When Culture Threatens the Conservation of Biological Diversity:

The Tragic Case of the Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi)

Helle V. Goldman, Norwegian Polar Institute, goldman@npolar.no & Martin T. Walsh, University of Cambridge, mtw30@cam.ac.uk
Mounted leopard
Presented at the conference on Sustaining Cultural and Biological Diversity in a Rapidly Changing World,
in the Zanzibar American Museum of Natural History, New York, 2-5 April 2008
Museum

1. The case of the Zanzibar leopard 4. Conservation plans and their cancellation
Leopards reported
Local culture and indigenous knowledge can threat- In 1995 stories of the Zanzibar leopard’s continued
killed in official
en as well as promote the conservation of biologi- survival were conveyed to the IUCN Cat Specialist
cal diversity. This is especially so in undeveloped ru- records, 1990-1995 Group and the following year the Jozani-Chwaka Bay
ral communities when people believe that their lives Conservation Project asked us to undertake our study
and livelihoods are threatened by large and danger- as a precursor to a possible leopard conservation pro-
ous predators, notwithstanding the value of such ani- 1 2 3 4 5 6 gram. Local accounts of leopard keeping were so com-
mals to conservationists as “flagship species”. Here we pelling that a number of wildlife researchers had ac-
present just such a case. cepted them at face value. We found no evidence for
In 1996 we began a study of indigenous knowledge Chaani/ leopard domestication, though there were grounds for
Mkwajuni
and local practices relating to the Zanzibar leop- Thanks to Judith believing that a small wild population was still extant.
Chupasko and One of six Kiwengwa/
ard (Panthera pardus adersi). This is (or was) a little- Mark Omura at the
Harvard Museum known speci- Pangeni/ However, in a follow-up survey, wildlife consultants
Mchangani Ta
known subspecies endemic to Unguja, the main island A traditional of Comparative
Zoology, Cam-
mens of the nza
ni
a
ZANZIBAR could not prove the continuing presence of leopards
leopard trap bridge, MA. leopard
of the Zanzibar archipelago in Tanzania. The Zanzi- and advised that it was too late to save this endemic
bar leopard is thought to have been evolving in isola- felid. International interest in the conservation of the
0 10
tion from its continental African relatives since at least Zanzibar leopard fizzled out abruptly and plans for a
km Ndudu
the end of the last ice age, when Unguja was cut off 3. Exterminating the leopard targeted conservation program were cancelled.
from the East African mainland by rising sea levels. In the post-war period villagers in different parts of
the island made determined attempts to exterminate 5. Cultural diversity vs. biodiversity?
Ubago Uroa
2. Leopards and witches leopards and/or punish the witches believed to own Most rural Zanzibaris believe there are still leopards
Rapid human population growth in Zanzibar and them. After the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964, an is- Zanzibar
Ufufuma Forest/ on the island, many of them kept by witches. Not sur-
Jendele/
the expansion of farming in the mid-20th century de- land-wide leopard-eradication and witch-finding cam- Town Hanyegwa-
Chwaka
prisingly, they also enthusiastically support the pros-
mchana
stroyed leopard habitat and decimated their natural paign was organized with government and widespread pect of the leopard’s final elimination. In contrast,
Ukongoroni
prey, bringing leopards increasingly into conflict with popular support. No one knows exactly how many international conservationists would be delighted by
Bungi- Cheju
people. Several of our informants had, as children, leopards were trapped and shot during this campaign, kerenge
Charawe evidence of a viable population of Zanzibar leopards,
survived leopard attacks or knew of others who had but according to hunters who took part in it the impact but the consensus among them is that there are very
Jozani Mtule
lost their lives to leopards. Villagers explained the was devastating. Zanzibar’s leopard population never Pete few or none left. This case raises uncomfortable ques-
growing number of attacks on people and livestock recovered from the mass killing. Kitogani tions about the effectiveness of orthodox conservation
Muungoni
by theorizing that some leopards were magically con- State-subsidized leopard hunting continued into initiatives when human–wildlife conflict is compound-
trolled by witches and sent by them to do harm, an the 1990s as part of national efforts to control wildlife Plantations, Jambiani ed by conflicting scientific and indigenous knowledge
idea with parallels in many African cultures. In Zan- classified as “vermin”. Although some international permanent cultivation Muyuni/ about endangered species. It underlines the importance
zibar close contact or even the mere sight of such a authorities presumed the Zanzibar leopard extinct by Thicket,
Kizimkazi/
Makunduchi
of bringing both natural scientific and social scientific
leopard was believed to cause grave illness. Reputed the early 1970s, official statistics record that leopards shifting cultivation approaches to bear on difficult cases in which the con-
leopard-keepers were, like other witches, feared and were being killed by hunters through 1995. Leopard Jozani-Chwaka Bay servation of biological diversity and respect for cultur-
respected. These beliefs still dominate local knowledge sightings and incidents of livestock predation are still National Park al beliefs and diversity clash with one another.
about the Zanzibar leopard. being alleged and reported to this day.

Further reading
Goldman H.V. & Walsh M.T. 1997. A Leopard in Jeopardy: An Anthropological Survey of Perceptions and Practices Threatening the
Survival of the Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi). Zanzibar Forestry Technical Paper 63. Zanzibar: Commission for
Natural Resources.
Goldman H.V. & Walsh M.T. 2002. Is the Zanzibar Leopard (Panthera pardus adersi) Extinct? Journal of East African Natural
History 91, 15–25.
Walsh M.T. & Goldman H.V. 2003. The Zanzibar Leopard between Science and Cryptozoology. Nature East Africa 33, 14–16.
Walsh M.T. & Goldman H.V. 2007. Killing the King: The Demonization and Extermination of the Zanzibar Leopard. In E. Dounias et al.
(eds.): Le symbolisme des animaux: L’animal clef-de-voûte de la relation entre l’homme et la nature? Pp. 1133–1182. Paris: Éditions de l’IRD.
Endangered knowledge
Like the animal itself, ethnobiological and linguistic knowledge of the Zanzibar leopard is also en-
dangered. Only former hunters can now describe the leopard and its behavior in any detail. Very
few people know any of the specialized vocabulary relating to leopards. In 1996 we recorded
more than 20 Swahili names for the Zanzibar leopard, including euphemisms used to conceal ref-
erence to this much-feared animal and dialect terms for the different types of leopard that experi-
enced hunters recognized. One of the most widely used terms is kisutu, though most Zanzibaris
only know this as the name for a kind of women’s kanga or colored cotton cloth, worn ceremonial-
ly by brides and also sometimes used to signal menstruation. The kisutu wrap has a central motif
of flowers and crosses that parallels the coat pattern of the leopard with its distinctive rosettes.