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KevinB

Mid-African leopard cage 2 (April 19th, 2015)

Cage holding one black Mid-African leopard (Panthera pardus shortridgei). Bigger and less sparse than the other two leopard cages. Not a great enclosure, though probably acceptable, and an improvement from previous big cat housing at the Olmense Zoo.

Mid-African leopard cage 2 (April 19th, 2015)
KevinB, 24 Apr 2015
    • KevinB
      Cage holding one black Mid-African leopard (Panthera pardus shortridgei). Bigger and less sparse than the other two leopard cages. Not a great enclosure, though probably acceptable, and an improvement from previous big cat housing at the Olmense Zoo.
      24 Apr 2015
    • timmydetapir
      I believe only the spotted animals are mid-African leopards, the black ones (as you said being held in this enclosure) are zoomix IIRC.
      6 May 2015
    • Nanook
      I have never heard of the term "Mid-African" Leopards - can you explain what this means ? Where exactly are these from. Which sub-species are they ?
      6 May 2015
    • Chlidonias
      I think "Central African leopard" is more common as a name. If one accepts the subspecies then they are Panthera pardus shortridgei (it says this in the first post :p). Distribution is given here: Subspecies Sheet | Mammals'Planet

      Interestingly (according to The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals), the Shortridge they are named after (a South African taxidermist and zoological collector, Captain Guy Chester Shortridge, who has several African animals named after him) is the same Shortridge which several Asian animals are named after as well, including Shortridge's langur (Trachypithecus shortridgei), and an Australian rodent (Pseudomys shortridgei).
      6 May 2015
    • KevinB
      I think 'Central African leopard' is probably a more commonly used name than 'Mid African leopard', which is the one that Olmen uses (and perhaps a little too literal a translation and too little research on my side, my apologies). It is indeed the 'shortridgei' subspecies.

      However, recent DNA analysis and research suggest that the previous classification of leopard subspecies, with 27 subspecies, is invalid and that only 8 or 9 subspecies of leopard are actually valid. In this taxonomy, Panthera pardus shortridgei would be part of the Sub-Saharan african subspecies Panthera pardus pardus, or the African leopard (although the sampling of African leopards in the study was limited, so there might be more than one subspecies in Sub-Saharan Africa). It would probably be more correct to speak of 'African leopards'.

      See here, for example:
      http://www.biosoil.ru/files/00001386.pdf

      But it is certainly possible that many of these leopards are actually zoomix rather than pure individuals of one subspecies.
      6 May 2015
    • TeaLovingDave
      The shortridgei at Olmen - and indeed Heythrop Zoo here in the UK - are pure animals as whether you call them shortridgei or pardus, as they come from a known wild location :)
      6 May 2015
    • timmydetapir
      Yeah the spotted ones are pure. I am very well aware of that. However the black ones, to my knowledge, aren't.
      6 May 2015
    • TeaLovingDave
      Indeed - my reply was intended to be aimed at KevinB, as he had expressed doubt about their purity in the post above mine.
      6 May 2015
    • KevinB
      I didn't know the spotted leopards at Olmen are pure and from a known wild location, my bad. That said, I have actually seen black and spotted leopards in the same cage at Olmense Zoo. I don't know what's up with that, nor do I know if they breed the spotted ones with the black ones or not.
      7 May 2015
    • Nanook
      Many thanks.
      7 May 2015
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  • Category:
    Pakawi Park
    Uploaded By:
    KevinB
    Date:
    24 Apr 2015
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    Comment Count:
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