Panthera Corporation

Panthera
Founded2006
FoundersThomas S. Kaplan
Alan Rabinowitz
TypeNon-profit organization
20-4668756
FocusDevelops, implements, and oversees range-wide species conservation strategies
HeadquartersNew York City
Area served
World-wide
CEO
Frederic Launay
  • Jonathan Ayers
  • Frederic Launay
  • Thomas S. Kaplan
  • Ross J. Beaty
  • Joshua Fink
  • Lieutenant General Sir Graeme Lamb
  • Duncan McFarland
  • Hon. Claudia A. McMurray
  • H.E. Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak
  • H.H. Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al-Saud
  • Robert Quartermain
Key people
  • Joe Smith
  • Guy Balme
  • John Goodrich
  • Howard Quigley
  • Kim Young-Overton
  • Philipp Henschel
  • Mark Elbroch
  • Wai-Ming Wong
  • Gareth Mann
  • Byron Weckworth
Websitehttps://www.panthera.org

Panthera Corporation, or Panthera, is a charitable organization devoted to preserving wild cats and their ecosystems around the globe. Founded in 2006, Panthera is devoted to the conservation of the world’s 40 species of wild cats and the vast ecosystems they inhabit. Their team of biologists, data scientists, law enforcement experts and wild cat advocates studies and protects the seven species of big cats: cheetahs, jaguars, leopards, lions, pumas, snow leopards and tigers.[1][2] Panthera also creates targeted conservation strategies for the world’s most threatened and overlooked small cats, such as fishing cats, ocelots and Andean cats. The organization has offices in New York City and Europe, as well as offices in Mesoamerica, South America, Africa and Asia.

Programs and grants[edit]

Panthera works in partnership with local and international NGOs, scientific institutions, corporate partner and government agencies to develop and implement range-wide species conservation strategies. It has funded the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford University, with a diploma program in international wildlife practice.[2] The organization also awards a number of grants to support promising field conservationists. These grant programs include the Kaplan Graduate Awards, the Research and Conservation Grants, the Small Cat Action Fund, the Sabin Snow Leopard Grant Program and the Winston Cobb Memorial Fellowships.[1]

Founders and leadership[edit]

Panthera was co-founded by American scientist Alan Rabinowitz and American entrepreneur Thomas S. Kaplan; who formerly served as Chairman of Panthera’s Board of Trustees, succeeded in 2021 by Jonathan Ayers.[3] Kaplan currently is Chairman of The Global Alliance for Wild Cats.[4] Rabinowitz was the first President and CEO from 2001 until 2017 when he was succeeded by French scientist Fred Launay.[5] Dr. Rabinowitz helped establish the world's first jaguar preserve in 1986, in Belize,[6] and was the main driving force behind the Jaguar Corridor that connects jaguar populations across its range, from Mexico to Argentina.[2]

John Goodrich leads Panthera’s Tiger Program and serves as Chief Scientist. Kim Young-Overton serves as Director of Panthera’s Cheetah Program, and Gareth Mann is Director of Panthera’s Leopard Program. Additionally, Byron Weckworth is the Director of the Snow Leopard Program, Wai-Ming Wong is Director of the Small Cats Program and Mark Elbroch is the Director of the Puma Program. Howard Quigley joined the organization in 2009[7] and is currently the Director of its Jaguar Program.

Board members[edit]

Projects[edit]

South and Central America projects[edit]

In South America, Mesoamerica and Mexico, Panthera is developing a transnational corridor to help protect the jaguar. Jaguar survival and health depends on a network of corridors that span the continent, while past efforts focused on developing distinct sanctuaries.[9] It is the jaguar's ability to travel long distances that prevents inbreeding and consequent extinction.

In August 2010, in Belize, it worked with the government to create the Labouring Creek Jaguar Corridor Wildlife Sanctuary, with more than 7,000 acres (28 km²) of land. The project is part of the Panthera Jaguar Corridor Initiative.[10] In Costa Rica, it is researching the routes that jaguars travel, and encouraging politicians and developers to respect those routes. They are also sponsoring community outreach programs to alleviate "jaguar conflict issues".[9] In Mesoamerica and North America, Panthera also works in Mexico, Guatemala,[11] Honduras[12] and Nicaragua, in addition to its ongoing work in Belize and Costa Rica.

In early 2010, Panthera signed a deal with the Colombian government to protect and develop the area where the Central and South American jaguar corridors converge in Colombia. In Brazil, Panthera manages Fazenda Jofre Velho,[13] one of the most important research bases in the Pantanal. They are working with local ranchers to find benign ways to protect their cattle, rather than the typical approach of shooting the jaguars.[6]

Panthera’s South American puma initiatives are focused in Chile. Working with their partner, the Fundación Cerro Guido Conservación,[14] they are exploring various methods to enhance the peaceful coexistence between pumas and sheep, including protective Maremma and Pirineos sheepdogs, Foxlights and supporting puma ecotourism.

