China Alone, Mens from Humid Forests
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E. Jutzeler, Z. Wu, W. Liu and U. Breitenmoser EVA JUTZELER¹, WU ZHIGANG², LIU WEISHI³ and URS BREITENMOSER1 et al. 2008). Home range sizes are not known from Asia. In Africa, home ranges of females Leopard range from 10–50 km² with a maximum of 500 km² (South Africa), those of males vary Panthera pardus from 20 to several hundred km², depending on the productivity of the habitat, prey availabi- The leopard Panthera pardus is the most spots (Dobroruka 1964). Throughout the range, lity and competitors (Marker & Dickman widely distributed big cat species in the adult males are invariably larger than females 2005). Reproduction is seasonal throughout world, living in all tropical and temperate (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002). The pelt colour the range except the tropics, but may vary zones of Africa and Asia with the exception of is golden, ochre, orange-tawny to pale-red greatly from place to place (from winter to open deserts. The species is considered Near or greyish-yellow, with distinct black or dark the dry season in July), depending on when Threatened in the IUCN Red List, but certain brown spots forming rosettes on neck, shoul- prey is most available to raise kittens. Lit- local populations have gone extinct, and two ders, flanks, back, hips, and upper limbs. The ters usually consist of 2 (1–3, exceptionally subspecies, the Arabian leopard P. p. nimr tail is an amalgam of rosettes, spots, and rings, up to 6) cubs. Young leopards stay with their and the Amur leopard P. p. orientalis (Fig. 1) and the tip is black above and white below. mothers until she gives birth to the next litter. are Critically Endangered. The classification Leopards in arid areas are paler than speci- Sexual maturity in the wild is at age three, in of subspecies is debated. For China alone, mens from humid forests. Melanistic leopards captivity sometimes a year earlier (Sunquist 17 subspecies have been described (Smith & are found in southern Asia including China (Po- & Sunquist 2002). In captivity, leopards can Xie 2008), but new research has shown that cock 1930, Sunquist & Sunquist 2002). North- live up to 20 years. such splitting is not justified. Uphyrkina et al. ern Chinese leopards have a brighter pelage, (2001) recognised for China P. p. orientalis in almost tawny buff (Dobroruka 1963). Prey the northeast, P. p. japonensis in central-east, Leopards have a wide range of prey spe- P. p. delacouri in the south, and P.p. fusca in Habitat cies, but they are typical ambush and stalk the west (Fig. 2), whereas Smith & Xie (2008) The leopard is a highly adaptable species, hunters of smaller ungulate species. They prey considered P. p. delacouri synonymous with P. able to exist in a number of very different on musk deer, takin, goral, sambar deer, wild p. fusca. In China, the leopard is a Class I pro- habitats. Basically, leopards can exist in any goat, chital and hog deer, occasionally on por- tected species. In 2001, the State Council ap- landscape that offers sufficient prey of ade- cupine, hog badgers, wild pig, serow, hares, 30 proved the Overall Plan of National Wildlife quate size and good cover to stalk it (see rodents, primates, birds, but also on all kinds Conservation and Nature Protected Area Con- frontispiece). They live mainly in forest habi- of livestock, including dogs in the vicinity of struction Engineering, presented by the State tats, but also in more arid landscapes such settlements (Reid & Wang 1989, Johnson et Forestry Administration (SFA). According to as savannahs, grasslands, scrubland, rocky al. 1993, Nowell & Jackson 1996). Specifically this plan, tigers and leopards are among 13 semi-deserts, and in rugged mountains up for China, leopards have been reported to feed especially important species for conservation to 5,000 m. Leopards sometimes occur in hu- on tufted deer and bamboo rats (Johnson et al. and restoration. man-made habitats such as plantations and 1993). In Heilongjiang and Jilin, they preyed on Leopards show a considerable size variation, even in human settlements like the outskirts roe deer, wild boar, red deer, sika deer, Man- weighing from 30 to 90 kg. Leopards in open of large cities (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002). churian hare, badger, and black bear (Yang et country tend to be larger than forest-living indi- al. 1998, Sun et al. 1999). viduals (however, the smallest subspecies is P. Ecology and behaviour In Asia, leopards may compete for food with p. nimr from the Arabian Peninsula); and those Leopards live solitarily; individuals of the same other large carnivores such as hyaenas or in the north and in the mountains are bigger sex do not share home ranges. Male ranges dholes, and especially tigers (Sunquist & than those in the south or lowlands. Leopards overlap with one to several female ranges Sunquist 2002). Their distribution