A Multi-Point Identification Approach for the Recognition of Individual Leopards (<i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i>)
Visual leopard identifications performed with camera traps using the capture–recapture method only consider areas of the skin that are visible to the equipment. The method presented here considered the spot or rosette formations of either the two flanks or the face, and the captured images were then...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-03-01
|
| Series: | Animals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/5/660 |
| _version_ | 1827651999425888256 |
|---|---|
| author | Milinda Wattegedera Dushyantha Silva Chandana Sooriyabandara Prasantha Wimaladasa Raveendra Siriwardena Mevan Piyasena Ranjan M. S. L. R. P. Marasinghe Bhagya M. Hathurusinghe Rajapakse M. R. Nilanthi Sadeepa Gunawardena Heshan Peiris Pasan Seneviratne Pramod C. Sendanayake Chathura Dushmantha Sudantha Chandrasena Sahan S. Gooneratne Pumudi Premaratne Sandaru Wickremaratne Mindaka Mahela |
| author_facet | Milinda Wattegedera Dushyantha Silva Chandana Sooriyabandara Prasantha Wimaladasa Raveendra Siriwardena Mevan Piyasena Ranjan M. S. L. R. P. Marasinghe Bhagya M. Hathurusinghe Rajapakse M. R. Nilanthi Sadeepa Gunawardena Heshan Peiris Pasan Seneviratne Pramod C. Sendanayake Chathura Dushmantha Sudantha Chandrasena Sahan S. Gooneratne Pumudi Premaratne Sandaru Wickremaratne Mindaka Mahela |
| author_sort | Milinda Wattegedera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Visual leopard identifications performed with camera traps using the capture–recapture method only consider areas of the skin that are visible to the equipment. The method presented here considered the spot or rosette formations of either the two flanks or the face, and the captured images were then compared and matched with available photographs. Leopards were classified as new individuals if no matches were found in the existing set of photos. It was previously assumed that an individual leopard’s spot or rosette pattern would not change. We established that the spot and rosette patterns change over time and that these changes are the result of injuries in certain cases. When compared to the original patterns, the number of spots may be lost or reduced, and some spots or patterns may change in terms of their prominence, shape, and size. We called these changes “obliterate changes” and “rejig changes”, respectively. The implementation of an earlier method resulted in a duplication of leopard counts, achieving an error rate of more than 15% in the population at Yala National Park. The same leopard could be misidentified and counted multiple times, causing overestimated populations. To address this issue, we created a new two-step methodology for identifying Sri Lankan leopards. The multi-point identification method requires the evaluation of at least 9–10 spot areas before a leopard can be identified. Moreover, the minimum leopard population at the YNP 1 comprises at least 77 leopards and has a density of 0.5461 leopards per km<sup>2</sup>. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:49:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-345dcf14b83a4296a61976d062d89165 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:49:21Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-345dcf14b83a4296a61976d062d891652023-11-23T22:37:56ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152022-03-0112566010.3390/ani12050660A Multi-Point Identification Approach for the Recognition of Individual Leopards (<i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i>)Milinda Wattegedera0Dushyantha Silva1Chandana Sooriyabandara2Prasantha Wimaladasa3Raveendra Siriwardena4Mevan Piyasena5Ranjan M. S. L. R. P. Marasinghe6Bhagya M. Hathurusinghe7Rajapakse M. R. Nilanthi8Sadeepa Gunawardena9Heshan Peiris10Pasan Seneviratne11Pramod C. Sendanayake12Chathura Dushmantha13Sudantha Chandrasena14Sahan S. Gooneratne15Pumudi Premaratne16Sandaru Wickremaratne17Mindaka Mahela18The Leopard Research and Data Gathering Team, Yala Leopard Visitor Center, Yala National Park, Palatupana 82614, Sri LankaThe Leopard Research and Data Gathering Team, Yala Leopard Visitor Center, Yala National Park, Palatupana 82614, Sri LankaDepartment of Wildlife Conservation, 811A Jayanthipura, Battaramulla 10120, Sri LankaThe Leopard Research and Data Gathering Team, Yala Leopard Visitor Center, Yala National Park, Palatupana 82614, Sri LankaThe Leopard Research and Data Gathering Team, Yala Leopard Visitor Center, Yala National Park, Palatupana 82614, Sri LankaThe Leopard Research and Data Gathering Team, Yala Leopard Visitor Center, Yala National Park, Palatupana 82614, Sri LankaDepartment of Wildlife Conservation, 811A Jayanthipura, Battaramulla 10120, Sri LankaPost Graduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400, Sri LankaDepartment of Wildlife Conservation, 811A Jayanthipura, Battaramulla 10120, Sri Lanka246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri LankaVisual leopard identifications performed with camera traps using the capture–recapture method only consider areas of the skin that are visible to the equipment. The method presented here considered the spot or rosette formations of either the two flanks or the face, and the captured images were then compared and matched with available photographs. Leopards were classified as new individuals if no matches were found in the existing set of photos. It was previously assumed that an individual leopard’s spot or rosette pattern would not change. We established that the spot and rosette patterns change over time and that these changes are the result of injuries in certain cases. When compared to the original patterns, the number of spots may be lost or reduced, and some spots or patterns may change in terms of their prominence, shape, and size. We called these changes “obliterate changes” and “rejig changes”, respectively. The implementation of an earlier method resulted in a duplication of leopard counts, achieving an error rate of more than 15% in the population at Yala National Park. The same leopard could be misidentified and counted multiple times, causing overestimated populations. To address this issue, we created a new two-step methodology for identifying Sri Lankan leopards. The multi-point identification method requires the evaluation of at least 9–10 spot areas before a leopard can be identified. Moreover, the minimum leopard population at the YNP 1 comprises at least 77 leopards and has a density of 0.5461 leopards per km<sup>2</sup>.