"Leopards Are More Vulnerable Than Believed, Study Finds"

"Leopards are reclusive and known for their ability to adapt, traits that have led some wildlife biologists to assume that the animals remained relatively abundant in the wild.

But a study published Wednesday suggests that leopards have lost as much as 75 percent of their historical range since 1750. At that time, the big cats roamed over about 13.5 million square miles in Africa, Asia and parts of the Middle East. But that has shrunk to about 3.3 million square miles, according to the study, conducted by a team of 14 scientists representing 15 universities and organizations, including the Zoological Society of London, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Iranian Cheetah Society, National Geographic and Panthera, a global wild cat conservation organization.

The study, which appears in the journal PeerJ, is believed to be the first to assess the leopard’s status globally across nine subspecies and won immediate praise from other scientists for its scope and detail."

Erica Goode reports for the New York Times May 4, 2016.

SEE ALSO:

"Scientists Say 75 Percent Of The Spotted Leopard’s Habitat Is Gone" (Washington Post)