Big Cats as Biodiversity Indicators

Climate change is devastating our planet's biodiversity, including species critical to halting the warming of our planet. Without greater protection of nature, we will fall short of solving the climate change crisis.

Shining a Spotlight on Arabian Leopards at COP 16

The Arabian leopard survives today in only three countries — Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen — with fewer than 120 individuals remaining in the wild. This Critically Endangered big cat faces threats from habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, and the impacts of climate change. Panthera, alongside partners such as the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) and the Arabian Leopard Fund, is working tirelessly to safeguard the future of this iconic species. By addressing challenges like poaching, land degradation, and fragmentation of its natural habitat, we aim to protect the Arabian Leopard’s remaining strongholds across the Arabian Peninsula.

Explore more about our conservation efforts and the scientific research guiding our strategies. With your support, we can continue creating solutions to ensure the Arabian Leopard thrives for generations to come.

 

Read Safeguarding Nature's Gaurdians Blog

For a deeper dive into the research:

 1. Leopards and Habitat Use

 2. Searching for Spots Research Study

 3. Interspecies Interactions in the Arabian Peninsula

 4. Species Distribution in the Asir Range

Want to Save the Planet? Focus on Wild Cats

The Washington Post published an OpEd from Panthera’s Chief Scientist, Dr. John Goodrich, that proposes a compelling concept: wild cats should be utilized as indicators of progress for the overall health of our planet’s biodiversity and our fight against climate change. This message was delivered just ahead of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Montreal, where 190 nations adopted a global agreement to reverse biodiversity loss.

Tiger In Snow
©John Goodrich

What is Panthera’s role?

Panthera highlights the important role that wild cats, as umbrella, indicator, flagship and keystone species, play in biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.

Wild cats are not only essential to our cultures and traditions, they also serve important roles as flagship, umbrella, indicator and keystone species. Situated at the top of their food chains and living alongside thousands of species, healthy wild cat populations signal healthy ecosystems. Wild cats occupy an astonishing 74 percent of Earth’s landmass and nearly every forest on earth is occupied by at least one cat species. These species also overlap with three-quarters of the world’s Key Biodiversity Areas: landscapes that are home to critical populations of the world’s threatened species.

Tigers

Tigers

The tiger is a flagship species — a well-known, charismatic cat that can serve as a conservation ambassador and garner funding and support from policymakers and the public alike. Tigers require huge territories and thrive in biodiverse landscapes, so investment in this species has a trickle-down effect on entire ecosystems and regions. Research has shown that protected areas with tigers have greater biodiversity and carbon stocks because they are better protected from poaching and illegal activities that result in habitat degradation.

Jaguars

Tigers

As the largest big cat in the Americas, jaguars coexist with thousands of other species. A study of jaguar conservation showed that the range-wide network of core jaguar populations and corridors performed better than random networks in protecting biodiversity and habitats. Jaguars roam from northern Mexico to Argentina, a vast habitat that encompasses most of the Americas’ tropical forests. Protecting jaguars — and their range — would have a substantial impact on humans, especially the 53 million people who directly benefit from these forests.

(SOURCE WWF)

Lions

Tigers

While tropical forests and jungles make a lot of headlines, savannas are lesser-recognized biodiversity hotspots. Nearly all of the world’s remaining 24,000 wild lions live in savannas, including in woodland savanna habitats, which play a key role in carbon retention. As an indicator species, monitoring lions can provide insights into the health of these complex ecosystems. One study showed how the presence of lions and other large mammals can be used to assess the effectiveness of protected areas. Researchers can use data about these indicator species to evaluate the health of biodiversity in a landscape, in the same manner that forest cover indicates forest retention. Funding research and protection efforts for lions can indirectly benefit the thousands of species with whom they share their habitats.

What can you do to protect big cats and biodiversity?

  1. Protect nature and our ecosystems by respecting wildlife, avoiding single-use plastics and reducing energy consumption;
  2. Vote for leaders who support legislation that protects species and their habitats and reduces greenhouse gas emissions; and
  3. Support organizations like Panthera to push the needle forward for the planet by donating and sharing this message with your network on social media.

What is a COP?

COP, or Conferences of the Parties, are meetings of the Parties to UN Conventions on climate, biodiversity, international trade in endangered species, among others.They are attended by governments, which work together to adopt their agendas on key issues affecting the environment, and observer organizations like Panthera, which bring a variety of perspectives to help influence the outcomes.

Learn About Recent COPS »

Press Release: Panthera Statement on COP15 and Adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework »

 

Recent COPS: What You Need To Know

  • Climate COP28 was held in Dubai to conduct the world’s first ‘global stocktake’ on the world's progress towards limiting the global temperature to 1.5°C before 2023.
  • Climate COP27 was held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The goal of last year’s meeting was to scale up global efforts to address climate change.
  • CITES COP19 was held in Panama City, Panama. The Parties discussed steps to address illegal trade in big cats, including cheetahs, tigers and leopards.
  • The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 was held in Montreal, Canada in December 2022. The UN Biodiversity Conference convened governments from around the world to seek the adoption of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, an ambitious plan to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and transform people’s relationship with nature by 2050.
  • COP16, 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Cali, Colombia in October 2024 marking landmark decisions, including the first-ever agreements on nature’s genetic data.
  • COP16, UNCCD 16th session of the Conference of the Parties, will be held from December 2-13, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia focused on advancing global efforts to combat land degradation and promote sustainable ecosystems.

 

Panthera Position Statements

More position statements can be found on our Informing Policy page.