Amur LeopardStevan Brcko IV-4

The Amur Leopard The Amur Leopard is a leopard subspecies native to the Primorye region of southeastern Russia and the Jilin Province of northeast China. It is classified as Critically Endangered since 1996 by IUCN. In 2007, only 19–26 wild Amur leopards were estimated to survive.Census data published in February 2015 indicate that the population has increased to at least 57 Amur leopards in Russia.The Amur leopard is solitary. Nimble-footed and strong, it carries and hides unfinished kills so that they are not taken by other predators. It has been reported that some males stay with females after mating, and may even help with rearing the young. Several males sometimes follow and fight over a female.

Vets helping the amur leopard in Russia.

CharacteristicsThe Amur leopard has some very distinguishing features. The hairs of its summer pelt are 2.5 cm long but in winter they are replaced by 7 cm long ones.

Apart from its long winter coat, which is a light colour in the

winter, and more reddish-yellow in the summer, the Amur

leopard is easily told apart from other leopard subspecies by

its widely spaced rosettes with thick borders. It also has

longer legs, probably an adaptation for walking through

snow. Adult males weight around 32-48 kg, and

exceptionally large males weight up to 75 kg. Females

typically weigh 25-43 kg.BreedingThe species breeds in spring and early summer. The litter size ranges from 1 to 4 cubs. The cubs are weaned when they are three months old, and leave their mother when they are one-and-a-half to two years old. What do they eat?The main prey species are roe deer and sika deers, small wild boars, along with hares, badgers and raccoon dogs.

Amur Leopard ThreatsHabitat lossIt is estimated that between 1970-1983, the Amur leopard lost an astonishing 80% of its former territory. Indiscriminate logging, forest fires and land conversion for farming are the main causes.Still all is not lost. Even now large tracts of forest, which are ideal leopard habitat exist. If these areas can be protected from unsustainable logging, rampant forest fires and poaching of wildlife, the chance exists to increase the population of the subspecies in the wild.

PoachingThe Amur leopard is poached largely for its beautiful, spotted fur. In 1999, an undercover investigation team recovered a female and a male Amur leopard skin, which were being sold for US$ 500 and US$ 1,000. This suggests that there is a market for such products within the locality itself..Leopards are most often killed by local Russians from small villages in and around the leopard habitat. Most of these villagers hunt entirely illegally; they have no licenses for hunting nor for their guns, and they are not members of one of the local hunting leases.

Inbreeding

An acute problem is potential inbreeding, and that the remaining

population could disappear as a result of genetic degeneration,

even without direct human influence.

Interesting stuffIt is not surprising you can't spot the the difference between these two adorable cubs.They are twin Amur Leopards who have been born to the rarest big cat in the world at an animal sanctuary in Britain.The breed is near extinction - with only 35 left in the wild and just 100 in captivity - so workers were thrilled with the new arrivals at the Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Smarden, Kent.They were born last month to dad Hogar, four, and mum Xizi, seven, who arrived at the sanctuary in 2009 from Helsinki Zoo in Finland.

A Safe HavenAmur leopards received a safe haven in 2012 when the government of Russia declared a new protected area. Called Land of the Leopard National Park, this marked a major effort to save the world’s rarest cat. Extending nearly 650,000 acres it includes all of the Amur leopard’s breeding areas and about 60 percent of the critically endangered cat’s remaining habitat. The park is also home to 10 endangered Amur tigers. WWF lobbied for the establishment of this park in the Russian Far East since 2001.