There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
--- Peter Broekhuijsen ---

  • 2 Vote(s) - 4 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor)

Oman Lycaon Offline
أسد الأطلس
*****
Moderators

A solid male saxicolor


*This image is copyright of its original author
1 user Likes Lycaon's post
Reply

Oman Lycaon Offline
أسد الأطلس
*****
Moderators

Spot the leopard


*This image is copyright of its original author
1 user Likes Lycaon's post
Reply

Oman Lycaon Offline
أسد الأطلس
*****
Moderators

Farshad Eskandari


*This image is copyright of its original author
1 user Likes Lycaon's post
Reply

Sanju Offline
Senior member
*****

Success in artificial insemination in Persian leopards may raise hopes for rare big cats

*This image is copyright of its original author

TEHRAN, Feb. 09 (MNA) – Mohammad Farhadinia, a post-doctoral research fellow at University of Oxford, said the new move to use artificial insemination to breed Persian leopards could raise hopes for conservation of big cats.

Farhadinia said the leopard is widely popular species in the Iranian community, even losing an individual could cause a backlash in the media.
"As long as proper evidence of CVD prevalence in leopards in not available, calling it as a serious threat to Persian leopard might trigger the community’s emotions to react and to create expectation from conservation agencies to deal with the problem, when there is no evidence that the problem exists," he added.
Here is the full text of his interview with Mehr News correspondent:

Is artificial insemination the right method for reproduction of Persian leopard? Do you think this will be successful?

Artificial insemination is an advanced technique to increase the chance of breeding for animals. It is usually applied to species facing danger of extinction in the wild while their capacity to breed naturally in captivity is limited.  
There is an increasing interest in using captive Persian leopards for the recovery of leopard populations in West Asia and the Caucasus. Surely, the best candidates for such a recovery program can be those pure Persian leopards in Iran. Establishing a proper breeding program for Persian leopards in Iran can support recovery programs in other countries or even inside Iran.
Importantly, dozens of leopards, confiscated from poachers or rescued from traps over the past half century have never bred in captivity in Iran. In fact, many leopards spent years in captivity without any proper conservation role in terms of contributing their genes to the Persian leopard population. Accordingly, during Iran-Russia exchange program in 2009, it was widely attempted to capture leopard from the wild. 
Establishing a proper breeding program for Persian leopards in Iran can support recovery programs in other countries or even inside Iran. 
Tehran Zoo has attempted natural mating in the past, sadly failed. I appreciate their efforts to keep up now with artificial insemination, fingers crossed for their success. If successful, the Iran Department of Environment can also establish a sperm bank for Persian leopards, because few leopards are every year rescued from traps, whose sperm can be sampled and properly stored for future applications.

Do you think any success in reproduction of Persian leopard by artificial insemination will raise hopes regarding the reproduction in cheetahs? Captive breeding will not help Persian leopard cubs to come back to the nature; what do you think is the advantage of artificial insemination and reproducing cubs by this method, while they are not going to return nature?

Although artificial insemination can benefit leopard conservation in Iran, as well as other countries in the Caucasus, but learning the technique is equally important. For example, Iran Department of Environment is now considering the technique for the much rarer Asiatic cheetah. The Iran Department of Environment has announced that the cheetah population has decreased despite massive conservation investment, with a very tiny population now alive. Although it is globally announced that some 50 cheetahs are left in Iran, but many local conservationists cast a doubt over this number and consider it ambitiously overestimation. Therefore, captive breeding has been agreed by Iranian conservation agencies to be placed on the table, besides the on-going conservation actions in the wild. 

*This image is copyright of its original author
When the population of a species decreases drastically, there is a danger of inbreeding and consequently genetic drift which could hamper the long-term survival.
Natural mating has been already tried for Asiatic cheetahs kept in captivity, which sadly failed. Now, artificial insemination is considered to be the major option for conceiving an adult female Asiatic cheetah, named Delbar. Nonetheless, the chance of pregnancy and survival of the cubs is extremely low. Any achievement of using artificial insemination to breed Persian leopards would raise hopes for Asiatic cheetahs.

