Using geographical mapping and occupancy modeling to study the distribution of the critically endangered leopard (Panthera pardus) population in Armenia

Abstract

Space limitations arising from human activities affect demographic structure and performance of mammalian populations and thus reduce their viability. This is especially true for wide-ranging wild cats (family Felidae) which generally lead solitary lives and require large tracts of good-quality habitats for survival (Sunquist and Sunquist 2001). As human activities leave more and more mosaics of modified lands behind, felid populations become fragmented and further impaired by the small and often unviable size of patches necessitating more complicated dispersal of individuals between patches (Reed 2004).