Leopards on the edge: Assessing population status, habitat use, and threats in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Southeast Asia, a biodiversity hotspot, is at the center of the global wildlife extinction crisis. Despite being Threatened in the region, the population status of the leopard (Panthera pardus) is mostly unknown. We conducted the largest camera-trap study for leopard in Southeast Asia, encompassing seven sites across four countries, to estimate densities, activity patterns, and habitat use in key populations across the region. We developed spatially explicit capture-recapture models to estimate leopard densities, analyzed detections within a Bayesian occupancy framework to evaluate leopard habitat use in response to environmental and anthropogenic factors, and examined activity patterns. In northern sites (Cambodia, Thailand), leopard was mostly nocturnal, densities were low (0.23–0.88 leopard/100 km²), and its habitat use was strongly positively associated with higher vegetation productivity. In southern sites (Malaysia, Indonesia), leopard was almost exclusively diurnal, densities were higher (0.98–4.72 leopard/100 km²), and its habitat use was strongly positively associated with preferred prey. Leopard densities estimated in our study areas are some of the lowest ever reported for the species, with illegal human activities appearing to affect densities, habitat use and activity patterns. The effects of humans differed between northern and southern sites, likely due to differences pertaining to poaching, which appear to be influenced by management effectiveness, proximity to major wildlife consuming markets, religious beliefs, and socio-economic status. Our findings suggest the overall prognosis of the leopard in Southeast Asia is becoming increasingly bleak, and only with timely and effective strategies will the long-term conservation of this species be feasible in the region.