United States projects[edit]

Panthera also works to protect pumas and small cats across the Americas. In the Northwest, their Olympic Cougar Project represents an important and exciting partnership between Panthera and six indigenous tribes, led by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, to study and protect pumas in the dense coniferous forests, glacier-clad mountains and rugged coastlines of Washington’s stunning Olympic Peninsula.[15] Previously, Panthera’s puma initiatives in the United States were focused in Wyoming.

In the Northeast U.S., Panthera also runs the New York Millfarm Bobcat Project[16] to understand bobcat ecology in an eastern rural landscape and use this information to develop a replicable monitoring protocol to inform bobcat management plans in New York State and other States along the eastern coast.

Asia and Middle East projects[edit]

In Asia, Panthera's Tigers Forever project is planning a 5,000-mile (8,000 km) long corridor from Bhutan to Myanmar for wild tiger populations. The corridor would also include land in northeast India,Thailand, and Malaysia, and possibly Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.[17]

Panthera works in India, and has increased tiger numbers in Manas National Park. Additionally, further east, in August 2010, the government of Myanmar announced the expansion, by 4,248 square miles (11,000 km²), of the Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve, the world's largest tiger preserve. Panthera CEO Alan Rabinowitz helped bring together representatives from the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar government to make the expansion possible.[18]

In Johor State, Malaysia, Panthera is working with the state government and the Wildlife Conservation Society to increase tiger numbers by 50% over a ten-year period. As part of that project, in early 2010 Panthera cameras captured an image of a rare spotted leopard in Taman Negara National Park and Endau-Rompin National Park, where only black leopards were believed to exist.[19]

Panthera also works in Thailand to protect wild cats, including tigers and fishing cats, and in Malaysian Borneo to study the five species of small cats that inhabit Sabah.

In August 2010, the government of Burma announced the expansion, by 4,248 square miles (11,000 km2), of the Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve, the world's largest tiger preserve. Panthera CEO Alan Rabinowitz helped bring together representatives from the Kachin Independence Army and the Burma government to make the expansion possible.[20][21]

In Johor State, Malaysia, Panthera is working with the state government and the Wildlife Conservation Society to increase tiger numbers by 50% over a ten-year period. As part of that project, in early 2010 Panthera cameras captured an image of a rare spotted leopard in Taman Negara National Park and Endau-Rompin National Park, where only black leopards were believed to exist.[22]

Panthera's Snow Leopard Program is studying the species in Mongolia, and surveying new regions where the animals are likely to live, but have not yet been discovered. They work with local animal herders to train them in new approaches that will reduce livestock lost to the leopards. They are also working at protection for the estimated 3,500 to 7,000 snow leopards in Central Asia. Programs include giving a bonus to Mongolian herding communities that have gone one year without killing a snow leopard, and livestock vaccinations in Pakistan, where loss to disease is greater than leopard depredation.[23][24]

Panthera's Snow Leopard Program has studied the species in Mongolia, and surveyed new regions where the animals are likely to live, but have not yet been discovered.[24] They are also working to protect snow leopards in Central Asia, including in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.[25][26][27]

Panthera’s work in the Middle East focuses on the Arabian Peninsula. With the support provided by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), there is a strong focus on leopards, and specifically on restoring and conserving leopards in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).[28]

Africa projects[edit]

Panthera works across the African continent. In South Africa, the Sabi Sands protected area, bordering the Kruger National Park, is a long-term leopard research site and one of Panthera’s flagship projects. The knowledge generated from this work is critical to informing local wildlife management and broader conservation policy across the leopard range.[29]

Within Zambia, Panthera project sites are focused in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem (GKE).[30] They currently support 17 anti-poaching teams, two dedicated lion monitoring and protection teams and one leopard monitoring team across Kafue National Park and surrounding Game Management Areas.[31] Panthera’s Cheetah Program has also GPS collared cheetahs in the park.[32] Panthera also has project sites elsewhere across southern Africa, including in Zimbabwe and Angola.

Since 2010, Panthera has collaborated with Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN), Gabon’s National Park Agency, to monitor wildlife in Plateaux Batéké National Park, where a lone male lion was spotted on a camera trap. Panthera Gabon is currently working on a countrywide leopard survey and helping the Gabonese government and ANPN identify gazelle wildlife movement corridors in order to secure and connect populations.[33]

Over the past decade, Panthera has built a strong working relationship with the government of Senegal, formalized through a long-term agreement with the Department of National Parks to strengthen park management and security in Niokolo-Koba National Park.[34] They provide direct support to ranger teams for effective large-scale patrols, the rebuilding and expansion of the park’s infrastructure and intensive ecological monitoring, including monitoring of lions using GPS-satellite collars.[35]

