The Discovery of Two Spotted Leopards (Panthera Pardus) in Peninsular Malaysia. (September 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wei, Cedric Tan Kai; Moore, Jonathan; Saaban, Salman bin; Campos-Arceiz, Ahimsa; Macdonald, David W.
• Is Part Of: Tropical conservation science. Volume 8:Number 3(2015)
• Page Start: 732
• Page End: 737
• Publication Date: 2015-09
• Subjects: Melanism -- habitat modifications -- felid conservation; Rain forest conservation -- Periodicals; Rain forest ecology -- Periodicals; Rain forest conservation; Rain forest ecology; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 577.34
• DOI: 10.1177/194008291500800310
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1940-0829

Abstract

We discovered the presence of two individual spotted leopards Panthera pardus in Ulu Muda Forest Reserve, a previously under-researched selectively logged rainforest of Peninsular Malaysia. These findings are unexpected, because only two other studies have detected the spotted morph amongst many other melanistic leopards caught on camera traps in Peninsular Malaysia. We discuss the implications of our findings with respect to the prevalence of melanism among leopards in the region.