.
Its decline began in the rst half of the nineteenth century with the large-scale
transformation of the island’s landscapes (Walsh and Goldman 2007).
The main cause of its extermination was due to the complex belief system
developed by the natives to explain the increasing presence of leopards near
inhabited areas. In fact, there was a widespread belief that the specimens sighted
Fig. 12.10 Stuffed Zanzibar leopard specimen in Zanzibar Natural History Museum. (Peter Maas)
L. Rossi et al.
409
far from the forests were bred by witches to cause harm to people (Walsh and
Goldman 2017).
The locals urged the British protectorate to control the leopard population
because of attacks on people and livestock, but despite the British government’s
efforts to prevent leopard hunting, rural communities continued to persecute them.
The peak came after the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964, when the new government
supported a national campaign of shootings (Walsh and Goldman 2017).
Interest in the fate of the leopard population arose only in the 1990s (e.g., Archer
et al. 1991; Archer 1994). The Zanzibar leopard is generally considered extinct
(e.g., Smithers 1971; Hes 1991; Miththapala etal. 1996; Nowell and Jackson 1996).
In the 1980s two sightings were reported (Swai 1983), while the last documented
shooting with material evidence seems to date back to 1986 (Walsh and Goldman
2008) and is proved by two fragments of skin (now lost) in the possession of the
former Secretary of the Zanzibar National Hunters.
In 1997 and 2001, some rumors circulated about the discovery of alleged excre-
ments, but in both cases the samples were lost before being properly analyzed
(Walsh and Goldman 2008). In 2018 a crew of Animal Planet, during the recordings
of a television program, obtained a camera trap video of an alleged Zanzibar leopard
(Li 2018). Some authorities responsible for the Zanzibar leopard do not consider
this lm to be reliable evidence (H. Goldman pers. comm.; Goldman and Walsh
2018) and its diffusion on the internet has been restricted to the American television
newsmagazine Inside Edition and some blogs devoted to paranormal and other
alleged mysteries. On the other hand, the author has defended the authenticity of the
lm (F. Galante, pers. comm.). The video undoubtedly shows a leopard, but the
images do not allow to verify precisely the pattern of the rosettes or to determine the
shooting’s locality. It should also be noted that a feral African leopard released in
Zanzibar is an option which can be eliminated, but only DNA evidence (such as
from scats) would offer an opportunity to differentiate this animal from other leop-
ards. Although remaining skeptical, we hope that, given the potential importance for
conservation, further investigation will deepen the matter.
12.5 Discussion
This review of case studies stressed how the direct impact ofhuman can be lethal to
the conservation of animal populations. Predators at the top of the trophic chain
are the rst to suffer the consequences of direct persecution and habitat alteration
(e.g., Henke and Bryant 1999; Rodríguez-Lozano etal. 2015), and it is for this rea-
son that we can consider them among the most “problematic” animal species, which
need special attention and targeted conservationist approaches (Sergio etal. 2005).
In the case of lions, Black etal. (2013) suggest that while prey species will decline,
possibly to micro population size, predators can survive by switching to livestock,
causing new problematics. This trend seems related also to the cases on tigers and
leopards reviewed in our work. One of the key risks relating to predators on the
12 Extinct or Perhaps Surviving Relict Populations ofBig Cats: Their Controversial…
410
verge of extinction is the disappearance of species, subspecies, or populations
before it is possible to investigate their taxonomic status and ecology (e.g., Spassov
etal. 2016; Angelici etal. 2019).
From this point of view, an interesting case is represented by the population of
leopards of the small island of Kangean (Indonesia). First reported by Hartert
(1902), the only material evidence is represented by a part of the tail secured by
G.C.Shortridge in 1908 (Pocock 1930) and by a skin and skull collected in January
1984 (van Helvoort et al. 1985). Currently nothing is known about the current
numerical size of the population, its origin, and systematic identity although it
would seem consistent with the Java leopard Panthera pardus melas G. Cuvier,
1809. Some authors have suggested that the Kangean leopard was smaller than the
continental form (Iongh etal. 1982; Delsman 1951), but there are no studies carried
out on the few samples available. Other authors hypothesize an introduction in the
island of a hunting prey (van Helvoort etal. 1985; Long 2003).
