Javan leopard

Javan leopard
Javan leopard in the Tierpark Berlin
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Genus:	Panthera
Species:	P. pardus
Subspecies:	P. p. melas
Trinomial name
Panthera pardus melas (G. Cuvier, 1809)

The Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) is a leopard subspecies confined to the Indonesian island of Java and classified as critically endangered by IUCN since 2008. The population is estimated at less than 250 mature individuals, with a decreasing population trend. The total remaining habitat is estimated at only 2,267.9 to 3,277.3 km² (875.6 to 1,265.4 sq mi).^[1]

Characteristics

The Javan leopard was initially described as being black with dark black spots and silver-grey eyes.^[2] Javan leopards have either a normal spotted coat, or a recessive phenotype resulting in an all black coat.^[3]

Distribution and habitat

Javan leopards are confined to the Indonesian island of Java. They are known to occur in Gunung Halimun National Park, Ujung Kulon National Park, Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, Ceremai National Park, Merbabu National Park, Merapi National Park, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, Meru Betiri National Park, Baluran National Park, and Alas Purwo National Park.^[1] They can thrive in a variety of habitats ranging from patches of dense tropical rainforest in the south-western part of the island, to the mountains, and to dry deciduous forests and scrub in the east. In the 1990s, they seemed to particularly thrive in the seral stages of successional vegetation patterns, which made them less susceptible than many other mammals to human's disruptive activities.^[3]

From 2001 to 2004, monitoring research has been conducted in a 20 km² (7.7 sq mi) area of Gunung Halimun National Park using camera traps and radio-tracking. Seven leopards were identified in the study area. The total population was estimated at 42 to 58 individuals. Home range of an adult female was 9.82 km² (3.79 sq mi).^[4]

Ecology and behavior

Skull

Two leopards were radio-collared in the Gunung Halimun National Park. Their daily activity pattern showed peaks in the early mornings between 6:00 and 9:00, and late afternoons between 15:00 and 18:00.^[4]

Their diet consists of barking deer, long-tailed macaques, silvered leaf monkey, wild boar, lesser mouse deer, and the Javan gibbon. Javan leopards will also look for food in close by villages and have been known to prey on domestic dogs, chickens, and goats.^[3]

Threats

Javan leopards are threatened by loss of habitat, prey base depletion and poaching due to human population growth and agricultural expansion.^[1] Conflict between local people and leopards is also considered to be a main threat to leopards.^[4] Java has lost more than 90% of its natural vegetation and is one of the most densely populated islands in the world. Primary forests remain only in the mountainous regions at elevations above 1,400 m (4,600 ft).^[3]

With 118.3 million people Java holds 59% of Indonesia’s total population living in 2,286 sq mi (5,920 km²). The human population density far exceeds most other island nation population densities.^[5]

Conservation

Panthera pardus melas is listed in the CITES Appendix I.^[1]

Overall, efforts are being made to restore the population of these animals to prevent them from facing extinction, much like the Javan tiger. Hunting laws are strictly enforced. In 2005, Gunung Halimun National Park was enlarged to three times its original size for restoration of the Javan leopard, the Javan gibbon, and the Javan hawk-eagle.^[4]

To address the issue of Java’s over-population, and encroachment on habitat of protected species, the Indonesian government has formed a nationwide family planning program. This program makes contraceptive devices like condoms and several different forms of birth control pills more readily available to the public.^[5]

In captivity

In 1997, there were 14 Javan leopards in European zoos. The Javan leopard is not specifically managed in captive breeding programs in Europe and America. As of 2007, the Taman Safari zoo in Bogor, Indonesia, kept 17 Javan leopards — seven males and 10 females, of which four were breeding pairs. The Indonesian zoos of Ragunan and Surabaya also keep Javan leopards.^[6]

As of December 2011, there are two male and one female Javan leopard in the German Tierpark Berlin, and one male and one female in the Jakarta zoo.^[7]

In 2013, one male Javan leopard was transferred from Tierpark Berlin to Prague Zoo.^[8]

Taxonomy

Molecular research has suggested that Javan leopards are craniometrically distinct from leopards from the rest of Asia, and are a distinct taxon that split off from other Asian leopards hundreds of thousands of years ago. In the Middle Pleistocene, they may have migrated to Java from South Asia across a land bridge that bypassed Sumatra and Borneo.^[9]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Panthera pardus melas.

• Species portrait Panthera pardus in Asia and short portrait P. pardus melas; IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group
• Critically Endangered Javan Leopard Captured on Camera Traps in Ujung Kulon, Indonesia