What measures have been taken to deal with canine distemper, which is pervasive among Persian leopards living in habitats, where the dogs are suffering from the disease?

In contrary to general rumours about the prevalence of Canine Distemper Virus among Persian leopards in Iran, there is no evidence of CDV occurrence in any leopard, nor in Iran neither in west Asia. We have found high prevalence of the CDV among local dog populations around some key leopard areas, but blood tests from leopards captured near these injected dog populations did not show any evidence of CDV in leopards. Surprisingly, these dogs are widely killed by leopards, while no sign of the CDV was seen in leopards. 

*This image is copyright of its original author
Any achievement of using artificial insemination to breed Persian leopards would raise hopes for Asiatic cheetahs. 
Leopard is widely popular species in the Iranian community, even losing an individual could cause a backlash in the media. Therefore, as long as proper evidence of CVD prevalence in leopards in not available, calling it as a serious threat to Persian leopard might trigger the community’s emotions to react and to create expectation from conservation agencies to deal with the problem, when there is no evidence that the problem exists.

What measures has the government taken to deal with cases related to attack of the Persian leopard on domestic livestock and people, regarding the insurance, for instance?

Raiding domestic animals, including dog, sheep, cattle, horse and even camels, are a major problem, both for people living alongside leopard areas, as well as conservation agencies in charge of protecting the leopards. As a result, affected people occasionally commit retaliatory killing of leopards, despite extremely high monetary fine of over 6000 $. 
Iran government established an innovative insurance scheme for leopards a few years ago, aiming at compensating all verified cases of people losses to leopards.
Thus, Iran Department of Environment established an innovative insurance scheme for leopards a few years ago, aiming at compensating all verified cases of people losses to leopards. Hundreds of animals were compensated. I am not aware if the scheme is continued, as it was originally planned for five years. Nonetheless, with the rise in financial pressure to local people and the concerns over the re-imposed US sanctions against Iran, not only people but also endangered animals like Persian leopards would be certainly affected, due to shortage in resources.

How can we deal with the negative bottleneck effects which will hamper genetic diversity among leopards?

When the population of a species decreases drastically, there is a danger of inbreeding and consequently genetic drift which could hamper the long-term survival. Currently, there is no evidence of decreased genetic diversity in Persian leopards; conversely moderate genetic diversity is still seen in Persian leopards. Thanks to commitments and dedications of Iran government as well as civil society to leopard conservation, scholars perceive that at least 500 Persian leopards in Iran. Although relieving for conservationists in terms of number, but it reminds us that keeping up the good on-going conservation work will be crucial to avoid genetic problems in future.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Mohammad Farhadinia is post-doctoral research fellow at University of Oxford. In 2008, he was assigned as the deputy manager of the Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP) – a comprehensive conservation program established by Iran’s government and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). In 2013, he founded the Future4Leopards Foundation (http://www.future4leopards.org), dedicated to the conservation of leopards and other wild carnivores.

Interview by: Lachin Rezaian

https://en.mehrnews.com/news/142319/Succ...-may-raise
1 user Likes Sanju's post
Reply

Oman Lycaon Offline
أسد الأطلس
*****
Moderators

Ali Seifodin


*This image is copyright of its original author
1 user Likes Lycaon's post
Reply

Sanju Offline
Senior member
*****
Sad  ( This post was last modified: 03-04-2019, 05:10 PM by Sanju )

Persian Leopard cubs found dead in southwestern Iran

*This image is copyright of its original author

Two Persian leopard cubs have been found dead in Choram county located in the southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, the provincial department of environment (DOE) chief has said.

“A group of locals reported the department of environment that two carcasses of leopards with their hands cut off have been spotted,” Mehr quoted Mohsen Jafari Bastami as saying on Friday.

After the report, DOE forces have been dispatched to the area to deliver the carcasses, he added.
There is no clear cause of death yet, while coordination has been made to determine the cause, he concluded.

This is while Tehran Zoological Garden has gone far to use artificial insemination and captive natural mating to breed Persian leopards preventing the precious species from extinction.
The Persian leopard is listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List; the population is estimated at fewer than 871–1,290 mature individuals and considered declining.

