"THE ZANZIBAR LEOPARD" ON ANIMAL PLANET

Helle checking a camera trap in Jozani Forest

The quest for the Zanzibar leopard is the running theme of the premiere of the Animal Planet infotainment series, “Extinct or Alive", which airs in the US on Sunday, 10 June. We participated in the production of this extended episode by providing background material about leopards and other wildlife on the island, as well as the island’s history and culture. Travelling to Zanzibar a week in advance of the film crew, we scouted filming locations, lined up interviews, liaised with local forestry staff, and obtained access to recent photographs of alleged leopard pugmarks and leopard kills (eviscerated goats).

Martin setting a camera trap in Jozani Forest

In addition, we deployed 10 camera traps in various locations, getting excellent video footage of some of Zanzibar’s small carnivores in the wild: the Zanzibar servaline genet (Genetta servalina archeri), the African palm civet (Nandinia binotata), and the Zanzibar bushy-tailed mongoose (Bdeogale crassicauda tenuis). To our knowledge, none of these has been filmed on Unguja island before, so this was exciting.

Other wildlife that we filmed with the camera traps included Zanzibar Sykes monkey (Cercopithicus mitis albogularis), greater galago (Otolemur garnettii garnettii), the Zanzibar subspecies of the Tanzania dwarf coast galago (Galagoides zanzibaricus zanzibaricus), red bush squirrel (Paraxerus palliatus frerei), northern giant pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus cosensi), Zanzibar four-toed sengi (Petrodromus tetradactylus zanzibaricus) and black and rufous sengi (Rhynchocyon petersi).

Towards the end of our work in Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park, we also engaged in an imaginary leopard chase of the kind that we've described in earlier publications (see the references below). As we might have expected, this came to nought, and we left with nothing to pique the interest of the producers and film crew. They did, however, use footage of an interview with us and many clips of the other animals that we had camera-trapped, including superb daytime (and therefore colour) video shots of a servaline genet. 

In the absence of verified evidence, like most authorities we now presume the Zanzibar leopard to have been extirpated, despite tantalising reports and claims to the contrary. But this shouldn't stop people from enjoying Animal Planet's expertly crafted and highly entertaining narrative.

References

Walsh, Martin & Helle Goldman 2017. Chasing imaginary leopards: science, witchcraft and the politics of conservation in Zanzibar. In Iain Walker (ed.) Contemporary Issues in Swahili Ethnography. Abingdon & New York: Routledge. 99-118. [originally published in 2012 in Journal of Eastern African Studies 6 (4): 727-746. DOI: 10.1080/17531055.2012.729778]

Walsh, Martin & Helle Goldman 2017. Cryptids and credulity: the Zanzibar leopard and other imaginary beings. In Samantha Hurn (ed.) Anthropology and Cryptozoology: Exploring Encounters with Mysterious Creatures. Abingdon & New York: Routledge. 54-90. DOI: 10.4324/9781315567297-11.

THE ZANZIBAR LEOPARD ET AL. ON SCRIBD

We've now posted some of our papers about the Zanzibar leopard, Zanzibar servaline genet and other small carnivores to the document-sharing website Scribd. They can all be viewed in and downloaded from the "Conservation" folder in Martin Walsh's collection of papers on the site.

Here are links to individual papers and posters:

Goldman, H. V. and Walsh, M. T. 2008. When Culture Threatens the Conservation of Biological Diversity: The Tragic Case of the Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi). Poster presented to Sustaining Cultural and Biological Diversity in a Rapidly Changing World: Lessons for Global Policy, Thirteenth Annual Symposium of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, New York, 2-5 April 2008.

Goldman, H. V. and Walsh, M. T. 2007. Human-Wildlife Conflict, Unequal Knowledge and the Failure to Conserve the Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi). Poster presented to the Felid Biology and Conservation Conference, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), University of Oxford, 17-21 September 2007.

Walsh, M. T. & Goldman, H. V. 2007. Killing the King: The Demonization and Extermination of the Zanzibar Leopard / Tuer le roi: la diabolisation et l’extermination du leopard de Zanzibar. In Edmond Dounias, Elisabeth Motte-Florac and Margaret Dunham (eds.) Le symbolisme des animaux: L'animal, clef de voûte de la relation entre l'homme et la nature? / Animal symbolism: Animals, keystone of the relationship between man and nature? (collection ‘colloques et séminaires’). Paris: Éditions de l’IRD (Institut de recherché pour le développement). 1133-1182.

Goldman, H. V., Winther-Hansen, J. & Walsh, M. T. 2004. Zanzibar’s Recently Discovered Servaline Genet. Nature East Africa, 34 (2): 5-7.

Walsh, M. T. & Goldman, H. V. 2004. The Zanzibar Leopard – Dead or Alive? Tanzanian Affairs, 77: 20-23.

Walsh, M. T. & Goldman, H. V. 2003. The Zanzibar Leopard between Science and Cryptozoology. Nature East Africa, 33 (1/2): 14-16.

Goldman, H. V. & Winther-Hansen, J. 2003. The Small Carnivores of Unguja: Results of a Photo-trapping Survey in Jozani Forest Reserve, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Tromso, Norway.

Goldman, H. V. & Walsh, M. T. 2002. Is the Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi) Extinct? Journal of East African Natural History, 91 (1/2): 15-25 (plus the map that was published as an erratum in the 2003 issue: Journal of East African Natural History, 92 (1/2): 4).

Our original report on the Zanzibar leopard is still online on the website of the Zanzibar Department of Commercial Crops, Fruits and Forestry (DCCFF):

Goldman, H. V. & Walsh, M. T. 1997. A Leopard in Jeopardy: An Anthropological Survey of Practices and Beliefs which Threaten the Survival of the Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi). Zanzibar Forestry Technical Paper No.63 / report to Jozani Chwaka Bay Conservation Project, Commission for Natural Resources, Zanzibar.

The following unpublished study also includes a section on the Zanzibar leopard:

Walsh, M. T. & Harvey, S. P. 1997. Understanding and Engaging Local Knowledge and Practice: Practical Approaches to Natural Resources Research and Development. Unpublished monograph prepared for the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham.

Further reference to the leopard and other carnivores on Unguja can be found in the following paper:

Walsh, M. T. 2007. Island Subsistence: Hunting, Trapping and the Translocation of Wildlife in the Western Indian Ocean. Azania, 42 (Special issue: Stephanie Wynne-Jones (ed.) The Indian Ocean as a Cultural Community): 83-113. (With an online appendix: ‘Island Mammal Lists and Local Names’).

R. H. W. Pakenham's unpublished monograph on the mammals of Zanzibar is also available on Scribd:

Pakenham, R. H. W. 1984. The Mammals of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands. Harpenden: privately printed.