The Leopard, Panthera pardus, (Carnivora: Felidae) and its resilience to human pressure in the Caucasus

Abstract

Widespread in the Caucasus until the mid-19th century, the Leopard, Panthera pardus, has become extinct in many areas of this region but is still able to survive in some others. We have compiled a database of 218 Leopard records dated 1861–2007 throughout the Caucasus (Russian North Caucasus, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia). Of these, 77 records of killings, 4 records of photo-captures (10 pictures), and 8 records of scat origin proof by faecal bile acid thin-layer chromatography were used as the most reliable indicators of the Leopard’s presence. We discuss the history of the Leopard’s postglacial emergence in the Caucasus, its habitats, scales of eradication, trends in Leopard extermination measures and range shrinkage within the study period, in separate sections under each of the four countries of the Caucasus. All recent and current Leopard records in the Caucasus are confined to central and eastern parts of the North Caucasus, south-eastern and north-eastern Georgia, south-eastern and western parts of Azerbaijan, and south-western and southern Armenia. All these parts of the range, except for the Talysh Mts in Azerbaijan, must be connected with southern Armenia which, in its turn, is linked with the much larger population in north-western Iran. The Talysh Mts stand isolated from the Caucasus Mountains and are directly linked with Iran.