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Sri Lankan leopards & Its conservation

Prashanthini ShreeganeshIndex no :- S 7782

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Who am I…!• The leopard, Panthera pardus - Felidae family • Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) • The leopard is Sri Lanka’s top predator• Classified as Endangered (IUCN)

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About me…!!!•A tawny or rusty yellow •Coat with dark spots and close-set rosettes•Smaller than Indian Leopards •Different cheetah and the jaguar

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Black Beauty…•Rare one found in denser forests•A result of a condition called melanism•Listed as ‘Endangered’ by Red List 2012.

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Distribution •Historically been found in all habitats throughout the island (Phillips 1935)

•Remaining populations of leopard are extant National Parks which cover 12%

•Habitat types (Santiapillai 1982) arid zone (<1000 mm)dry zone (1000-2000 mm) wet zone (>2000 mm)

lowlandsub-montane montane

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Habitats Ecology and behavior

•Solitary hunters

•With the exception of females with young

• Primarily nocturnal

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•Both sexes live in overlapping territories

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Predatory •They prefer hunting at night. but are also active during dawn and dusk. •Powerful, opportunistic predators•Camouflage – Body Pattern

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•Massive skull•Long canines•Powerful jaw, neck and shoulder muscles and short muscular legs

•They can run up to 36 mph (58 kmh), jump forward 20 feet (6 meters) and leap 10 feet (3 m)

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Hunter par excellence…

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•The leopard catches its prey with the claws on its front paws•It kills either with a bite to the throat or to the back of neck

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Feeding•Choice of diet, which can include small mammals, birds, reptiles as well as larger animals. •A varied diet allows it to adjust to changes in prey availability

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Mating and reproduction •Depending on the region, leopards may mate all year round.

•Mating call

•The male typically grasps the female with a bite tothe back of the neck before an intromission.

•The male often kills the female

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Paternal care•Gestation period - 90 to 105 days•Females give birth in a cave•Usually a litter includes two or three cubs•Keeps them hidden -first 8 weeks, •Giving them meat - 6 or 7 weeks old •Suckling them for 3 months or longer.

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Threats…Habitat Disruption

•Major causes for population decline- habitat loss and fragmentation

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Pouching •This was originally due to game hunting during colonial times

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•Later through poaching for skins

•Most of poaching by Snare

19(Source : http://www.wwct.org/poaching_statics.aspx )

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Human-leopard conflict•Globe- human habitation •Deforestation

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Conservation Leopard Project:•By The Leopard Project of the Wilderness & Wildlife Conservation Trust (WWCT)

•Using such visitor-captured data obtained from interested visitors and volunteers to supplement to research database.

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Sri Lankan Wildlife Department:

•Service from Leopard Safaris by Monitoring for suspicious behavior or poaching within the parks.

•The passage of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance of 1938 put leopards under legal protection

•The leopard was added to Appendix I of CITES

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Lennie The Leopard:

•A collection of our photos went towards the making of the book Lennie the Leopard by Jan Latta, who is developing wildlife and conservation education for children through true-to-life stories on endangered animals.

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•http://lankapera.blogspot.com/2012/03/leopard.html

•http://npramitha.blogspot.com/

•http://www.leopardssrilanka.com/

•http://www.leopardsafaris.com/eco_policies_greenpartnership.php

•https://window2nature.wordpress.com/category/leopards/

•Mother leopard’s fate still a mystery , Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe.

The Sunday Times, July 17 2011.

References:

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