Panthera also works on initiatives in southern Africa that provide synthetic wild cat furs to communities in place of traditional garb.[36] They work with the Barotse Royal Establishment of the Lozi People in Zambia (Saving Spots Initiative) and the Nazareth Baptist Church eBuhleni (known as the Shembe Church) in South Africa (Furs for Life Initiative) in this capacity.[37][38] More than 18,500 synthetic capes have already been distributed to the Shembe Church,[39][40] and synthetic garb was provided to the Lozi people during the traditional Kuomboka Festival in 2022.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Panthera: Partners in Wild Cat Conservation". Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Davidson, Max (2009-08-11). "Tom Kaplan: 'I have big plans for big cats'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  3. ^ "Jonathan Ayers to chair Panthera board of directors". animalhealthdigest.com. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  4. ^ "World's Small Wild Cats Get A Major Conservation Boost". WorldAtlas. 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  5. ^ "Panthera Appoints Dr. Frédéric Launay to Lead the Global Wild Cat Conservation Organization, Succeeding Dr. Alan Rabinowitz As CEO". Panthera. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  6. ^ a b Di Paola, Mike (2009-06-29). "Slaughtered Jaguars Link New York Doctors, Brazilian Ranchers". Bloomberg. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Howard Quigley, Ph.D." Panthera. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  8. ^ The Giving Pledge Welcomes 14 New Signatories Panthera. Access February 7, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Rosenthal, Elisabeth (2010-05-11). "To Help Jaguars Survive, Ease Their Commute". New York Times. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  10. ^ Braun, David (August 10, 2010). "Belize sets aside land for jaguar corridor". National Geographic. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  11. ^ "Saving Species With Sound: Anti-Poaching Project From Panthera is Saving Jaguars in Central America | Panthera". www.panthera.org. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  12. ^ "A Jaguar Named Hope". Journey of the Jaguar. 2018-06-08. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  13. ^ "Parceria entre Belgo e Panthera Brasil ajuda a preservar a onça-pintada". Revista Rural (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2021-08-06. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  14. ^ "Investigación Pumas – Parque Torres del Paine" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  15. ^ Watch CBS Mornings: New software helps track, protect big cats - Full show on CBS, retrieved 2022-09-27
  16. ^ "Panthera United States and Canada". Panthera. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  17. ^ "Conservationists Plan Genetic Tiger Corridor Across Asia". Big Cat Rescue. 2008-02-17. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  18. ^ "Tigers bring political foes together". Mizzima. Burma. August 6, 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  19. ^ "First images of spotted leopard captured in Malaysia". phys.org. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  20. ^ "Gale - Product Login". galeapps.gale.com. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  21. ^ Seidensticker, John (1 November 2008). "A Place for Tigers – Review of Life in the Valley of Death: The Fight to Save Tigers in a Land of Guns, Gold, and Greed, by Alan Rabinowitz Alan. Island Press. Washington, DC. 248 pp., ISBN 9781597261296, cloth". BioScience. 58 (10): 990–991. doi:10.1641/B581014. S2CID 84219640.
  22. ^ "CRare Spotted Leopard Photographed for First Time in Malaysian National Park". Treehugger/Discovery Channel. 2010-04-24. Archived from the original on 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  23. ^ Noras, Sibylle (March 8, 2010). "Sad end". Saving Snow Leopards. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  24. ^ a b "Snow Leopard". Panthera. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  25. ^ "Engagement Communities to Safeguard Rural Livelihoods and Cultivate Conservation Partnerships in Kyrgyzstan". www.cepf.net. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  26. ^ Shaer, Matthew. "Hunters Become Conservationists in the Fight to Protect the Snow Leopard". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  27. ^ "Supporting Tajikistan to lead on Transboundary Cooperation on Snow Leopards | CMS". www.cms.int. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  28. ^ "$20 million deal signed to save Arabian leopard population". Arab News. 2019-06-09. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  29. ^ MacGregor, Sandra. "Discover 5 Under-The-Radar Destinations For Tigers, Pumas, Jaguars And Leopards". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  30. ^ "Greater Kafue". Zambian Carnivore Program. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  31. ^ "Wilderness Safaris and Panthera offer a chance to track lions in Zambia: Travel Weekly". www.travelweekly.com. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  32. ^ "Cheetah". Panthera. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  33. ^ "No longer extinct: returning lions to Gabon". Lion Recovery Fund. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  34. ^ "Inside the race to save West Africa's endangered lions". Animals. 2022-06-28. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  35. ^ "Group Saving Endangered Lions Helps Lioness Remove Porcupine Quills: 'Probably Saved Her Life'". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  36. ^ "Furs for Life and the Panthera Faux Furs Program". Wildlife ACT. 2017-06-15. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  37. ^ "Furs for Life". Panthera. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  38. ^ Yandell, Inga (2015-03-20). "Furs For Life Give Leopards New Hope". Earth Endeavours. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  39. ^ Van Rooyen, Lesa (2020-12-21). "Hope for the world's most persecuted large cat". Peace Parks Foundation. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  40. ^ Lazarus, Sarah (18 December 2019). "Digital designers create replica leopard furs for ceremonial wear in southern Africa". CNN. Retrieved 2022-09-28.

External links[edit]

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