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Status of the common leopard in Afghanistan
Abstract
For decades there had been no confirmed sightings of the common leopard Panthera pardus in Afghanistan. However in 2011, a Wildlife Conservation Society WCS ca- mera trap team working in the province of Bamyan managed to capture images of a Persian leopard P. p. saxicolor near the mountainous areas that make up the central highland region. With almost no accurate data on leopard numbers, population trends remain unknown. Using these images during a wildlife field survey, local commu- nity residents in two other provinces reported the presence of the same leopard spe- cies. Years of conflict in Afghanistan have affected most large wildlife populations, including other big cats and leopard prey species, but its cryptic nature and adap- tability have enabled it to persist. Despite being a protected species under Afghan law, leopards remain at very low numbers and under considerable threat.
... In general however, distribution and population records of leopards in Afghanistan are lacking. With almost no information, 30 plus years of military conflict, little to no wildlife law enforcement, and depressed prey populations, it is likely that leopards remain only at very low numbers and under significant threat (Moheb & Bradfield, 2014). Habibi (2004) estimated 200-300 leopards in Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion in 1979. ...
... While leopards were commonly blamed for livestock loss in Nuristan, photographic evidence and DNA barcoding dismissed these claims (Stevens et al., 2011). In 2011, Moheb and Bradfield (2014) captured a leopard on camera in the Yakawlang District of Bamyan Province. Also in Yakawlang District, a team from the Wildlife Conservation Society observed a female with three cubs in August 2015 (Nasart Jahet and Stephane Ostrowski pers. ...
... 2016). Moheb and Bradfield (2014) also reference two other locations where interviews with local residents reported potential presence of leopard: Darwaz in Badakhshan Province, and on the border of Nuristan and Kunar Provinces. ...
... Borderlands between Iran-Turkmenistan-Afghanistan, which are part of the larger Kopet Dag Ecoregion (Memariani, Zarrinpour, & Akhani, 2016;Olson & Dinerstein, 1998) is a shared steppe landscape hosting various conservation-dependent mammals, such as Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor), bezoar goat (Capra aegagrus), urial (Ovis orientalis) and goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) (Atamuradov, Fet, Fet, Valdez, & Feldman, 1999;Farhadinia, Moll et al., 2018;Kaczensky & Linnell, 2015;Moheb & Bradfield, 2014). Nonetheless, national conservation programs have created a heterogeneous landscape across the border. ...
Global environmental research requires long-term climate data. Yet, meteorological infrastructure is missing in the vast majority of the world’s protected areas. Therefore, gridded products are frequently used as the only available climate data source in peripheral regions. However, associated evaluations are commonly biased towards well observed areas and consequently, station-based datasets. As evaluations on vegetation monitoring abilities are lacking for regions with poor data availability, we analyzed the potential of several state-of-the-art climate datasets (CHIRPS, CRU, ERA5-Land, GPCC-Monitoring-Product, IMERG-GPM, MERRA-2, MODIS-MOD10A1) for assessing NDVI anomalies (MODIS-MOD13Q1) in two particularly suitable remote conservation areas. We calculated anomalies of 156 climate variables and seasonal periods during 2001–2018, correlated these with vegetation anomalies while taking the multiple comparison problem into consideration, and computed their spatial performance to derive suitable parameters. Our results showed that four datasets (MERRA-2, ERA5-Land, MOD10A1, CRU) were suitable for vegetation analysis in both regions, by showing significant correlations controlled at a false discovery rate < 5% and in more than half of the analyzed areas. Cross-validated variable selection and importance assessment based on the Boruta algorithm indicated high importance of the reanalysis datasets ERA5-Land and MERRA-2 in both areas but higher differences and variability between the regions with all other products. CHIRPS, GPCC and the bias-corrected version of MERRA-2 were unsuitable and not important in both regions. We provide evidence that reanalysis datasets are most suitable for spatiotemporally consistent environmental analysis whereas gauge- or satellite-based products and their combinations are highly variable and may not be applicable in peripheral areas.
