Rezati leopard

Rezati leopard
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Subfamily:	Pantherinae
Genus:	Panthera
Species:	P. pardus
Trinomial name
P. p. stultus Ymnikam, 1901

The Rezati leopard (Panthera pardus stultus) is a subspecies of leopard endemic to southern Trellin. It chiefly inhabits the grasslands of Rezat, Khatax and Mevirin. The second largest predator in Trellin, it is best known for its "dopey" appearance and rigid legs. Its diet includes prey such as lake buffalo and antelope, though it is also known to opportunistically scavenge or to hunt smaller prey such as rodents and monkeys. Its idiosyncratic anatomy, believed to derive from inbreeding among a small population, poses issues for the large predator that have contributed toward its classification as an endangered species in 2019.

Taxonomy

The Rezati leopard's scientific name, designated in 1901 by Kinira Ymnikam, is Panthera pardus stultus. Stultus is Latin for 'stupid' or 'fatuous', in reference to the leopard's "perpetually vacant expression". The naturalist Tévos Uanax campaigned in favour of the subspecific name retsatus, meaning 'of Rezat'. He denounced Ymnikam's proposal as "an unscientific flight of whimsical fantasy ill-befitting a man who claims to be serious about nature", but popular sentiment favoured stultus and, in an unusual event, a public debate between the two naturalists and a subsequent popular vote were held to select the name. Although stultus won out, it is known in English and Trellinese as the Rezati leopard. Its name in Trellinese is Shenmaua rezatai, from shenmaua, meaning "spotted cat."

Description

The Rezati leopard is a large predator, with males weighing, on average, 70 kg (154 lbs) and standing 65–75 cm (26–30 in) at the shoulder. Females are somewhat smaller, standing 59–67 cm (23–26 in) at the shoulder and weighing about 55 kg (121 lbs). Its eyes are set closer together than in most other leopard subspecies, with the result that its face looks "squashed". Its legs are also more rigid than other big cats, with a less mobile knee. Archaeologists note this change occurred in the last 10,000 years, before which the Rezati leopard had more useful legs. It has been suggested that the population may nearly have gone extinct and recovered, developing characteristics of increasingly inbred individuals. These mutations, which should have led to the leopard's extinction if it had had any competition, became its hard-coded and incredibly distinctive characteristics.

Behaviour

The Rezati leopard is a chiefly crepuscular hunter; its eyesight in darkness is generally inferior to that of other leopard species, and, though active during much of the night, it is a more effective hunter at dawn, dusk and daytime. It is common for the leopard to take one- to two-hour rests during its nighttime hunts. It spends much of the day asleep, particularly in the hotter months of the year, and will often bask sprawled on rocks, its legs stretched out rigid.

It is an unusually social subspecies, living in prides of up to seven individuals who will share a territory. Prides generally have only one male; if there is a second it is generally in a beta role. Members of a pride often sleep near each other during the day but hunt individually as a general rule and in pairs only rarely. Unattached males will also maintain territories and viciously defend them. Conflicts witnessed between territorial leopards have been described as "embarrassing," owing to their physiology.

Relationship with humans

The leopard's natural range has been greatly reduced by the encroachment of human settlements in the last few centuries. By 1660 it had been extirpated from Azmir west of the Ruhükyar, and large numbers were culled during the Khataxan settlement in the 1800s. Despite calls for the leopard to be named a protected species nationwide, it only enjoys legal protections in Mëhidan. It is widely regarded as a threat to livestock and individuals are frequently shot by farmers, even in Mëhidan. In acknowledgement of the fragmentation of its range and its continued persecution, the Rezati leopard was reclassified from Vulnerable to Endangered in February 2019.