African Leopard - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Traditionally the following subspecies were distinguished in Africa:

• Central African leopard P. p. pardus (Linnaeus, 1758): Sudan and northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo
• Barbary leopard P. p. panthera (Schreber, 1777): North Africa
• West African forest leopard P. p. leopardus (Schreber, 1777): Rain forests of Western and Central Africa
• Cape leopard P. p. melanotica (Günther, 1885): Southern Africa
• East African leopard P. p. suahelica (Neumann, 1900): East Africa
• Somali leopard P. p. nanopardus (Thomas, 1904): Arid zones of Somalia
• Ruwenzori leopard P. p. ruwenzori (Camerano, 1906): Ruwenzori and Virunga Mountains
• Abyssinian Leopard P. p. adusta (Pocock, 1927): Ethiopian Highlands
• West African leopard P. p. reichenovi (Cabrera 1927): Savannas of Cameroon
• Zanzibar leopard P. p. adersi (Pocock, 1932): Unguja Island, Zanzibar

Results of genetic analysis indicate that all African leopard populations are closely related and represent only one subspecies. However, sample sizes were limited.