Zanzibar leopard
| Zanzibar leopard | |
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| Mounted specimen in the Zanzibar Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Genus: | Panthera |
| Species: | P. pardus |
| Subspecies: | P. p. adersi |
| Trinomial name | |
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Panthera pardus adersi (Pocock, 1932) |
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The Zanzibar leopard (Panthera pardus adersi) was described as a leopard subspecies by Pocock in 1932. Following genetic analysis in the 1990s, this population is grouped with the African leopard (P. p. pardus).
This population used to inhabit the Unguja Island in the Zanzibar archipelago, part of Tanzania, but is possibly extinct. 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 program in the mid-1990s were shelved when wildlife researchers concluded that there was little prospect for the population's long-term survival.
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 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 that has “changed its spots”, in that its more numerous rosettes have partially disintegrated into spots.
The biology and behavior of the Zanzibar leopard are poorly understood. Only six 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. 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. Most zoologists presume the Zanzibar leopard to be extinct or very nearly so. 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 .
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Wikipedia