Panthera

Dr. Luke Hunter serves as Panthera’s President where he oversees the direction and strategy of all of the organization’s global wild cat conservation programs. Before joining Panthera, Dr. Hunter headed the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Great Cats Program and taught wildlife ecology at several universities in Australia and South Africa.

Dr. Hunter has conducted fieldwork on large cats in Africa since 1992. His Ph.D. dissertation examined the behavior and ecology of reintroduced cheetahs and lions in South Africa, and evaluated the effectiveness of reintroduction as a tool to re-establish large cat populations. Dr. Hunter’s current projects include assessing the effects of sport hunting and illegal persecution on leopards outside protected areas, developing a conservation strategy for lions across their African range, and the first intensive study of Persian leopards and the last surviving Asiatic cheetahs in Iran. Dr. Hunter has contributed to over 80 scientific papers and popular articles, and has published six books, including his latest Carnivores of the World.

Selected Videos and Audio Featuring Dr. Hunter

	The Leopard Hunter		Zoo Talkin’ Radio: Interview with Luke Hunter
	CBS "60 Minutes" In Search of the Jaguar

Selected Books by Dr. Hunter

• Hunter, L. (2011). Carnivores of the World. Princeton University Press.
• Hunter, L. (2006). Cats of Africa: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Hunter, L. (2007). Cheetah. Struik Publishers.
• Hunter, L., & Rhind, S. (2001). Watching Wildlife: Southern Africa. Lonely Planet Publications.
• Hunter, L. (2000). Cheetahs. Voyager Press.
• Hunter, L, & Andrew, D. (2002).Watching Wildlife: Central America. Lonely Planet Publications.

Click here to find more books by Dr. Hunter.

Selected Popular Articles and Blog Posts by Dr. Hunter

• Hunter, L. (2012, August 1). Captive Lion Reintroduction, a 'Conservation Myth.'  The Huffington Post
• Hunter, L. (2012, June 25). How to Live With Lions.  The Huffington Post
• Hunter, L., Sillero, C., Flocken, J., & Aylward, K.K. (2010, July 27). The fading call of the wild. The Hill's Congress Blog. 
• Hunter, L. (2010, May 5). The Lioness.  Huffington Post: Panthera's Cat Tales. 
• Hunter, L. (2009, September 30). Walking with Lions: The Myth of Conservation. Huffington Post: Panthera's Cat Tales.
  
• Hunter, L. (2009, August 14). Dave Salmoni: Tormenting Lions for TV. Huffington Post: Panthera's Cat Tales.
• Hunter, L. (2009, April 24). Agricultural Pesticides a Major Threat to Lions. Huffington Post: Panthera's Cat Tales.

Click here to find more publications by Dr. Hunter and other Panthera staff.

Click here to read more of Panthera's Cat Tales on the Huffington Post.

Selected Publications Featuring Dr. Hunter

• Martell, P. (June 2012). Lions on the loose in Kenyan capital's urban jungle. AFP
• Dybas, C.L. (July/August 2010). Lynx: The Cross-border Cat. Canadian Geographic.
  

Click here to find more publications featuring Dr. Hunter.

Selected Scientific Publications by Dr. Hunter

• Packer, C., S. Canney, A. Loveridge, S.T. Garnett, M. Pfeifer, K.K. Zander, A. Swanson, D. MacNulty, G. Balme, P.J. Funston et al. (2013) Conserving Large Carnivores: Dollars and Fence. Ecology Letters doi: 10.1111/ele.12091.
• Hunter, L., White, P., Henschel, P., Frank, L., et al. (2012) Walking with lions: why there is no role for captive-origin lions Panthera leo in species restoration Oryx 1–6.
• Balme, G., Hunter, L. & de Woronin Britz, N. (2012) A case of offspring adoption in leopards, Panthera pardus South African Journal of Wildlife Research 42(1): 63–66.
• Henschel, P., Azani, D., Burton, C., Malanda, G., Saidu, Y., Sam, M., & Hunter, L. (2010). Lion status updates from five range countries in West and Central Africa. Cat News, 52: 34-39.
• Balme, G.A., Hunter, L.T.B., & Slotow, R. (2010). Edge effects and the impact of non-protected areas in carnivore conservation: Leopards in the Phinda–Mkhuze Complex, South Africa. Animal Conservation, 2010: 1-9.
• Gebresenbet, F. H. Bauer, L. Hunter, K. Gebretensae (Eds). (2009). Proceedings of the National Lion Conservation Workshop. National Lion Conservation Workshop: Addis Ababa. 12 June 2009.
• Balme, G.A., Hunter, L.T.B., & Slotow, R. in prep. Impact of conservation interventions on the dynamics and persistence of a persecuted leopard (Panthera pardus) population. Biological Conservation.
• Hunter, L., H. Jowkar, H. Ziaie, G. Schaller, G. Balme, C. Walzer, S. Ostrowski, P. Zahler, N. Schaurre, and K. Kashiri. (2007). Conserving the Asiatic cheetah in Iran: Launching the first radio-telemetry study. Cat News 46:8-11.
• Balme, G.A., L.T.B, Hunter, and R. Slotow. (2007). Feeding habitat selection by hunting leopards (Panthera pardus) in a woodland savanna: prey catchability versus abundance. Animal Behavior, 74(3):589-598.
• Balme, G & L. Hunter. (2004). Mortality in a protected leopard population, Phinda Private Game Reserve: A population in decline? Ecological Journal, 6:1-6.

Click here to find more Scientific Publications by Dr. Hunter.