range also in the Himalayas are larger and have bigger (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002, Simcharoen marginally overlaps with snow leopards (Nowell & Jackson 1996). Leopards tend to be less active, more nocturnal and more ar- boreal in tiger habitats and in proximity to hu- man settlements (Z. Wu, unpublished data). Status and distribution There are no reliable estimates of global population size, and the most commonly cited estimate of over 700,000 leopards in Africa (Martin & de Meulenaer 1988) is flawed (see Fact Sheet). In Asia, the leopard was origi- nally widely distributed south of about 45°N. Across southwest and central Asia, leopard populations are small, separated and isolated; distribution and present status is however Fig. 1. Amur leopard from the Primorsky Krai, Russia (Photo D. Miquelle). poorly known in most central Asiatic countries. CATnews Special Issue 5 Autumn 2010 Leopard Leopards are believed to be still relatively abundant in the forests of the Indian sub-con- Panthera pardus tinent, through Southeast Asia and into China, Fact Sheet although they are becoming increasingly rare outside protected areas (Nowell & Jackson Names: IUCN Red List: 1996, IUCN 2010). In China, they are still pre- 豹 [bao], 金钱豹 [jin qian Near Threatened (2008) sent throughout the east, centre and south bao], 文豹 [wen bao] Amur leopard: Critically (Fig. 2). In the 1950s, national campaigns to leopard Endangered C2a(ii);D (2008) eradicate pest animals – including tigers and CITES: leopards – had a considerable impact on the Head and body length: Appendix I populations, mainly in the south. Based on 100-191 cm purchased skins, 2,000–3,000 leopards were Tail length: China Red List: killed each year during the mid 1950s (Shoe- 70-100 cm CR A1acd (Amur leopard) maker 1997). Weight: China Key List: The Critically Endangered Amur leopard has 30-90 kg Class I been reduced to a very small population in Russia, China, and possibly North Korea. The Global Population: 2007 census revealed 25–34 animals remain- >700,000 (IUCN 2010) ing in the wild (ScienceDaily, 18 April 2007). Chinese Population: Photo A. Sliwa Although P. p. orientalis is extremely rare <4,000 (SFA 2009) compared to the other subspecies, we know much more about leopards in northeastern Distribution in China: China than about those in the rest of the coun- widely distributed in E, C try, because the Amur leopard has received and S China much attention and has also profited from field research and conservation activities fo- cussing on Siberian tigers (Han 2001). In the 1950s, the leopard was widely distributed over 31 the Changbaishan, Greater Xing’an, Lesser Xing’an and Wandashan Mountains. The size in Jilin Yanbian prefecture reported 52 leop- Antu County of Yanbian Prefecture, only one of the leopard population at that time was not ard furs purchased in two years, indicating leopard was identified (Yang et al. 1999). known, but their numbers were believed to still rich wildlife resources. Throughout the In 2006, 10 years after the hunting ban of be much higher than the 200 Siberian tigers 1970s to 1980s, information on leopards was 1996, a territorial wildlife survey for Jilin estimated in the 1950s. By the 1970s, leop- extremely scarce. Economic wildlife zoogra- did not reveal any additional area of leopard ard numbers were diminished in the Greater phy of southwest Changbaishan revealed that presence besides the already known Xing’an Mountains and almost extinct in the leopards were still present in Shiyidaogou, leopard in southwestern Changbaishan. But Lesser Xing’an Mountains (Ma 1986). In the Shisandaogou, Malugou, and Baoquanshan the leopard occurrence in Jilin is still esti- 1980s, they had disappeared from the Lesser of Changbai County, in Manjiang of Fusong mated to be 4–7 individuals (Wu et al. 2006). Xing’an Mountains and the Longgang segment County and in Dongbeicha of Hunjiang City of the Changbaishan Mountains, and by the (Anonymous 1996b). In 1975 and 1982, reports Heilongjiang Province end of the 1990s, leopards were found only of snared leopards came from Hunchun in Yan- Information about leopards in Heilongjiang in the Laoyeling, Dalongling, and Ha’erbaling bian Prefecture. Surveys in the Changbaishan Province is scarce. According to limited his- part of Zhangguancailing of the Changbaishan Mountains estimated the population to be 45 torical materials, there were leopards living in Mountains, with no more than 7– 12 individu- leopards in 1976/77, and 30 in 1982/83 (Yang the Greater and Lesser Xing’an Mountains in als estimated (Z. Wu, unpublished data). et al. 2000). The social economic survey in the the 1930s, but they were hardly ever seen in early 1990s revealed 22 reports of leopards, in- the 1960s. According to the Heilongjiang pro- Jilin Province terpreted in an expert analysis as the presence vincial wildlife resource survey, leopards had According to records in the 1950s, the leopard of 18 leopards.