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/5/660<i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i>identificationYala National Parkspotrosettepopulation |
| spellingShingle | Milinda Wattegedera Dushyantha Silva Chandana Sooriyabandara Prasantha Wimaladasa Raveendra Siriwardena Mevan Piyasena Ranjan M. S. L. R. P. Marasinghe Bhagya M. Hathurusinghe Rajapakse M. R. Nilanthi Sadeepa Gunawardena Heshan Peiris Pasan Seneviratne Pramod C. Sendanayake Chathura Dushmantha Sudantha Chandrasena Sahan S. Gooneratne Pumudi Premaratne Sandaru Wickremaratne Mindaka Mahela A Multi-Point Identification Approach for the Recognition of Individual Leopards (<i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i>) Animals <i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i> identification Yala National Park spot rosette population |
| title | A Multi-Point Identification Approach for the Recognition of Individual Leopards (<i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i>) |
| title_full | A Multi-Point Identification Approach for the Recognition of Individual Leopards (<i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i>) |
| title_fullStr | A Multi-Point Identification Approach for the Recognition of Individual Leopards (<i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i>) |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Multi-Point Identification Approach for the Recognition of Individual Leopards (<i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i>) |
| title_short | A Multi-Point Identification Approach for the Recognition of Individual Leopards (<i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i>) |
| title_sort | multi point identification approach for the recognition of individual leopards i panthera pardus kotiya i |
| topic | <i>Panthera pardus kotiya</i> identification Yala National Park spot rosette population |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/5/660 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT milindawattegedera amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT dushyanthasilva amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT chandanasooriyabandara amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT prasanthawimaladasa amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT raveendrasiriwardena amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT mevanpiyasena amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT ranjanmslrpmarasinghe amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT bhagyamhathurusinghe amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT rajapaksemrnilanthi amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT sadeepagunawardena amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT heshanpeiris amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT pasanseneviratne amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT pramodcsendanayake amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT chathuradushmantha amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT sudanthachandrasena amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT sahansgooneratne amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT pumudipremaratne amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT sandaruwickremaratne amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT mindakamahela amultipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT milindawattegedera multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT dushyanthasilva multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT chandanasooriyabandara multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT prasanthawimaladasa multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT raveendrasiriwardena multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT mevanpiyasena multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT ranjanmslrpmarasinghe multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT bhagyamhathurusinghe multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT rajapaksemrnilanthi multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT sadeepagunawardena multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT heshanpeiris multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT pasanseneviratne multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT pramodcsendanayake multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT chathuradushmantha multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT sudanthachandrasena multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT sahansgooneratne multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT pumudipremaratne multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT sandaruwickremaratne multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai AT mindakamahela multipointidentificationapproachfortherecognitionofindividualleopardsipantheraparduskotiyai |