Indochinese Leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri)

[Luipaard]

"Very little is known about the leopard in Malaysian tropical rain forests, particularly in human‐dominated environments where only patches of its habitats have remained (Azlan & Sharma, 2006; Kawanishi, 2002; Krau Wildlife Reserve Management plan, 2001). Present study has been conducted in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, a fragmented forest within the fastest growing urban agglomeration in Peninsular Malaysia.

Wild boar was recognized as the main prey species of leopards in the study area followed by monkeys and mouse deers. The area was completely occupied by these species and there was no evidence of lack of prey sufficiency in this logged over and isolated secondary tropical rain forest. Results of these studies support the fact that even though ungulates are expected to be rare in tropical rain forests, this situation may change in fragmented and disturbed habitats. Exceptionally high density of prey species in fragmented forests, particularly wild boar, has been reported previously from a lowland dipterocarp rain forest (Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan) in Peninsular Malaysia (Ickes, 2001).

Our Study revealed a density estimate as high as 28.35 leopards/100 km². This is one of the highest leopard densities ever recorded, comparable with 23.6 leopards/100 km2 in Rhodes Matopos National Park (Zimbabwe), 23.8 leopards/100 km2 in Londolozi Game Reserve (South Africa) and 41.7 leopards/100 km2 in Sanjay Gandhi National Park (India)"

Source: https://www.leopardspecialists.com/index.php/online-directory/asian-leopard-online-directory/panthera-pardus-delacouri Reply