The wildlife research team of the Mondulkiri Provincial Department of Environment, Ministry of Environment, and WWF this week revealed a rare photograph of a female Indochinese leopard from their camera trap surveys, conducted in the forest of Cambodia’s eastern plains.
According to WWF’s news release on its social media, the Indochinese leopard, listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, had disappeared from almost all its former range across Southeast Asia.
The Cambodia’s eastern plains landscape remains the last refuge for only very few of its last known population. Nevertheless, this extremely rare apex predator is threatened with extinction by the snaring crisis, fueled by the illegal wildlife trade.
The Indochinese leopard could face the same faith as the already extinct Indochinese tiger since its very small population left in Cambodia is exposed to high risk of getting caught in the snare hidden in the forest habitat waiting to ambush the carnivore and its ungulate prey species with indiscriminate killing.
Besides, the survey result also showed the presence of ungulates, including wild pig, muntjac, and the rare sambar deer, as well as birds and macaques.
In order to address this crisis, key actors from relevant Government ministries and international conservation organisations launched in early March 2022 the Zero-Snaring in Cambodia’s protected areas campaign, and collectively committed to ending the snaring crisis and illegal wildlife trade for the future of Cambodia’s people and wildlife.
Source: Agency Kampuchea Press