Archive | September 19, 2016

“Another big predator in Southeast Asia faces extinction”

A melanistic leopard caught on camera trap in peninsular Malaysia where such “black panthers” are more common than spotted.

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Conservationists have long known that it’s hard – and in some cases – nearly impossible to survive as a tiger in Southeast Asia. Burning forests, high human populations and unflagging demand for tiger blood, tiger skin and crushed tiger bone means the big cats have to tread a daily gauntlet of snares, guns and desperate poachers. Now, conservationists are discovering, belatedly, that the same is largely true for leopards.