Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 121, January 2015, pp. 1-20. | 页面 2

2 At this point, his cousin Mahmut Kaplan, who was accompanying him, shot the animal with his rifle (Hurriyet, 03.11.2013). A biologist from Diyarbakır's Dicle University analyzed the dead animal's body, and said it was the first time he had seen such a leopard since another one was killed in the nearby Siirt province in 2010. That had been the first leopard seen in Anatolia for more than 35 years. "It's the first time that a leopard has been seen in Diyarbakır. We don't know how he came here, but it's an itinerant type of animal. We know that they live in Iran," Professor Murat Birecik said (Hurriyet, 03.11.2013). The Anatolian leopard lies on the ground after being killed by a shepherd on 03.11.2013 in Diyarbakır's Çınar district, Turkey. http://fotogaleri.hurriyet.com.tr/galeridetay/75095/2/8/leopari-oldurmenin-cezasi-bellioldu Birecik's colleague, Ahmet Kılıç, said the animal may have offspring and called for their protection. "The reappearance of the Anatolian leopard, which we have thought of as extinct for centuries, is very exciting. Its appearance in Diyarbakır is a miracle. Probably the villagers entered the area where the animal lived, or it may have offspring nearby. It appears to be a young, teenage leopard. Officials should immediately protect the zone," Kılıç said (Hurriyet, 03.11.2013). One of the causes of the leopard's extinction is thought to be trophy hunting, which was widespread until the 1970s. Leopards once also populated the Aegean and Mediterranean regions, according to scientists, some of whom maintain that around a dozen still remain in the wild in Turkey's eastern provinces (Hurriyet, 03.11.2013). Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 121 – January 2015