Global environmental research requires long-term climate data. Yet, meteorological infrastructure is missing in the vast majority of the world’s protected areas. Therefore, gridded products are frequently used as the only available climate data source in peripheral regions. However, associated evaluations are commonly biased towards well observed areas and consequently, station-based datasets. As evaluations on vegetation monitoring abilities are lacking for regions with poor data availability, we analyzed the potential of several state-of-the-art climate datasets (CHIRPS, CRU, ERA5-Land, GPCC-Monitoring-Product, IMERG-GPM, MERRA-2, MODIS-MOD10A1) for assessing NDVI anomalies (MODIS-MOD13Q1) in two particularly suitable remote conservation areas. We calculated anomalies of 156 climate variables and seasonal periods during 2001–2018, correlated these with vegetation anomalies while taking the multiple comparison problem into consideration, and computed their spatial performance to derive suitable parameters. Our results showed that four datasets (MERRA-2, ERA5-Land, MOD10A1, CRU) were suitable for vegetation analysis in both regions, by showing significant correlations controlled at a false discovery rate < 5% and in more than half of the analyzed areas. Cross-validated variable selection and importance assessment based on the Boruta algorithm indicated high importance of the reanalysis datasets ERA5-Land and MERRA-2 in both areas but higher differences and variability between the regions with all other products. CHIRPS, GPCC and the bias-corrected version of MERRA-2 were unsuitable and not important in both regions. We provide evidence that reanalysis datasets are most suitable for spatiotemporally consistent environmental analysis whereas gauge- or satellite-based products and their combinations are highly variable and may not be applicable in peripheral areas.
Nine subspecies names have been designated for the leopard in the Middle East: Arabian or South Arabian Panthera pardus nimr (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833); Anatolian or Asia Minor P. p. tulliana (Valenciennes, 1856); Caucasian P. p. ciscaucasica (Satunin, 1914); Persian or North Persian P. p. saxicolor Pocock, 1927; Sind or Baluchistan P. p. sindica Pocock, 1930; Kashmir P. p. millardi Pocock, 1930; Sinai P. p. jarvisi Pocock, 1932; Central Persian P. p. dathei Zukowsky, 1959 and South Caucasian P. p. transcaucasica Zukowsky, 1964. We have measured or retrieved data from literature on 24 characters and 3 indices of 40 leopard skulls originated from this region. We used multiple discriminant analysis to separate 7 groups from North Caucasus, South Caucasus, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Arabia with over 90% probabilities of correct group membership. Five scenarios of grouping were obtained which have shown the identity of the leopards from the Caucasus and Turkmenistan and their possible identity with individuals from northern Iran, closeness of leopards from southern Iran and Pakistan and from Turkey and Sinai Peninsula, and clear distinctiveness of the leopards from Arabia and Turkey from all other groups. In compliance with criteria of priority in zoological nomenclature, we suggest to retain the names P. p. ciscaucasica (=saxicolor, transcaucasica) for the Caucasus, Turkmenistan and northern Iran, P. p. tulliana for south-western Turkey, P. p. sindica (=dathei) for southern Iran and southern Pakistan and P. p. nimr for Arabian Peninsula. The subspecies P. p. millardi is probably synonymous to P. p. sindica and its status should be clarified on additional data. The taxonomic position of P. p. jarvisi should be verified by comparison with nominotypical P. p. pardus from Egypt.
Military personnel and affiliates have significant buying power that can influence demand for wildlife products. Purchase and transport of certain wildlife products violates United States laws, military regulations, and national country laws where the items were purchased. We surveyed military bazaars (n = 4) in Kabul, Afghanistan from June 2007 to March 2009 to observe which species were available to soldiers. In June 2008, we conducted a pilot survey of U.S. Army personnel (n = 371) stationed at Fort Drum, New York, USA, who had been deployed or stationed overseas including in Afghanistan and Iraq. Soldiers reported skins of wild felids and gray wolf Canis lupus as most commonly observed wildlife products available for sale in Afghanistan. Forty percent of respondents said they had either purchased or seen other members of the military purchase or use wildlife products. The U.S. military was willing to assist in curtailing supply and demand for wildlife products in order to protect soldiers from unknowingly breaking the law and to conserve wildlife in the countries where they serve. Regular, focused training of military personnel should be considered an important step to reducing trade in wildlife products by addressing both demand and market supply.
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Biodiversity Reconnaissance Survey in Darwaz Region
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