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

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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