Taxon name
Panthera pardus
Linnaeus, 1758
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Panthera pardus
Linnaeus, 1758
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Mammals
Species authority
Linnaeus, 1758
Taxonomic notes and synonyms listed
According to genetic analysis, nine subspecies are recognized, with all continental African Leopards attributable to the nominate form (Miththapala et al. 1996, Uphyrkina et al. 2001).
Felis pardus Linnaeus, 1758
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
Bangladesh
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Assessed as
Critically Endangered
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
The species was known to occur all over the country and in all habitats as recently as 1940, except possibly for a major portion of the Sundarbans and coastal forests (Khan 1986). It no longer occurs west of longitude 90°E, nor in the Sal forest ( Shorea robusta) belt of northcentral Bangladesh where it was last sighted in Madhupur National Park in 1962 (Khan 1985). Now totally absent from the Sundarbans and from Sal forest, the species is occasionally found in the tea gardens and evergreen forests of Sylhet, notably Rajkandi and Patharia (Gittins and Akonda 1982), Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts and Cox's Bazar forest divisions (Khan 1984, 1985, 1986). The Leopard has become rare and its population may no longer be viable in Bangladesh (Khan 1986). Panthera pardus is evaluated as Critically Endangered because from 1940, Extent of Occurrence and Area of Occupancy of this species have been reduced by more than 90% of areas.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
Delip K. Das
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
IUCN (2012) IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1. Second edition. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iv + 32pp; IUCN (2012) Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
URL (link) of redlist assessment or publication
http://iucnredlistbd.org/
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The Leopard occurs across most of sub-Saharan Africa, as remnant populations in North Africa, and then in the Arabian peninsula and Sinai/Judean Desert (Egypt/Israel/Jordan), south western and eastern Turkey, and through southwest Asia and the Caucasus into the Himalayan foothills, India, China and the Russian Far East, as well as on the islands of Java and Sri Lanka (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Sunquist and Sunquist 2002). According to Khan ( 2008), Occurs in a very few areas in southeast (Chittagong Hill tracts) and northeast (RemaKalenga WS) where there are good vegetation cover and prey population. Vagrant individuals visit Gozni forest in north.
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes, in the publication/on website
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
It is both nocturnal and diurnal, although most hunting takes place at night where there are other larger predators but would do so at day where such predators are absent (M.A.R. Khan pers comm.) Leopard is an expert climber and often hides its kill in treetops. It is a solitary hunter. Its regular food includes ungulates, hares, galliform birds, cattle, dogs and some reptiles. It is known to breed all year round (Husain 1974, Khan 1987, 2015, Khan 2008).The Leopard has the widest habitat tolerance of any Old World felid, ranging from rainforest to desert. In Bangladesh it inhabits in hill forests and adjoining tea gardens.
History
Critically Endangered in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh 2000).
Publication
IUCN Bangladesh. 2015. Red List of Bangladesh Volume 2: Mammals. IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bangladesh Country Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh, pp. xvi+232
