Panthera

By Anne Castiglioni

Mission and Vision• “Panthera has brought together the world’s leading wild cat experts to direct and

implement effective conservation strategies for the world’s largest and most endangered cats: tigers, lions, jaguars and snow leopards. Our approach to wild cat conservation is rooted in science and based upon decades of first hand field experience.”

• “We seek a future in which the world's 37 wild cat species have the necessary and ongoing protection from human and environmental threats to persist and thrive in the wild. Our vision sees endangered wild cat populations rebounded, critical habitats and core populations connected by genetic and biological corridors, and a global commitment to protect these iconic species through near and distant futures.”

The Why and How of Protecting Wild Cats

• The conservation of big cats is a strategy for conserving ecosystems.• Cats as landscape guardians; presences of big cats is a sign of a healthy

ecosystem.• How is it accomplished?• “To be sure, good science, combined with an achievable conservation

component, lies at the root of our analysis because, at the end of the day, all sustainable undertakings require an intellectual rather than strictly emotional underpinning. Panthera uses decades of expertise to develop and implement range-wide, as well as site-specific, conservation projects.”

• The Cat Advisory Council• The Conservation Council• Dr Alan Rabinowitz, George Schaller, Thomas S. Kaplan

Current Programs

• Tigers: Save the Tiger Fund, Tigers Forever• Lions: Lion Guardians, Project Leonardo• Jaguar: Pantanal Jaguar Project, Jaguar Corridor Initiative• Snow Leopard: Snow Leopard Program• Leopards: Munyawana Leopard Project • Cougars: California Cougar Project, Teton Cougar Project

• Cheetah: Iranian Cheetah Project • Panthera is active in North America, South America, Africa,

and Asia.

Success• Are they successful?• Global Felid Genetics Program • Panthera's Landscape Analysis Lab • Tigers Forever: Panthera’s CEO, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, is responsible for the creation of the

world’s largest tiger reserve in the Hukaung Valley, Myanmar. In Malaysia, just last year, due to Tigers Forever efforts, a ban was created on all commercial hunting of any wildlife in Johor State.

• Panthera’s Jaguar Corridor Initiative: spans 13 of the 18 jaguar range states from Argentina to Mexico, and is ensuring connectivity between key jaguar populations, so that jaguars can move safely and breed, and pass along their genes into the future.

• Maasai Lion Guardians: in Kenya, expanded from an area of 1,200 km2 to 5,100 km. Helped to halt distribution of agricultural poison Furadan in East Africa; lion surveys in unknown regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Northern Kenya.

• Panthera’s Snow Leopard Program Director, is steering the longest-ever snow leopard study to date, in Mongolia’s Gobi; Panthera has worked with the government of Tajikistan to develop their first ever Snow Leopard Action Plan.

References

• http://www.panthera.org/

Questions?