Rangers Look to Confirm Extinct Leopard Sightings
Declared extinct in 2013, the Formosan clouded leopard has had no confirmed sightings since 1983. Recently, two different groups of rangers believe to have spotted the extinct leopard in a southern Taiwan mountain region. One group saw several leopards chasing goats on a cliff, and another saw one running up a tree. Last summer, a group of Taiwan rangers started dedicated watch for Neofelis nebulosa brachyura to investigate the sporadic sightings from locals. With the two recent sightings, the rangers hope to find concrete evidence very soon.
Black Leopard Evidence in Kenya
Before a recent report, the last documented confirmation of a black leopard in Africa was in 1909 in Ethiopia. A group of scientists from the San Diego Zoo spent months in anticipation of capturing digital evidence of a black leopard. Finally, they recorded a female black leopard on five different occasions in 2018. Recently, the group of scientists published their work in Applied Journal of Ecology, making them the first confirmed report of a black leopard in over 100 years. Click here to see the full report and photos. Black leopards are the same species as traditional colored leopards (Panthera pardus), but they have melanism, a condition that causes their color to be much darker.
Rare Canada Lynx in Michigan
In Huron, Michigan, a female Canada lynx was captured, making it the first confirmed case of the species in about 100 years. Although dozens report sightings in the area, most of them go unconfirmed because of the easy confusion of a lynx with a bobcat. This is only the seventh confirmed record in history for the Lower Peninsula: one in the 1850s and five in the early 1900s.
Source: Taiwan News, Huron Daily Tribune, Applied Journal of Ecology
