The hopeful Little Leopard

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Modeling suggests that the species accumulated genetic and phenotypic differences from its conspecifics at a series of glacial maxima during the last glacial period in a Yemen refugium, from where it expanded elsewhere in the Holocene warming following the expansion of suitable landscape types. As humans expanded as well, they eventually restricted the source populations of the leopard to an area intersecting eastern Yemen and western Oman today. [12] It is however the largest cat in the Arabian Peninsula. [9] [10] Distribution and habitat [ edit ] Captive leopard in the Breeding Centre for Endangered Wildlife, Sharjah Sheikh, K. M.; Molur, S., eds. (2004). " Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758). Panther or Leopard". Status and Red List of Pakistan's Mammals. Based on the Conservation Assessment and Management Plan (PDF). Islamabad: IUCN Pakistan. p.59. Phylogenetic analysis of the nuclear DNA in tissue samples from all Felidae species revealed that the evolutionary radiation of the Felidae began in Asia in the Miocene around 14.45to8.38 million years ago. [20] [21] Analysis of mitochondrial DNA of all Felidae species indicates a radiation at around 16.76to6.46 million years ago. [22]

The leopard cat is the most widely distributed Asian small wild cat. Its range extends from the Amur region in the Russian Far East over the Korean Peninsula, China, Indochina, the Indian Subcontinent to northern Pakistan. It lives in tropical evergreen rainforests and plantations at sea level, in subtropical deciduous and coniferous forests in the foothills of the Himalayas at elevations above 1,000m (3,300ft). [5] It is able to tolerate human-modified landscapes with vegetation cover to some degree, and inhabits agriculturally used areas such as oil palm and sugar cane plantations. [5] [23]

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The leopard and snow leopard both hunt Himalayan tahr and musk deer, but the leopard usually prefers forested habitats located at lower altitudes. [47] Leopard may conflict with sloth bears and can follow them up trees. [48] Bear cubs are probably far more vulnerable and healthy adult bears may be avoided by leopards. One leopard killed a three-quarters grown female sloth bear in an apparently lengthy fight that culminated in the trees. Apparently, a sloth bear killed a leopard in a confrontation in Yala National Park, Sri Lanka but was itself badly injured in the fight and was subsequently put down by park rangers. [49] [50] Threats [ edit ] Leopard skins

In Jordan, the last confirmed sighting of a leopard dates to 1987. [24] Ecology and behaviour [ edit ] A South Arabian relief from the 5th century BC, in Walters Art Museum Leopard cubs are only 17 to 21 ounces at birth. You could fit a newborn baby leopard in the palm of your hand. Although leopards grow to be much larger than housecats, they are the smallest members of the large cats. Until the late 1960s, the Arabian leopard was widely distributed in the mountains along both the coasts of the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. [9] In Saudi Arabia, leopard habitat is estimated to have decreased by around 90% since the beginning of the 19th century. Of 19 reports obtained from informants between 1998 and 2003, only four are confirmed including sightings in one location in the Hijaz Mountains and three locations in the Asir Mountains, with the most recent record in 2002 south of Biljurashi. No leopard was recorded during a camera trapping survey conducted from 2002 to 2003. Although the leopard is officially protected in the country, its remaining range is not encompassed by protected areas. [14]Kumar, P.; Chandel, S.; Kumar, V.; Sankhyan, V. (2017). "Leopard–Human Conflict Led Casualties and Conservation Awareness Campaign in Shivalik Hills of Northern India". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences. 87 (3): 893−898. doi: 10.1007/s40011-015-0653-3. S2CID 25553974.