What leopard subspecies from an African island was considered extinct by the early 2000s?

The Zanzibar Leopard was the leopard population from the African island of Unguja, commonly called Zanzibar, that was considered extinct by the early 2000s. It was the island’s largest terrestrial carnivore and apex predator.

The population became isolated from mainland leopards after rising sea levels separated Zanzibar from Tanzania. Over generations, island conditions produced a smaller leopard with rosettes that were partly broken into spots. During the twentieth century, people widely demonized leopards as dangerous vermin, leading to organized persecution, while habitat loss and conflict with livestock added pressure.

The last confirmed sighting of a living Zanzibar leopard was in the early 1980s. A conservation program was abandoned in 1997 after researchers failed to find reliable evidence. Reports of scat in 1997 and 2001 could not be verified, and a 2018 television camera-trap video remains disputed. That uncertainty explains why the animal is often described as presumed or considered extinct rather than unambiguously confirmed extinct. It is also commonly confused with the mainland African leopard.