amur leopard

The Amur Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is one of the most endangered species on the planet and the most endangered big cat. The IUCN lists them as critically endangered. They also known as the Far Eastern leopard, Korean leopard and Manchurian leopard. It is a wild feline predator native to the mountainous areas of the taiga and other temperate forests in Korea, Northeast China, the Russian Far East. In their natural habitat, amur leopards live for 10–15 years and for approximately 20 years in captivity.  They lost 80% of their range in the wild just between 1970-1983. The main prey of the Amur leopard are roe and sika deer,  hares and badgers. The Amur leopard breeds every 2 years. After a gestation period of around 12 weeks cubs are born in litters of 1–4, with an average litter size of 2. The cubs will stay with their mother for up to 2 years. The forests on which Amur leopards depend have slowly disappeared due to frequent fires. Local villagers start fires for various reasons, but mainly to stimulate the growth of ferns that are a very popular ingredient in Russian and Chinese dishes. Typical issues include difficulty through poaching of Amur leopards and their prey. Poachers include both poor local villagers, newly rich Russians, mainly from the city of Vladivostok and Chinese nationals who illegally cross the border into Russia. The  leopard’s range, Southwest Primorye is located close to the Russian borders with China and North Korea, making it an attractive area for infrastructure projects: new railways, gas and oil pipelines, ports.  In 2005 and 2006 the Zoological Society of London and other ALTA partners led a successful international campaign against a plan to build an oil pipeline terminal on the coast of the Sea of Japan in the leopard’s range.  Significant progress in conserving Amur leopards and their cousins, Amur tigers has been made over the last decade. A coalition of 13 international and Russian non-governmental organizations (NGOs)  pooled resources forming The Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA). ALTA has developed a comprehensive conservation program for the Amur leopard’s range in Russia and Northeast China that includes:

Anti-poaching
Forest fire-fighting
Compensation for livestock killed by tigers and leopards
A comprehensive education and public awareness program
Population monitoring (Snow-track counts and camera trapping)
Ecological and biomedical research
Support for protected areas and hunting leases
Lobbying for improved conservation policies and regulations
Amur leopard conservation in China

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is also a major contributor. There are approximately 300 Amur leopards in zoos in Europe, Russia and North America. These are part of breeding programs that try to ensure that the zoo populations do not become too inbred. The plan for reintroduction of Amur leopards to the wild has been finalised. The document was approved by local and international experts during and Amur leopard and tiger conference at Vladivostok in March 2010.