Anatolian Leopard - The Kaplani of Samos Island in Greece

The Kaplani of Samos Island in Greece

There are no recent reports of encounters with the animal in Greece, though at the end of the 18th century an Anatolian leopard from Asia Minor was forced, either by a flooding of the Maeander River or by wildfire, to swim over to the nearby Samos Island, where it became the apex predator and the scourge of domestic animals.

The Kaplani (Greek: Καπλάνι from Turkish: Kaplan meaning Tiger) was hunted by farmers and shepherds and was forced to take refuge in a cave. The entrance was documented as being blocked with large stones so that the animal would die out of hunger and thirst. After some time, a villager named Gerasimos Gliarmis opened a hole and climbed down the cave unarmed, in order to find the leopard's corpse. But the animal had managed to survive eating the remains of its old prey and drinking the water which had gathered in the cave's hollow. The leopard tried to fight his way out, but the villager's brother, Nikolaos Gliarmis, also climbed down the cave for help and managed to kill it. Gerasimos Gliarmis was injured by the wildcat in his chest and died a short time later from infection.

The dead leopard was embalmed and is today displayed at the Natural History Museum of the Aegean on Samos Island. The story of the animal and the exhibit inspired distinguished Greek author Alki Zei for her novel Wildcat under glass (Greek: Το καπλάνι της βιτρίνας, a.k.a. The Tiger in the Shop Window, 1963).