A range-wide monitoring framework for the Persian leopard and its prey

Abstract

The long-term survival of the Persian leopard Panthera pardus tulliana requires concerted regional conservation efforts. Understanding occurrence patterns and population trends of the leopard and its prey are key prerequisite for planning conservation interventions and ensuring their effectiveness. However, systematic monitoring for these purposes is scarce across the Persian leopard range, despite progress towards more systematic monitoring in some parts (eg, the Caucasus Ecoregion). Using the example of the monitoring system in the Caucasus, we propose a framework for range-wide monitoring of Persian leopard and its prey. We suggest focusing on 297 units of 25x25 km, spread across eleven range countries. Adopting a coordinated monitoring strategy and ensuring information exchange will assist range countries to better achieve their conservation targets, including the objectives of the regional conservation initiatives such as the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals CMS Central Asian Mammals Initiative CAMI and its Range-Wide Strategy for the Conservation of the Persian Leopard. More broadly, a systematic monitoring framework will be crucial for the identification of knowledge gaps and priority areas to ramp up conservation actions for safeguarding megafauna in this region.