A cat-related story is sweeping the internet, and it involves a country that you might not think of as being home to big cats: Turkey. A rare subspecies of leopard that was considered extinct in Turkey for 45 years has just been filmed there.
That subspecies of leopard is called Panthera pardus tulliana, or the Anatolian leopard. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), this subspecies is recognized by some experts as being native to parts of Turkey. Conversations on LinkedIn seem to describe Anatolian and Persian leopards (Panthera pardus saxicolor) as being the same thing, but whatever the case, the sighting of a leopard in Turkey is a big deal.
Anatolian/Persian leopards were thought to have been hunted to extinction in Turkey (when an animal goes extinct in a particular region, we call it “extirpation“), with the last known Anatolian leopard being killed in 1974.
However, in 2019 someone spotted an Anatolian leopard in Turkey: 45 years after they had supposedly been extirpated. Now, researchers have captured one of these rare leopards on film.
This story by Aspen Pflughoeft contains more information and the video, which WordPress won’t let me embed because WordPress hates nice things.
Stories like leopards turning up in Turkey after 45 years – or jaguars showing up in the United States after a long absence – are always encouraging. Hopefully this new video of an Anatolian/Persian leopard will generate support for leopard conservation in Turkey.
The Jaguar 
What a great post, this is such good news. I’ve only read a few articles of an animal that was thought to be extinct being found. While only one to a few are found, it brings such promise. Thank you for sharing this wonderful news.
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Yes, it’s always great to hear stories about nature’s resilience. It’s especially great now, since around the world people are starting to push more for ecological restoration/rewilding.
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Ethereal! How amazing.
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It really is! It’s amazing how leopards seem to be able to turn up in unexpected places.
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What a stunning creature! It warmed my heart to learn about this discovery
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Thanks Caleb! It’s always heartwarming when an animal that was presumed extinct, or in this case extirpated, turns up again.
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