Leopard numbers plummet as their habitat shrinks

Global animal welfare organisations, including FOUR PAWS and Wild Africa, highlighted the exploitation of leopards in the global big cat trade on International Leopard Day on 3 May.

- Annelie Coleman

FOUR PAWS said in a statement that these big cats were “traded as commodities to satisfy the growing demand to keep them as pets, or for their bones, skulls, and skins to be used in traditional medicine, luxury products, or trophies”.

Vanessa Amoroso, head of campaigns for wild animals in trade at FOUR PAWS in the UK, said leopards across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia have lost nearly 75% of their natural habitats because of habitat destruction and poaching.