Increasingly, leopards are being killed for commercial purposes, with their skins, bones and other body parts ending up in illegal wildlife markets.

Like tiger bones, leopard bones are sought after by Chinese consumers. And, like tiger bones, they are used in a similar fashion—for traditional medicines, wines and health tonics.

Because their populations are threatened by this trade, leopards have been listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I—the highest level of protection—since 1975.

LEOPARD LINKS:

Clouded leopards traded more than tigers in some illegal markets

https://news.mongabay.com/2015/10/clouded-leopards-traded-more-than-tigers-in-some-illegal-markets/

China issues permits to trade in the bones of hundreds of leopards

https://conservationaction.co.za/resources/reports/china-issues-permits-to-trade-in-the-bones-of-hundreds-of-leopards/