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Losing our black leopards and black panthers

17 Jun 2021

  • Why taking action to protect Sri Lanka’s endangered animals is vital 

By Chathuranga Dharmarathne   Black leopards are so rare in Sri Lanka that only three of them were reported in the country over the past decade. Before these three black leopards were found, they had been declared an endangered species in the country by scientists, and even believed to be extinct. However, in the recent past, there has been a lot of talk about black leopards, after a few of them were reported again. However, we as a country cannot be satisfied with the steps taken to protect these endangered species, considering the number of incidents that have been reported over the years, where several leopards were trapped in snares. Against this backdrop, this article is about the value of the black leopard and the importance of protecting them. The Sri Lankan leopard has been classified as endangered by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). The population of leopards, which is not larger than 1,000 animals, is declining due to a multitude of reasons, which includes poaching and also the human-leopard conflict. Historically, the Sri Lankan leopard was found in all habitats throughout the country, which consist of the wet zone, dry zone, and arid zone. Leopards have been mainly observed in dry evergreen monsoon forests, arid scrub jungles, rainforests, and low and upper highland forests, as well as wet zone intermediate forests. However, their population has now been limited to certain areas of the country that value the conservation of these creatures. Though leopards are considered nocturnal, they are also encountered during daytime, mainly during early mornings and late afternoons. These creatures usually hunt alone except during the mating season, or when mother and cubs are encountered in the wild.  The Sri Lankan leopard feeds on a variety of species from hare, Sambar deer, langurs, and even rats. Their eating patterns may also include frogs, birds, reptiles, other types of rodents, and even insects. This Sri Lankan subspecies of leopard is the largest-sized subspecies of leopard in the world. Some visit Sri Lanka mainly to view leopards, as they are a favourite subject of wildlife enthusiasts and widely photographed. When considering  the colour variations of leopards, generally, the background colour of the pelage of Sri Lankan leopards is light yellowish-brown to a slightly darker orange-brown (tawny). Black spots are found on the head, neck, shoulders, and legs. On the sides and back, these spots form into broken circles or “rosettes”. An interesting point is that these rosettes only very rarely have a black central spot.   According to researchers, there is a direct relationship between the body colour of the individuals and their environment and habitats. For example, leopards observed in the dry zone are smaller and lighter in colour than those inhibiting upcountry habitats. Leopards in montane forests and wet zone forests have a darker appearance. They are darker than dry zone individuals to blend with dark green foliage and dark light conditions. Very rarely some melanistic forms known as “black panthers” can occur. These melanistic individuals occur due to the mutation which is known as melanism. This name is a bit of a misnomer, because it is not exactly for leopards. The term black panther is most frequently applied to the black-coated leopards (Panthera pardus) of Africa and Asia, and jaguars (Panthera onca) of Central and South America; the black-furred variants of these species are also called black leopards and black jaguars, respectively. This name led people to get the wrong impression about these black leopards as an entirely different new species. Melanism in the leopard is conferred by a recessive allele. Melanistic and non-melanistic animals can be littermates. According to scientists, melanism confers a selective advantage under certain conditions, since it is more common in regions of dense forest, where light levels are lower. Preliminary studies also suggest that melanism might be linked to beneficial mutations in the immune system.  In these black leopards, the typical spotted markings are present, but hidden due to the excess black pigments, and are called “ghost rosettes”. The frequency of melanism appears to be approximately 11% over the leopard's range. Data on the distribution of leopard populations indicates that melanism occurs in five subspecies in the wild, including the Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya). Based on records from camera traps, carcasses and snared individuals, melanistic leopards occur foremost in tropical and subtropical moist forests.  Apart from that, pseudo-melanistic leopards can also occur; these individuals have a normal background colour, but the spots are more densely packed than normal and merge to obscure the golden-brown background colour. Albinos also occur amongst leopards, but none have been reported from Sri Lanka. The black leopard has been a mystery for many years, as sightings have been very rare due to the very low population and the animals’ solitary nature. Black panthers have been reliably reported from Hiniduma, Warakadeniya, Delwala, the Sinharaja Forest, and Gurutalawa. One of these animals was kept and displayed at the Dehiwala Zoo in Colombo. Such melanistic animals can occur in the dry zone; for example, one individual was shot in Thanamalwila, and there was an unconfirmed sighting from the Dambulla area. Unfortunately, we already lost three black leopards in the last decade to snares, typically set to trap deer or wild boar for bushmeat. The two earlier recorded black leopards were also killed in snares, in 2009 and 2013, in southern Sri Lanka on the border of the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The Sri Lankan black leopard, which was believed to be extinct, had been captured on a trap camera last October in the Central Hills. That was the first time that this type of leopard was captured on camera during research in Sri Lanka. Before that, the dead animals were displayed at the Giritale Wildlife Museum, as the final trace of the Sri Lankan black leopard.  Due to this tragic situation of snares, we lost more than six leopards during the first half of 2020. According to some researchers, 47 leopards were trapped in snares during the past decade. Of the total 79 leopard deaths reported during this period, 42 deaths were caused by snare-induced injuries. So this is not an easy thing to neglect. Therefore it is vital to take actions to mitigate these conflict situations to protect our endangered animals in Sri Lanka.   (The writer is a Senior Field Biologist of the Felidae Carnivora Project in Sri Lanka)


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