Research overview: leopard density estimation from camera traps

Leopards are among the most frequently camera-trapped big cats, their rosette patterns enabling robust individual identification across an enormous range spanning Africa and Asia. This overview surveys the extensive body of leopard density studies, the application of spatially explicit capture-recapture, and the methodological debates over array design, trail-based placement, and handling melanistic leopards whose dark coats obscure rosettes. It discusses how leopard surveys often piggyback on tiger monitoring, the wide variation in density across habitats and prey conditions, and the conservation implications of declining numbers in human-dominated landscapes. The overview highlights leopards as a model species for refining camera-trap density methods and as a case study in monitoring an adaptable but increasingly threatened large felid, where rigorous density estimates inform management of conflict, trophy hunting, and protected-area effectiveness.