Few animals have shaped human style like the leopard. Its rosettes show up on clothing, furniture and accessories around the world. Yet the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the leopard as Vulnerable, with a population that is still decreasing.^1,4

At The Cat House Foundation, we care for cats of every size. That includes the wild ones whose patterns we borrow. Here’s what’s happening to the leopard, and what’s already working to help.

A Survivor Losing Ground

Leopards live in 63 countries and eat more than 100 prey species, which makes them one of the most adaptable big cats on Earth.¹ Even so, a 2016 scientific review of more than 1,300 sources found that leopards have lost up to 75% of their historical range, shrinking from about 35 million square kilometers to about 8.5 million.^2,3

Habitat loss, shrinking prey and conflict with livestock farmers are major threats. So is the illegal trade in skins and body parts.²

The Skin Trade

Conservation scientists estimate that 1,500 to 2,500 leopards are killed each year in southern Africa to supply the skin trade, while South Africa’s wild population numbers only 4,000 to 5,000.⁵ Much of that demand comes from ceremonial capes, called amambatha, worn by members of the Nazareth Baptist (Shembe) Church, which has more than four million followers.⁷

Research from the University of Cape Town (UCT) traced traded skins to hotspots in southwestern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and South Africa’s eastern borders, a sign of an organized cross-border trade. Because most of the skins came from males, the trade is reducing the movement of young males between populations and has been linked to local inbreeding.⁷

Worldwide, more than 12,000 leopards and leopard parts were reportedly traded illegally between 2020 and 2023, despite protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).⁸

A Faux Fur That Saves Lives

In 2013, the Furs for Life program began working with Shembe leaders to create a realistic, affordable faux leopard cape.⁵ More than 15,000 have since been distributed.⁶ Surveys at church gatherings found that the faux capes cut demand for real skins by about half, sparing hundreds of leopards each year.⁵

The work isn’t finished. The UCT research found that some faux-cape owners still wanted, or later bought, a real skin, especially where people believed the law wasn’t enforced.⁷ Lasting protection needs faux alternatives, education, enforcement and safe corridors for leopards to move through, built with respect for the communities involved.