The Amur leopard is the most endangered of all the big cats. There are only 25 to 35 wild Amur leopards remaining as of November 2006. This big cat is also known as the Far Eastern leopard.
About The Amur Leopard
The Amur leopard lives in the forests of the Amur River Valley of Siberia and Manchuria, Korea. Like most big cats the Amur leopard is a solitary creature. The Amur leopard is also nocturnal for the most part. Its range overlaps that of the Siberian tigers. The Amur leopard however, avoids territory close to tigers to avoid competing for prey.
An Amur leopard eats mostly roe (a type of deer), sika deer, wild boar, hares, badgers and small rodents. They are good climbers and sometimes leave their leftovers in trees to eat later. Those in captivity are fed a commercially prepared meat diet that contains essential vitamins and minerals.
Compared to other leopards, the Amur leopard has a longer coat and longer legs. The longer fur helps it to survive in the cold weather of its habitat. The fur is a dark golden orange color in the summer but in the winter it fades to a light hue. It also grows to be almost three times as long in the winter as it is in the summer. The Amur leopard’s rosettes are larger than most leopards and they are more widely spaces as well. Their weight ranges from 65 to 155 pounds with the males weighing about fifty percent more than the females.
In captivity, the lifespan of an Amur leopard is only about 17 years.
The Reasons There Are So Few Left
The Amur leopard’s range used to cover eastern Russia, northern China and Korea. Extensive logging and farming shrank the Amur leopard’s habitat as well as decreased the number’s of their main prey, the roe and sika deer. This caused the leopard’s numbers to drop drastically. The Amur leopard’s population was also affected by poachers killing them for their fur and also trophy hunting.
By 1970 there were only three small territories left in Russia for the Amur leopard. Two of these territories were gone by 1983. Their populations in China and Korea have also disappeared. The one remaining territory in Russia is a small 772 square mile strip of land. This range is partly protected by natural preserves however it is still surrounded by villages and farmland.
Because the population consists of only about thirty individuals inbreeding has become a problem. Inbreeding can cause many birth defects, can make individuals more vulnerable to diseases and can also cause infertility among other things.
What Is Being Done
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is monitoring the Amur leopards. They have placed radio collars on some individuals and also placed cameras along some of the leopards’ know routes. With these cameras they can distinguish different leopards by their spots and therefore come up with a population estimation.
Biologists believe that there is a chance to save the Amur leopards and bring their populations back up. The Amur tiger had around 40 individuals about sixty years ago and is know at a population of around 450. The Amur tiger’s plight however was much more publicized than the Amur leopard’s.
According to Dale Miquelle who is the head of WCS Russia in order to increase the population of the Amur leopard and save them from extinction their range must be increased. He has said that Russia, America and China are working together towards this goal and that they are doing their best to improve the conditions of the forests in China that are adjacent to the Amur’s present range. They also plan to reintroduce the Amur leopard into the southern Sikhote-Alin Mountains of Russia where the Amur leopards used to range.
If you want to know more informations about the conservation of the Amur leopard or wish to know how you can help visit www.amur-leopard.org/
