Amur Leopard Totally Explained

Everything about Amur Leopard totally explained

The critically endangered Amur Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis or Panthera pardus amurensis) is possibly the rarest subspecies of leopard in the world with estimates of between 25 to 34 known individuals remaining in the wild.

Common name

Its common name comes from the Amur River; other common names for this subspecies are "Far East Leopard" and the "Siberian Leopard".

Habitat

This species was originally distributed throughout the Korean Peninsula, northeastern China, and southeastern Russia; the majority of its range overlapping with that of the Siberian Tiger. It also is rarely found in warm areas. Today, it's extremely close to extinction with only 25 to 34 known individuals remaining in the Sikhote-Alin mountains of southern Russia (only six of these are female), while it's estimated that at least 100 are needed if the species is to avoid extinction. A few individuals are thought to remain on the Kaema Plateau and Baekdusan of North Korea, but the status of the species here's unknown. Habitat destruction and the fur trade have diminished its numbers dramatically, and have resulted in the animal becoming the rarest extant member of the feline family on the planet. It has also been suggested that poachers interested in the Leopard's fur and meat helped bring about the Amur Leopard's downfall but there's no solid evidence to support this.

Habitat loss

At the present time there still exists large tracts of forest which are ideal leopard habitat. If these areas can be protected from logging companies the chance exists to increase wild leopard numbers. However, the Amur leopard lost 80% of its range in the 13 years from 1970-1983 and logging isn't the only threat to its habitat.
Forests are regularly damaged by seasonal fires. These are not a natural event, but are started by farmers who burn their fields during autumn and winter to increase fertility. Controlled burn-offs frequently overrun into the forest itself. After repeated fires some areas revert to green meadows; forest re-growth is destroyed entirely.
These meadows are no good for leopards or tigers and the animals retreat further into the forest depths. Subsequent burns remove more forest growth and over a period of years large amounts may be permanently lost. Also lost are prey species such as roe deer, sika deer, musk deer, wild boar, badger and hare.

Behavior

Although their range overlaps with that of the Siberian Tiger, the population of that feline isn't as heavily affected as it's for leopards living near tigers in different regions. Amur Leopards tend to avoid living or hunting too close to tiger territory, to avoid direct competition for prey.
Like all leopards, they're very skillful and opportunistic hunters. Their usual diet consists of roe and sika deer, hares, badgers and small rodents. They are solitary animals with primarily nocturnal habits, and live mainly in forested areas.

Physiology

The Amur Leopard is differentiated from the ten other living subspecies of leopard by its longer fur, which is an adaptation for the cold, harsh conditions of the taiga. The fur of the Amur Leopard is golden orange and about 2.5 cm long during the summer. During the winter, the fur grows to around 7 cm, when it also lightens to a pale cream colour. Its coat has larger and more widely spaced rosettes than other leopards.

Conservation

While the Amur Leopard inhabits the same area as the Siberian Tiger, it has received far less attention from the media and from charities. The Amur leopard is the rarest of all the big cats, and is in immediate danger of becoming extinct in the wild. It is suffering from habitat loss and is especially vulnerable to natural disasters, such as fire, because of extensive habitat fragmentation. Amur Leopards prefer to live in forested territory, but most of its remaining territory is surrounded by farms and villages, making poaching easier. Russian plans to build an oil pipeline through the last remaining habitat of the Amur leopard were recently redirected to a safer route after pressure from the WWF and other environmental organizations.
   A Population Management Plan has been established for this subspecies of leopard. The PMP is a cooperative effort among zoos and other captive-animal facilities to monitor the status and plan breeding of the current captive population.
   On April 16, 2007 a female was shot and killed by hunters, leaving only six females left in the wild.
   A 14 week old Amur leopard, Kiska, made her public debut at Marwell Zoo in Hampshire, England on 28 February 2008.

Media

A female Amur Leopard and her cub were featured on Planet Earth's episodes "From Pole to Pole" and "Seasonal Forests". (The name of the female is "Skrytnaya". That means "The secretive one". The cub died at the age of one and a half years. The young male was a result of inbreeding. His sire was also "Skrytnaya's" sire.)

Further Information

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