The African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been fragmented in the course of habitat conversion. Leopards have been recorded in North Africa as well.
Taxonomic history[]
Felis pardus was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae in 1758. His description was based on descriptions by earlier naturalists such as Conrad Gessner. He assumed that the leopard occurred in India. In the 18th and 19th centuries, several naturalists described various leopard skins and skulls from Africa, including:
- Felis pardus panthera proposed by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1778 based on descriptions by earlier naturalists
- Felis leopardus var. melanotica by Albert Günther in 1885 from the Cape of Good Hope, Southern Africa
- Felis leopardus suahelicus by Oscar Neumann in 1900 from the Tanganyika territory
- Felis leopardus nanopardus by Oldfield Thomas in 1904 from Italian Somaliland
- Felis pardus ruwenzorii by Lorenzo Camerano in 1906 from the Ruwenzori and Virunga Mountains
- Felis pardus chui by Edmund Heller in 1913 from Uganda
- Felis pardus iturensis by Joel Asaph Allen in 1924 from the Belgian Congo
- Felis pardus reichenowi by Ángel Cabrera in 1927 from Cameroon
- Panthera pardus adusta by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1927 from the Ethiopian Highlands
- Panthera pardus adersi by Pocock in 1932 from Unguja Island, Zanzibar
- Panthera pardus brockmani by Pocock in 1932 from Somaliland
Results of genetic analyses indicate that all African leopard populations are generally closely related and represent only one subspecies, namely P. p. pardus. However, results of an analysis of molecular variance and pairwise fixation index of African leopard museum specimens shows differences in the ND-5 locus spanning five major haplogroups, namely in Central–Southern Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, coastal West–Central Africa, and Central–East Africa. In some cases, fixation indices showed higher diversity than for Arabian and Persian leopards in Asia.
Distribution and population status[]
The African leopards inhabited a wide range of habitats within Africa, from mountainous forests to grasslands and savannahs, excluding only extremely sandy desert. It is most at risk in areas of semi-desert, where scarce resources often result in conflict with nomadic farmers and their livestock.
It used to occur in most of sub-Saharan Africa, occupying both rainforest and arid desert habitats. It lived in all habitats with annual rainfall above 50 mm (2.0 in), and can penetrate areas with less than this amount of rainfall along river courses. It ranges up to 5,700 m (18,700 ft), has been sighted on high slopes of the Ruwenzori and Virunga volcanoes, and observed when drinking thermal water 37 °C (99 °F) in the Virunga National Park.
It appears to be successful at adapting to altered natural habitat and settled environments in the absence of intense persecution. It has often been recorded close to major cities. But already in the 1980s, it has become rare throughout much of West Africa. Now, it remains patchily distributed within historical limits. During surveys in 2013, it was recorded in Gbarpolu County and Bong County in Upper Guinean forests of Liberia.
Leopards are rare in northern Africa. A relict population persists in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, in forest and mountain steppe in elevations of 300 to 2,500 m (980 to 8,200 ft), where the climate is temperate to cold.
In 2014, a leopard was killed in the Elba Protected Area in southeastern Egypt. This was the first sighting of a leopard in the country since the 1950s.
In 2016, a leopard was recorded for the first time in a semi-arid area of Yechilay in northern Ethiopia.
Conservation status[]
The leopard is listed in CITES Appendix I. Hunting is banned in Zambia and Botswana, and was suspended in South Africa for 2016.
Leopard populations are present in several protected areas, including:
- Taï National Park
- Etosha National Park
- Virunga National Park
- Kruger National Park
Gallery[]
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Male African Leopard.