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| A.N. Kamarov |
One of the rarest big cats in the world, the Persian leopard
(Panthera pardus ciscaucasica) is taking advantage of man's primal tendency to war against neighbors. The border between Iraq and Iran is strew with landmines left from their war in the 1980's. Twenty to thirty million landmines pose a severe obstacle to poachers, so the endangered leopard is allowed to roam free from its only predator. Leopards are extremely delft, rarely putting all of their weight on one paw, so are too light to detonate the pressure trigger landmines of the Soviet variety. Two leopards are known to have died from setting off Italian trip-wire mines. Conservation efforts have been understandably lax since the war, but now leopard conservationists are in the uncomfortable position of advocating the land mines not be cleared in order to protect leopards and keep people out of their range. Scientists estimate that fewer than 1000 remain in the wild and most (550-850) are found around Iran's border. The big cats, weighing up to 200 lbs, once lived througout the Caucasus. Poaching and habitat destruction have drastically reduced their numbers outside of protected areas. Recent assessements of leopard mortality in Iran shows 70% of deaths are the result of illegal hunting, poisoning or road accidents. Minefields elsewhere in the world are also benefiting wildlife. The heavily mined "demilitarized zone" between North and South Korea has become a wildlife refuge of sorts, and the minefields in the Falkland Islands have benefited penguin populations.