\u201cIt\u2019s a win,\u201d said study lead author Marine Drouilly, a biologist with\u00a0Panthera, the global wild cat conservation non-profit.<\/p>\n
West African leopards are geographically separated from other African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus<\/em>) populations. In 2025, they were listed as regionally\u00a0endangered on the IUCN\u00a0Red List, after suffering a 50% decline over the past two decades. Numbers are estimated at just 354 across West Africa. In addition to Pendjari, important strongholds include the Niokolo-Koba\u2013Badiar landscape in Senegal and the Guinea, Ta\u00ef and Como\u00e9 National Parks in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire and Mole National Park in Ghana.<\/p>\n A rapidly growing human population across West Africa means wildlife habitat is disappearing and becoming more fragmented, isolating already small leopard populations, Drouilly said, while widespread bushmeat hunting leaves leopards without enough prey.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a growing threat from poachers continent-wide, as leopards are targeted for their spotted skins, canine teeth, bones and other body parts, \u00a0killed to supply the illegal wildlife trade in Africa and Southeast Asia. In West Africa, burgeoning use of talismans made with small pieces of leopard skin adds to demand, Drouilly said.<\/p>\n Pendjari NP lies within the W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) Complex, a sprawling mosaic of five national parks, numerous hunting reserves and buffer zones across Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. It\u2019s a\u00a0World Heritage Site<\/a>; At 27,000 square kilometers (10,425 square miles) \u2014 an area about the size of Haiti \u2014 the complex is one of the largest conservation landscapes in West Africa and a vital refuge for numerous species that are in danger of extinction.<\/p>\n This includes three critically endangered species: West African lions (Panthera leo leo<\/em>); up to 90% of the region\u2019s remaining forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis<\/em>); the last known population of Northwest African cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus hecki<\/em>); and it shelters a key population of West African leopards.<\/p>\n But over the past decade, non-state armed groups operating in the Sahel have infiltrated this remote wilderness area, threatening wildlife, exacerbating existing pressures and interfering with conservation efforts.<\/p>\n In the face of security threats, African Parks maintains a strong field presence of rangers as well as an anti-poaching unit, with support from the Benin Armed Forces and aerial surveillance, study co-author Hugues Akpona, a regional manager with the organization, told Mongabay in an email.<\/p>\n The team, he said, is restoring habitat, bolstering prey populations and managing key water sources within the park. They\u2019ve also had measurable success engaging with communities to build trust by involving them in decision making and by supporting economic development.<\/p>\n Their dedication and hard work are paying off, Drouilly said, noting that the study has lessons for conservation in other conflict zones.<\/p>\n To find out how leopards were faring within Pendjari NP, a team of ecologists, rangers and researchers began biennial camera trap surveys in 2017, the first long-term study of leopards in West Africa.When the researchers analyzed data from 2017-2023, they expected to see a decline in leopard numbers, especially from 2022, when\u00a0attacks by armed groups\u00a0around the region intensified and parts of Pendjari became difficult to access.Instead, leopard density showed a small but perceptible increase over the six-year period, going from 0.62 to 2.08 leopards per 100 km\u00b2 (38.6 mi\u00b2). This suggests the park\u2019s leopard population is growing, though, researchers couldn\u2019t estimate a total population size. With so few leopards left across the whole of West Africa, even a small rise in density is welcome news, Drouilly said.\u201cEven if it\u2019s only a slight increase and the [leopard] density remains relatively low [compared with Southern Africa] \u2026 It\u2019s significant,\u201d Drouilly said. \u201cWe were very, very happy.\u201dThe researchers also found that survival was moderately high, indicating a small but recovering population. However, the survey failed to detect any cubs, which was concerning to them.<\/p>\n The security crisis in the border region between Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger is the \u201cprincipal challenge\u201d facing the national park, study co-author Hugues Akpona told Mongabay in an email.<\/p>\n Armed groups, notably Jama\u2019at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin and, to a lesser extent, the Islamic State Sahel Province, have infiltrated the WAP Complex, moving down from Mali and Burkina Faso, according to a\u00a0report\u00a0by the\u00a0Global Initiative Against Transnational\u00a0Organized\u00a0Crime.<\/p>\n Taking advantage of the wilderness area\u2019s remoteness and dense forest cover, the extremist groups tap into established smuggling networks, using the protected areas as a base and as a place to hide hostages, the report noted. They also traffic people, goods and guns across borders, according to the\u00a0Africa-based Institute for Security Studies.<\/p>\n The dire security situation makes it hard to keep wildlife safe and implement conservation actions, and the presence of armed extremist groups makes working in the park dangerous. In July 2024, an armed group attacked and killed\u00a0five African Parks\u00a0rangers and seven members of the Benin Armed Forces in W NP.