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Conservation of the Persian leopard project at Golestan National Park
2012  Full Book

January 2012 was the first anniversary of the Conservation of the Persian Leopard Project in Golestan National Park (GNP). The initial phase of the project, determining the population of the Persian leopard as a flagship species was completed by planting camera traps throughout the Park. In this phase, the research team was also able to gather data on threats and concerns in GNP that could potentially be used for future conservation programs. The objective of focusing on this particular species, other than trying to directly intervene in attempts to save one of the largest endangered felines, is to also use the data obtained as an indicator for conservation programs throughout GNP. For this project, Golestan was divided into three working geographical regions - steppes and non-wooded areas in the eastern, northern, and northeastern part of the park, the wooden region north of the Asian Highway, and the wooded-non-wooded region south of the road. A total of 83 camera trap stations gathered a sample of 2,777 trap nights (TN) of which 78 were photographs of Persian leopards. By studying the unique patterns on both sides of the leopard's body, 20 unique leopards were identified. Using the CAPTURE software, we estimated the GNP population of leopards to 27 +/- 4.61 and the population range 23-42. In addition, the population density of the Persian leopard was calculated at 3.2 per 100 square kilometers. In this study, threats to the Persian leopard and GNP were assessed and identified. Conservation models were then developed to correspond to the preliminary data. These data shall be used in the future phases of the project within research and operational programs

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