Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status
Author
Jo, Yeong-Seok
Author
Baccus, John T.
Author
Koprowski, John L.
text
Zootaxa
2018
2018-11-19
4522
1
1
216
journal article
27944
10.11646/zootaxa.4522.1.1
58e0c7c5-75ec-4b1b-beb0-d01527f710f9
1175-5326
2610198
C24EFA8A-A5A0-4B06-A0A9-632F542B9529
Panthera pardus
(
Linnaeus, 1758
)
—Leopard
Felis pardus
Linnaeus, 1758 p.41
;
Type
locality- Indiis (
Egypt
);
Won, 1968 p.311
.
F. orientalis
Schlegel, 1857 p.23
;
Type
locality-
Korea
.
F. villosa
Bonhote, 1903 p.475
;
Type
locality-
Amur
Bay
,
East Siberia
.
Pardus
orientalis
:
Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.379
.
F. pardus orientalis
:
Kuroda, 1938 p.40
;
Won, 1958 p.442
;
Won, 1967 p.147
;
Won, 1968 p.312
.
Panthera pardus orientalis
:
Tate, 1947 p.194
;
Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.316
;
Yoon, 1992 p.115
.
Panthera pardus
:
Corbet, 1978 p.184
;
Han, 1994 p.46
;
Won & Smith, 1999 p.20
;
Oh, 2004a p.158
.
FIGURE 51.
Range map of
Panthera pardus
in Korea.
Range:
The original distribution of the leopard in
Korea
extended throughout the peninsula (
Jo & Baccus 2016
). Until the 1990s, a few leopards remained in extreme northern
North Korea
(
Kim
et al
. 2015
;
Fig. 51
). The only official North Korean government report (Korean Central News Agency
17 March 2009
) on the status of this species in
North Korea
reported occurrences in Mt. Myohyang Nature Reserve, Hyangsan County in 2009.
Remarks:
Leopards from
Korea
, Far East
Russia
, and northeastern
China
are classified under
Panthera pardus orientalis
(
Schlegel, 1857
)
.
Conservation status:
North Korea
classified populations as ‘Vulnerable’. The Ministry of Environment in
South Korea
listed
P. pardus
as an endangered species in 1997. Despite several unofficial reports of leopards,
P
.
pardus
became extinct at least in
South Korea
, and the NIBR (2012) declared
P. pardus
in
South Korea
as ‘Regionally Extinct’. The status of this species in
North Korea
remains unknown. Radio telemetry studies confirmed that populations exist in the Primorye region of southeastern
Russia
and
Jilin Province
of northeast
China
(
Uphyrkina
et al.
2002
;
Miquelle & Goodrich 2009
). Leopards cross between
Russia
,
China
and
North Korea
across the Duman River despite a high and long wire fence marking the boundary (
Nam 2005
). However,
North Korea
has seldom monitored leopards or their habitats along that part of the border in the mountains (
Nam 2005
). Unfortunately, wildlife surveys rarely occur in this region. This subspecies was classified and has remained classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ since 1996 by the IUCN; the species is protected by CITES Appendix I.