<\/p>\n Akpona, who serves as regional operations manager (West Africa) at African Parks, said: \u201cInsecurity today represents not only a direct threat, but also a structural factor that weakens the overall conservation system and reduces the effectiveness of management strategies that are normally applied under stable conditions.\u201d He said conflict makes it difficult to carry out monitoring and other work.<\/p>\n For example, in the 2021 leopard survey, the team set up 81 camera traps, but in 2023, they could only set 50, in just a quarter of the 2021 survey area. That meant they couldn\u2019t survey prime leopard habitat along the Pendjari River, Drouilly said. Even within surveyed areas, the presence of armed groups makes it difficult to regularly check camera traps, change batteries or replace any that are stolen or damaged by wildlife.<\/p>\n Researchers deployed camera traps from 2017-2023 to monitor leopards in the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex, which straddles Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger in West Africa.<\/p>\n The team employs various strategies to get around security constraints, including camera traps that were designed by Panthera to withstand harsh field conditions for extended periods without maintenance.<\/p>\n More than 100 rangers have learned how to deploy camera traps, and their skill and commitment yields high-quality data, Akpona said. The team is also looking at monitoring methods to complement camera trap surveys, he added, such as eDNA: collecting fur and feces to identify leopard presence.<\/p>\n Still, the increase in leopard density shows that conservation efforts are working, Akpona said, and their efforts continue to yield positive results, for leopards, the wider ecosystem and communities living around the complex.<\/p>\n The level of community engagement, measured through the Community Conservation Index, rose to 81% in 2025, Akpona said.<\/p>\n Predators need prey to thrive. So in 2024, African Parks began rebuilding key antelope species including hartebeast (Alcelaphus buselaphus<\/em>), waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus<\/em>), korrigum (Damaliscus lunatus korrigum<\/em>) and kob (Kobus kob<\/em>).<\/p>\n \u201cIf you continue to stay on the ground and you continue to protect those species, you can have positive outcomes,\u201d Panthera\u2019s Drouilly said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just supporting biodiversity conservation. It\u2019s also providing livelihoods and stability in these regions for the people. So that\u2019s really important.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the outlook for leopards in other parts of the WAP Complex appears more fragile, Drouilly said, though, current information is scant. She noted that a 2021 survey in the Benin sector of the transborder WAP National Park \u2014 also managed by African Parks since 2020 \u2014 failed to detect leopards.<\/p>\n In the Niger and Burkina Faso sectors of WAP and Burkina Faso\u2019s Arly National Park, there\u2019s very little management; aerial observations and satellite data show the land is now heavily overgrazed by cattle, Drouilly said.<\/p>\n This makes the persistence of leopards in Pendjari \u2014 even at low density \u2014 all the more important.<\/p>\n \u201cSo if at some point we manage to secure the full area, then animals will be able to expand again and recolonize those areas,\u201d Drouilly said.<\/p>\n Globally, leopards are listed as vulnerable on the\u00a0IUCN Red List,<\/a>\u00a0with subspecies across much of their range in Africa and Asia declining. Supremely adaptable, yet rarely seen, they fly below the radar \u2014 and that\u2019s part of the problem, said Andrew Stein, who\u2019s served as lead author on the leopard\u2019s IUCN Red List assessment since 2016.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause they\u2019re so secretive, the assumption is that they\u2019ll be fine. And what we\u2019ve learned \u2026 is that they\u2019re not,\u201d said Stein, who founded and directs\u00a0CLAWS Conservancy, a Botswana-based nonprofit, who was not involved in the study.<\/p>\n He called the hopeful findings \u201creally exciting,\u201d a rare piece of good news in a largely unknown but high-risk region for leopards.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things with leopards is that you give them a chance, you give them a little bit of space, and if there\u2019s wild prey available, they can come back, just as this paper suggests,\u201d Stein said.<\/p>\n Drouilly, M., Woodgate, Z., Horion, R., Ipavec, A., Durant, S. M., Rostro-Garc\u00eda, S., \u2026 Henschel, P. (2026). Survival in uncertainty: Population dynamics of a key endangered Leopard population in West Africa amid escalating security challenges.\u00a0Global Ecology and Conservation<\/em>, 67, e04203. doi:10.1016\/j.gecco.2026.e04203<\/a><\/p>\n Drouilly, M., Ipavec, A., Grente, O., Horion, R., Ouindeyama, A., Henschel, P., \u2026 Durant, S. M. (2025). Spotted! Remote camera traps used in a novel design reveal a perilous situation for the critically endangered northwest African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) in a conflict\u2010affected protected area in Benin.\u00a0Ecological Solutions and Evidence<\/em>, 6(2). doi:10.1002\/2688-8319.70036<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/07\/02112737\/1-leopard-in-Pendjari-National-Park.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Slight increase in leopard density<\/strong>\u00a0is<\/strong>\u00a0a sign of hope<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Armed groups threaten wildlife and disrupt conservation<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Concern for leopards across the range<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Citations:<\/strong><\/h2>\n