A characteristic of many big cats, especially when populations are very small
in number, is their high elusiveness, often helped by the habitats in which they live
(see Burton etal. 2011). This can lead to prematurely declare a species as extinct,
thus potentially creating serious conservation damage (see Collar 1998). The case
studies of the Barbary lion, Caspian tiger, and Barbary leopard, which showed their
existence for decades beyond their supposed extinction into the modern era of pro-
active conservation, point out how they could have been recovered before their
extinction. A current example is provided by the western lion, considered extinct in
Ghana (Henschel etal. 2014), but recent reports from the Mole National Park seem
to indicate the survival of a very small population that could prove strategic for
conservation of the species in Ghana and neighboring countries (see Angelici etal.
2015; Angelici and Rossi 2017).
Reports of big cats years after their declared extinction are not uncommon (see
Black et al. 2013), and the most recent concerns the Taiwanese clouded leopard
Neofelis nebulosa brachyura. The last reliable data date back to 1986 (Rabinowitz
1988) and 1989 (Anonymous 1996). Then, apart from a dubious sighting in 1990
(Lue etal. 1992), subsequent surveys did not obtain results (Chiang 2007, Chiang
etal. 2015). In 2013 the subspecies was ofcially declared extinct (Grassman etal.
2016), but in early 2019, independent sightings from Taitung County (Southeast of
the island) were recorded (Hoffner 2019).
The history of the extinction and decline of these animals, in all cases, were caused
by interactions with human, demonstrating the extreme fragility of ecosystems and
the extreme difculty in protecting endangered species. The fact that in many cases
even legal protection has not been sufcient to help a species (see Zanzibar leopard)
indicates that conservation strategies cannot only be carried on by governments and
researchers and that local populations must be involved to play a role (e.g., Danielsen
etal. 2007; Ocholla etal. 2016). It should be pointed out that in some cases even the
application of very strict laws can be harmful. In North Africa, for example, following
the killing of a leopard in the Bou Tferda region in 1983 by the locals, severe sanctions
were issued. The news spread quickly in the region and locals stopped giving the
researchers information about the leopard (Cuzin 2003).
L. Rossi et al.
411
12.6 Conclusion
We can summarize the main ndings of our work in four principal points that can
suggest actions to improve the conservation of micro populations of big cats:
Locals are generally the last to report and to interact with relict predator popula-
tions, often due to attack on livestock. Measures to encourage locals to live with
predators through virtuous practices aimed at making people understand the
importance of these top predators for the entire ecosystem are thus essential. In
2010in Kenya, through a program called “Warrior Watch”, the Samburu war-
riors (once lion hunters) are working within their local communities to protect
livestock and promote coexistence between people and lions (Gurd 2012).
As in the case of Barbary lion in Morocco, top predators can survive in captivity
after their eradication or extinction in nature. Ex situ conservation has proved
useful for several big cats, such as the Chinese tiger (actually living only in cap-
tivity) and the Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), which has an impor-
tant population living in zoos, and this should be incentivized (e.g., Luo
etal. 2008).
Big cats can “reappear” unexpectedly even many years after their ofcial disap-
pearance. Research must be encouraged and the use of camera traps can be very
effective, as in the case of the recent rediscovery of the lion in Gabon, formerly
considered locally extinct since 2006 (Barnett etal. 2018).
Habitat loss is the main cause of extinction processes. Protected areas must be
established where there are none yet. Considering the large home range big cats
need (Cushman etal. 2018; Paviolo etal. 2018), contiguous and transnational
areas are important for the establishment of ecological corridors.
These hints can lead to new and feasible conservation strategies, especially when
a population still exists but is so small as to be on the verge of total extinction
(e.g., Tilson etal. 2004; Ahmad Zar etal. 2011).
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Winner in the Scholarly Reference section of the 2004 Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing. Introduced Mammals of the World provides a concise and extensive source of information on the range of introductions of mammals conducted by humans, and an indication as to which have resulted in adverse outcomes. It provides a very valuable tool by which scientists can assess future potential introductions (or re-introductions) to avoid costly mistakes. It also provides tangible proof of the need for political decision makers to consider good advice and make wise and cautious decisions. Introduced Mammals of the World also provides a comprehensive reference to students of ecological systems management and biological conservation. This book is a companion volume to Introduced Birds of the World, by the same author, published in 1981, and which remains the premier text of its kind in the world more than twenty years after it was published. Introduced Mammals of the World provides the most comprehensive account of the movement of mammals around the world providing details on the date(s) of introduction, the person/agency responsible, the source populations, the location(s) of release, the fate of the introductions, and the impact if known, for over 300 species of mammal.
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