adrian1963
Well-Known Member
Are there any in the U.K
Arabian Leopards
- Thread starter adrian1963
- Start date
There are no Arabian Leopards (Panthera pardus nimr) in the UK (to my knowledge!). The subspecies that are around are Amur (kept by most UK zoos that have pure leopards), Persian (Chessington), North Chinese (Howletts) and Sri Lankan (Banham). There are also a whole pile of hybrid 'zoo' leopards.
Not heard that although it wouldn't surprise me - the current trends are very much to lump similar subspecies together and split off to an entirely new species any that are deifnitely distinct. We'll probably end up without any subspecies at all, eventually, which will be a much more pragmatic approach.
I feel saddened that this is what sticks in peoples' minds. It is woefully inadequate genetics research by a reknowned US geneticist (so people think it must be true). Well, sample size wise and different populations and subspecies wise it is an absolute HOGWASH of a cited publication.
Nimr and Saxicolor are not genetically identical. It does not take a genius to make out that clearly Arabian and Persian leopards are not alike, not morphologically-taxonomically nor genetically.
So, pse stop taking in headlines and read scientific papers for their real validity instead. Just some serious advice ....
Arabian leopards are never likely to ever make it to the UK. And effectively, we still need to loose a lot of generic leopards of no conservation value (as in lions, and to a lesser degree in jaguars, tigers and pumas).
Have to say your last sentence there comes off a little patronising. You seem to assume that I have read this paper and been taken in by it.
For the record, I thought I made it clear I hadn't read the papers on this one when I said I hadn't heard of this; and when I said I wouldn't be surprised I meant that I wouldn't be surprised if it was proposed!
Even Ituri, who first brought up the possible synonymy of these taxa phrased it as a question rather than a statement of fact.
I carried out a large amount of mitochondrial DNA sequencing work and tree-building for my Masters thesis so am not in an unfamiliar area on this topic, but I make no claim to be up to date with leopard taxonomy.
And at the end of the day, taxonomy and systematics will always have an element of personal opinion (are genetics and morphology equally significant? Is one more important? Is a particular study valid?).
I tend to think from a conservation point of view, we're probably better to keep doubtful taxa separate in any case unless the species as a whole falls to critical levels, becuase conservation is about preserving biodiversity at all levels. So for the moment I will continue to consider saxicolor and nimr separate.
EDIT: I hope the bit about the Masters doesn't come off as one-up-manship; just thought this was relevant background information for this discussion!
Peter Dickinson
Well-Known Member
There are no Arabian Leopards within the UK. The Persian/Arabian Leopards look quite different.
The largest and best managed collection of Arabian Leopards is held by the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife, the off show units of The Arabian Wildlife Centre (Sharjah's Desert Park). If you ever get the chance of a visit. It is for no small reason that this place is still to me The Best Zoo In The World
The largest and best managed collection of Arabian Leopards is held by the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife, the off show units of The Arabian Wildlife Centre (Sharjah's Desert Park). If you ever get the chance of a visit. It is for no small reason that this place is still to me The Best Zoo In The World
adrian1963
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the link Peter really enjoyed reading it
Peter Dickinson
Well-Known Member
Thanks Adrian. Truly a wonderful collection.
Having visited the Arabian Wildlife Centre (and off-show area) in 2005 I wouldn't say it was the best zoo in the world....but I would say it was the best zoo devoted solely to the fauna of a single region. Excellent place.
Peter Dickinson
Well-Known Member
You are right of course MikeG because 'best' is always personal and I admitted I was biased towards the collections species. Really though this was the least of the reasons for using best it was more the consideration for care, design, conservation, enrichment, professionalism and much more. Others would have their own tick boxes like rarity, biggest, most expensive etc. Within the UK, Drusillas comes very near the top with me but may not make other peoples top ten.
Cannot say that I have had the honour of working with Arabians, nor seeing them in the flesh, so I can only base what I know on pictures. I have though worked with a number of Persians. Arabians are small as leopards go, and quite skinny-looking. Their coats are very pale with bold small spots. Persians are large (regularly referred to the largest subspecies), long haired under the belly and sometimes have a 'washed out' colouration. Not sure how anybody could confuse them...