According to DOE, 156 leopards have been killed in Iran from 2005 to 2014, nearly 20 leopards a year. Studies indicate that currently there are less than 500 leopards nationwide.
Persian leopards are mainly threatened by poaching, depletion of their prey base due to poaching, human disturbances, habitat loss due to deforestation, fire, agricultural expansion, overgrazing, and infrastructure development.

In Iran, primary threats are habitat disturbances followed by illegal hunting and excess of livestock in the leopard habitats. The leopards’ chances for survival outside protected areas appear very slim.

Related News
1 user Likes Sanju's post
Reply

Oman Lycaon Offline
أسد الأطلس
*****
Moderators

A male saxicolor in azerbaijan/armenia mountains with a amputated foot


*This image is copyright of its original author


Source : https://twitter.com/MSFarhadinia
1 user Likes Lycaon's post
Reply

Luipaard Offline
Leopard enthusiast

A very stocky Persian male


*This image is copyright of its original author
2 users Like Luipaard's post
Reply

Oman Lycaon Offline
أسد الأطلس
*****
Moderators

A young Persian leopard in Sarigol National Park, looking heavy. Local rangers called him scar face, due a scar on his/her face (Photo: B.Jafari)


*This image is copyright of its original author
1 user Likes Lycaon's post
Reply

Oman Lycaon Offline
أسد الأطلس
*****
Moderators

Saxicolor in kazakhstan

" target="_blank" class="post_link">
2 users Like Lycaon's post
Reply

Oman Lycaon Offline
أسد الأطلس
*****
Moderators

Proper turkmenistan saxicolor


*This image is copyright of its original author


Source: https://openexplorer.nationalgeographic.com/expedition/persianleopards
2 users Like Lycaon's post
Reply

eagleman Offline
Member
**

So, there are more wich can confierm that the Persian Leopard is actually the largest leopard ssp? Regards
Reply

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******

(04-10-2019, 08:43 PM)eagleman Wrote: So, there are more wich can confierm that the Persian Leopard is actually the largest leopard ssp? Regards

Average weight is the same as African leopards but higher weights "75-90kgs" are more common in Persians.
2 users Like Pckts's post
Reply

eagleman Offline
Member
**

(04-10-2019, 08:57 PM)Pckts Wrote:
(04-10-2019, 08:43 PM)eagleman Wrote: So, there are more wich can confierm that the Persian Leopard is actually the largest leopard ssp? Regards

Average weight is the same as African leopards but higher weights "75-90kgs" are more common in Persians.

So, they seem to be no.1 exceeding even central african and kenyan leopards?
Regards
Reply

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******

(04-10-2019, 09:14 PM)eagleman Wrote:
(04-10-2019, 08:57 PM)Pckts Wrote:
(04-10-2019, 08:43 PM)eagleman Wrote: So, there are more wich can confierm that the Persian Leopard is actually the largest leopard ssp? Regards

Average weight is the same as African leopards but higher weights "75-90kgs" are more common in Persians.

So, they seem to be no.1 exceeding even central african and kenyan leopards?
Regards

IMO I don't think they exceed E. C. or S. African leopards, I think all will see the general overlap of Males in range from 40kg all the way to the claims of 100kg Leopards even though any Leopard above 90kgs should be considered the upper tier of the species. 
Body dimensions may be a different story though.
Reply






Users browsing this thread:
1 Guest(s)

About Us
Go Social     Subscribe  

Welcome to WILDFACT forum, a website that focuses on sharing the joy that wildlife has on offer. We welcome all wildlife lovers to join us in sharing that joy. As a member you can share your research, knowledge and experience on animals with the community.
wildfact.com is intended to serve as an online resource for wildlife lovers of all skill levels from beginners to professionals and from all fields that belong to wildlife anyhow. Our focus area is wild animals from all over world. Content generated here will help showcase the work of wildlife experts and lovers to the world. We believe by the help of your informative article and content we will succeed to educate the world, how these beautiful animals are important to survival of all man kind.
Many thanks for visiting wildfact.com. We hope you will keep visiting wildfact regularly and will refer other members who have passion for wildlife.

Forum software by © MyBB