Photography Exhibition • Autumn 2022
‘Leopard: Honouring the Muse’ was a collaborative exhibition between the artist Celina Chien and luxury Italian fashion house Dolce&Gabbana in support of Panthera. “The leopard print is a fashion constant – it may go in and out of season, but it never goes out of style. So how much longer before the spots are back in season, but the creature that inspired it has been extinguished from this Earth?”
Celina Chien artist, photojournalist, and actor.
Challenge
There are eight recognised subspecies of leopard across the world, habitats ranging from tropical forests, grassland plains, deserts to alpine areas. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and wild cat charity Panthera leopard populations are in steep decline across Africa and Asia. As such they are categorised as ‘vulnerable’ – see the ‘Red List’ graphic below. Its primarily threatened by habitat loss to farming and urbanisation. Hunting leopards as trophies is still allowed in certain countries, and illegal trade of their fur and teeth is also widespread.
Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.
Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-1. Accessed on 25/11/2022. Category descriptions provided by World Atlas.
Total 20,469 species.
A species categorised as Data Deficient does not have enough information available to assess its conservation status.
Total 75,733 species.
The Least Concern species has been analysed by the IUCN but does not qualify for any other category. Humans are in this category.
Total 8,714 species.
The Near Threatened category means that the species is not currently at risk of becoming extinct in the near future.
Total 16,300 species.
A species categorised as Vulnerable will probably become endangered in the near future due to survival threats like habitat loss and destruction.
Total 16,094 species.
The IUCN considers an Endangered species to be likely to become extinct. This is the second most serious conservation status.
Total 9,065 species.
A Critically Endangered species faces a very high risk of becoming extinct in the very near future. This is the most serious category for living plant and animal species.
Total 82 species.
A species on the Extinct in the Wild list does not exist in the wild or in its historic habitat. The only recorded living species are in captivity.
Total 902 species.
Once a species is on the Extinct list, it no longer exists. Of all the species that have ever lived on earth, 99% have become extinct. This is more than 5 billion species.
deeper dive
“We must be courageously ambitious in demanding the world we want to build. We must hold onto our imagination, our naive idealistic hearts, and articulate a future beyond the ruins of war, the legacy of colonialism, and the injustices of human society. By protecting the leopard’s home, we protect all the ecologies that they safeguard.” Celina Chien
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