Documents

The Khazarskiy State Nature Reserve, the Caspian Group of the IUCN Joint SSC-WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan; e-mail address: mammedowmerdan514@gmail.com

The Persian leopard Panthera pardus tulliana is an endangered large felid living in mountainous landscapes of the Caucasus, Southwest Asia and parts of Central Asia. In this paper, we review available literature to update our information on the status, population, ecology, threats, and management recommendations in regard to this big cat in the region. Most of the Alborz and Kopetdag Ecoregions harbour the largest population of Persian leopard with some protected areas having the highest densities of these carnivores. A total of 348 to 440 leopards are guessed to exist in the region, making it one of the largest continuous leopard hotspots across Asia. Almost 80% of the population exists in Iran, followed by Turkmenistan which holds the second largest Persian leopard population, while the leopard population in Kazakhstan mainly depends on transboundary transient individuals from Turkmenistan.