Exploitation changes leopard behaviour with long-term genetic costs

[UngulateNerd92]

If left unregulated, the unsustainable exploitation of leopards will have severe ecological and evolutionary costs.

Throughout their range leopards are in rapid decline, having disappeared from North Africa, much of the Middle East and Asia. Declines have been so severe that the species is now considered vulnerable to extinction. No comprehensive estimates of the number of leopards remaining in the wild exist.

Exploitation changes leopard behaviour with long-term genetic costs

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Here is what a friend of mine had to say about this article. He explains it very well.

"So many of the world's mammals are in trouble because of human exploitation of them and encroachment on their habitat. It's reached a point where even fairly adaptable animals like the leopard are being pushed to the brink. Field biologists know what the root causes of today's wild population declines and extinction are, but many are reluctant to speak out on these for reasons we well know."