Tweet
The Times (London)
December 28, 2013 Saturday
The Euro-leopard is out there - and here's the proof
Film shot by hidden cameras has given efforts to preserve this elusive
big cat a real boost, reports Simon Barnes
by Simon Barnes
Regular readers of this space will be familiar with the Euro-leopard.
A few months back, I was asking if there really were still leopards
left in what might with charity be called Greater Europe. As all
geographers know, if it enters the Eurovision song contest it counts
as Europe; so Armenia is European and if there are any leopards left
there, they are Euro-leopards.
Caucasian leopard is the more usual term: a sub-species of the great
spotted cat that everybody knows and which doesn't change its spots.
The Armenian non-governmental organisation (NGO) the Foundation for
the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets was convinced there
were leopards in the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge, but not everyone shared
that belief.
So it set out a series of cameras traps, capable of catching still and
moving images, with the help of its partner organisation in this
country, the World Land Trust (I'm a council member). And, as if by
magic, they caught an image of a leopard.
To be brutally frank, it wasn't the best of images. Just a tail. It
was long, it was fluffy, it was spotty, and it was good enough for me:
I've seen lots of leopards and always paid particular attention to
their tails. However, the world is full of cynics; science wouldn't
work without them.
Nah, they said. Not a real leopard. Somebody waving a toy tail at the
camera. It's a hoax. (They said much the same thing about the first
platypus that came to Britain.) Just before Christmas, routine
inspection of the traps brought forth a miracle, and a most peculiar
and unexpected one. They had clear, unambiguous footage of a leopard:
burly, male and healthy, going about his business. He was hunting,
working as an ambush predator, which is mostly about keeping still. It
is fabulous stuff.
Then came the revelation that things were not as they seemed. The
leopard was real enough - but as it got up and moved it was shockingly
apparent that he was missing most of a hind leg. He had presumably
been the victim of a trap: the area, like so many across the world,
has a poaching problem and traps are set indiscriminately.
What to do about him? Would it be the right thing to catch him and
take him to a zoo? The leopard was clearly glowing with health,
well-fed and muscular. The injury had completely healed, so it must
have been an old one. He had learnt to deal with it and was
functioning admirably as an ambush predator. Leave him to carry on
doing it.
How does he hunt, then? Someone asked this at the WLT council meeting
and the techniques of ambush-hunting were discussed. My fellow council
member Bill Oddie added helpfully: "So the fewer legs the better,
then." Perhaps not that, but this was a working leopard proving that
leopards can not only do their job on the Caucasus, but are out there
doing it. Wonderful, then, consider that out there on the far rim of
Europe, there are leopards. The trick is to keep them.
? Another update for regular readers of this space, who will remember
the arson attack on a rainforest research station in Paraguay. I
stayed at San Rafael, run by the conservation NGO Guyra Paraguay, in
pursuit of the wonders of the Mata Atlntica (Atlantic Forest). After
I reported this attack, readers of The Times made a hefty contribution
to its rebuilding. A new research station is now open for business.
Many thanks to all who helped, from me and from Guyra Paraguay.
Watch the leopard video at www.thetimes.co.uk/life
The leopard was missing most of its hind leg ... but had learnt to deal with it
December 28, 2013 Saturday
The Euro-leopard is out there - and here's the proof
Film shot by hidden cameras has given efforts to preserve this elusive
big cat a real boost, reports Simon Barnes
by Simon Barnes
Regular readers of this space will be familiar with the Euro-leopard.
A few months back, I was asking if there really were still leopards
left in what might with charity be called Greater Europe. As all
geographers know, if it enters the Eurovision song contest it counts
as Europe; so Armenia is European and if there are any leopards left
there, they are Euro-leopards.
Caucasian leopard is the more usual term: a sub-species of the great
spotted cat that everybody knows and which doesn't change its spots.
The Armenian non-governmental organisation (NGO) the Foundation for
the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets was convinced there
were leopards in the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge, but not everyone shared
that belief.
So it set out a series of cameras traps, capable of catching still and
moving images, with the help of its partner organisation in this
country, the World Land Trust (I'm a council member). And, as if by
magic, they caught an image of a leopard.
To be brutally frank, it wasn't the best of images. Just a tail. It
was long, it was fluffy, it was spotty, and it was good enough for me:
I've seen lots of leopards and always paid particular attention to
their tails. However, the world is full of cynics; science wouldn't
work without them.
Nah, they said. Not a real leopard. Somebody waving a toy tail at the
camera. It's a hoax. (They said much the same thing about the first
platypus that came to Britain.) Just before Christmas, routine
inspection of the traps brought forth a miracle, and a most peculiar
and unexpected one. They had clear, unambiguous footage of a leopard:
burly, male and healthy, going about his business. He was hunting,
working as an ambush predator, which is mostly about keeping still. It
is fabulous stuff.
Then came the revelation that things were not as they seemed. The
leopard was real enough - but as it got up and moved it was shockingly
apparent that he was missing most of a hind leg. He had presumably
been the victim of a trap: the area, like so many across the world,
has a poaching problem and traps are set indiscriminately.
What to do about him? Would it be the right thing to catch him and
take him to a zoo? The leopard was clearly glowing with health,
well-fed and muscular. The injury had completely healed, so it must
have been an old one. He had learnt to deal with it and was
functioning admirably as an ambush predator. Leave him to carry on
doing it.
How does he hunt, then? Someone asked this at the WLT council meeting
and the techniques of ambush-hunting were discussed. My fellow council
member Bill Oddie added helpfully: "So the fewer legs the better,
then." Perhaps not that, but this was a working leopard proving that
leopards can not only do their job on the Caucasus, but are out there
doing it. Wonderful, then, consider that out there on the far rim of
Europe, there are leopards. The trick is to keep them.
? Another update for regular readers of this space, who will remember
the arson attack on a rainforest research station in Paraguay. I
stayed at San Rafael, run by the conservation NGO Guyra Paraguay, in
pursuit of the wonders of the Mata Atlntica (Atlantic Forest). After
I reported this attack, readers of The Times made a hefty contribution
to its rebuilding. A new research station is now open for business.
Many thanks to all who helped, from me and from Guyra Paraguay.
Watch the leopard video at www.thetimes.co.uk/life
The leopard was missing most of its hind leg ... but had learnt to deal with it