The symbol of the Caucasus

The four leopards, which when combined with another three who were released in 2016 — the first as part of the Sochi reintroduction program, and joined by another solitary female in 2018, may have increased the number of leopards in the biosphere of the famous mountain range by 20%. Ecologists working on the program note that the Caucasus Biosphere Reserve is ideal leopard habitat that also represents one of the largest stretches of unbroken forest in Russia.

Once widespread across almost all of Asia, Eurasia, and Africa, the leopard, a secretive and wide-ranging cat has declined considerably.

They possess all the traits that make it difficult for predators to survive in the Anthropocene, including long-term pregnancies and childhood characterized by small litter numbers and long periods of time spent dependent entirely on the mother. They also require huge tracts of territory, plenty of shelter in forests or mountains, and plentiful species of big game.

Despite the leopard sitting in the Acacia tree being one of the quintessential images of the African savannah, there’s a very large stronghold of leopards in northeast and northwest Iran, upon and beyond the Zagros and Alborz Mountains

The subspecies is known as Panthera pardus tulliana meaning Anatolian or Turkish leopard, though it may actually be extinct in Turkey. Primary drivers of the animal’s decline into Endangered status on the IUCN Red List have been reduction in habitat and poaching due to its habit of livestock hunting.

This unfortunate but inevitable conflict between predator and domesticated animals has meant that Russian wildlife agencies have to take into account shepherds and farmers when drafting reintroduction plans.

“WWF-Russia conducts systematic and regular work with the locals, telling them about the Leopard Reintroduction Program, rules of behaviour when encountering predators, safe cattle grazing, etc.” says Valeriy Shmunk, Director of Russian Caucasus Ecoregional Office WWF-Russia. “This is a complex work aimed at forming a positive attitude to the leopard, which will allow people and wild cats to live in peace and harmony”.

Iran, which may be home to as many as 800 leopards, has a poor history of conserving her populations of big cats — which also include cheetahs. In 2018, Iranian military arrested 9 WWF and IUCN wildlife biologists who were camera-trapping Iran’s 52 or so remaining cheetahs and accused them of espionage.

With many leopard populations existing in conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen, the faster that Russia can restore her population of P. pardus tulliana, the greater the chance the species will survive in some small degree. WaL