NEW RECORDS OF THE LIVING ANATOLIAN LEOPARD (PANTHERA PARDUS TULLIANA L., 1758) IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION OF TURKEY.

According to recent genetic studies, there are eight subspecies of leopards (Panthera pardus) all over the world. Among these subspecies, the Anatolian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana) is distributed in the southern and western regions of Turkey. It is a terrestrial mammal subspecies of Anatolia that is important historically, culturally and biologically. To date, there have been no studies about the Anatolian leopard, which is at the top of the food chain and has the characteristics of an umbrella species, key species and flag species in conservation studies. It is known that until 1975, the Anatolian leopard had dispersed along the forests of Central Anatolia, Mediterranean and Aegean regions. Since then, no living records have been taken, with the exception of unconfirmed information from scientists, local people and hunters. With this study, for the first time in history, one living individual(s) of the Anatolian leopard (P. p. tulliana) was photographed and video recorded via camera trap method, in the Western Taurus Mountains of the Mediterranean region of Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]