Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35268228›Full record

ArticleAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2022

A Multi-Point Identification Approach for the Recognition of Individual Leopards (

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 and 9 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. A Leopard Cub (Ecology and evolution · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors.

Milinda WattegederaThe Leopard Research and Data Gathering Team, Yala Leopard Visitor Center, Yala National Park, Palatupana 82614, Sri Lanka.
Dushyantha SilvaThe Leopard Research and Data Gathering Team, Yala Leopard Visitor Center, Yala National Park, Palatupana 82614, Sri Lanka.
Chandana SooriyabandaraDepartment of Wildlife Conservation, 811A Jayanthipura, Battaramulla 10120, Sri Lanka.
Prasantha WimaladasaThe Leopard Research and Data Gathering Team, Yala Leopard Visitor Center, Yala National Park, Palatupana 82614, Sri Lanka.
Raveendra SiriwardenaThe Leopard Research and Data Gathering Team, Yala Leopard Visitor Center, Yala National Park, Palatupana 82614, Sri Lanka.
Mevan PiyasenaThe Leopard Research and Data Gathering Team, Yala Leopard Visitor Center, Yala National Park, Palatupana 82614, Sri Lanka.
Ranjan M S L R P MarasingheDepartment of Wildlife Conservation, 811A Jayanthipura, Battaramulla 10120, Sri Lanka.
Bhagya M HathurusinghePost Graduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400, Sri Lanka.ORCID 0000-0002-0816-2501
Rajapakse M R NilanthiDepartment of Wildlife Conservation, 811A Jayanthipura, Battaramulla 10120, Sri Lanka.
Sadeepa Gunawardena246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka.
Heshan Peiris246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka.
Pasan Seneviratne246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka.
Pramod C Sendanayake246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka.
Chathura Dushmantha246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka.
Sudantha Chandrasena246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka.
Sahan S Gooneratne246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka.
Pumudi Premaratne246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka.
Sandaru Wickremaratne246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka.
Mindaka Mahela246/A/4, Rocky Hill Residencies, Hokandara South, Hokandara 10230, Sri Lanka.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

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

Indexed as

identificationPanthera pardus kotiyapopulationrosettespotYala National Park

Identifiers

PMID35268228
PMCPMC8909430

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.