Rare Javan Leopard Caught After Wandering by Village

Jakarta Globe, Vento Saudale, October 17, 2013

A Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) caught on camera trap Center for
 International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Gunung Halimun-Salak National
Park, West Java, Indonesia. (Photo courtesy of CIFOR)

A rare Javan leopard has been caught alive by a conservation team in Sukabumi, West Java, after residents reported that the animal had been seen wandering around the outskirts of their village.

A team from the Indonesian Wildlife Conservation Forum (Foksi) at Taman Safari Indonesia caught the critically endangered animal last week. Residents had earlier reported seeing the leopard near Girimukti village, in Ciemas subdistrict, and the team caught the animal to prevent it from being killed.

Locals suspected the big cat had been preying on livestock.

“In the past few weeks I have been communicating with some of the residents to prevent the Javan leopard from getting killed,” Hendra, one of the team members, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

He said he and his team began honing in on the leopard’s whereabouts on Friday by following its footprints and droppings. The team then placed two cages in the area, baiting the cages with live goats to trap the leopard.

“Last Saturday night, the villagers heard some noise and they suspected the leopard had entered the cage to prey on the livestock,” Hendra said.

The team estimated the male leopard to be between 8 and 9 years old and to weigh about 45 to 50 kilograms. The leopard was taken away by the West Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) along with local officials, and was brought to Taman Safari zoo in Cisarua, Bogor.

Earlier this month, a Javan leopard was shot dead after it invaded a house in a village in the East Java district of Lumajang and attacked three officials who were attempting to capture it.

The leopard, believed to be from the forest-covered slopes of nearby Mount Semeru, ran into the house in Sumber village after being spotted and subsequently chased down by local residents who were attempting to drive it away, according to Taman Safari Indonesia director Tony Sumampauw.

The big cat invaded a house belonging to Mulyadi, who immediately fled along with his family. The villagers asked for help from the local authorities, and a team from Taman Safari II in Prigen, East Java, was sent to capture the animal.

When the team arrived, they found a crowd surrounding Mulyadi’s house and immediately launched efforts to check on the animal.

As they opened the door to take a look at the leopard, it attacked two officials from Taman Safari and a police officer. Another police officer then immediately shot the animal.

The three officials attacked by the leopard sustained minor injuries and were treated at a hospital.

The Javan leopard ( Panthera pardus melas ) is a leopard subspecies that exists in the wild only on Java.

It has been classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2008, with the population estimated to be less than 250 mature individuals. It is protected under Indonesian law.