[NHCOLL-L:2792] Is there a Zanzibar leopard skin in your collection?

[Janet Waddington]

Please reply directly to the address below.
Thanks,
Janet


Is there a Zanzibar leopard skin in your collection?
For about ten years Dr Martin Walsh and I have been investigating the Zanzibar leopard (Panthera pardus adersi), an endemic subspecies found on the main island of the Zanzibar archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania (East Africa). In international scientific circles, the Zanzibar leopard is generally assumed to have been extirpated during recent decades, though Zanzibaris (who associate the leopard with witchcraft) continue to report leopard sightings and attacks on livestock. We've presented our findings in several peer-reviewed and popular publications, which we are happy to send electronically to anyone interested.

To our knowledge, leopards skins (sometimes accompanied by skulls) documented to have originated in Zanzibar (collected pre-WWII) are located in just three museums: Zanzibar's Musuem of Natural History; the Natural History Musuem in London; and the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, MA. I've had the opportunity to examine first-hand all of these specimens. 

We would be very grateful for information relating to other Zanzibar leopard skins (or other parts!) stored in museum collections elsewhere. 

Dr Helle V. Goldman
Norwegian Polar Institute
Polar Environmental Centre
NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway
goldman at npolar.no