page_title: Persian leopard
section_title: Distribution and habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Persian leopard / Distribution and habitat
caption_attribution_description: Leopard from the Caucasus
context_page_description: The Persian leopard, also known as the Caucasian leopard is a leopard population in the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The Persian leopard was previously considered a distinct subspecies, Panthera pardus saxicolor or Panthera pardus ciscaucasica, but is now assigned to the subspecies Panthera pardus tulliana, which also includes the Anatolian leopard in Turkey. The Persian leopard is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as the population is estimated at fewer than 871–1,290 mature individuals and considered declining.
  A phylogenetic analysis suggests that the Persian leopard matrilineally belongs to a monophyletic group that diverged from African and Arabian leopards in the second half of the Pleistocene.
context_section_description: The Persian leopard was most likely distributed over the whole Caucasus, except for steppe areas. During surveys conducted between 2001 and 2005 no leopard was recorded in the western part of the Greater Caucasus; it probably survived only at a few sites in the eastern part. The largest population survives in the Alborz and Zagros mountains of Iran. The political and social changes in the former Soviet Union in 1992 caused a severe economic crisis and a weakening of formerly effective protection systems. Ranges of all wildlife were severely fragmented. The former leopard range declined enormously as leopards were persecuted and wild ungulates hunted. Inadequate baseline data and lack of monitoring programmes make it difficult to evaluate declines of mammalian prey species.
  As of 2008, of the estimated 871–1,290 mature leopards:
  550–850 live in Iran, which is the leopard's stronghold in Southwest Asia;
  about 200–300 survive in Afghanistan, where their status is poorly known;
  about 78–90 live in Turkmenistan;
  fewer than 10–13 survive in Armenia;
  fewer than 10–13 survive in Azerbaijan;
  fewer than 10 survive in the Russian North Caucasus;
  fewer than 5 survive in Turkey;
  fewer than 5 survive in Georgia;
  about 3–4 survive in Nagorno-Karabakh.
  The Persian leopard avoids areas with long-duration snow cover and areas that are near urban development. Its habitat consists of subalpine meadows, broadleaf forests and rugged ravines from 600–3,800 m (2,000–12,500 ft) in the Greater Caucasus, and rocky slopes, mountain steppes, and sparse juniper forests in the Lesser Caucasus and Iran. Only some small and isolated populations remain in the whole ecoregion. Suitable habitat in each range country is limited and most often situated in remote border areas. Local populations depend on immigration from source populations in the south, mainly in Iran.
caption: Illustration by Joseph Smit
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