Amur Leopard

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Amur leopard

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Genus:	Panthera
Species:	Panthera pardus
Subspecies:	P. p. orientalis

Trinomial name

Panthera pardus orientalis
Schlegel, 1857

Synonyms

Panthera pardus amurensis

Amur Leopard at the Philadelphia Zoo

The critically endangered Amur Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis or Panthera pardus amurensis) is one of the rarest felids in the world with estimates of between 25 to 40 known individuals remaining in the wild.

1 Common name
2 Habitat
- 2.1 Habitat loss
3 Behavior
4 Physiology
5 Conservation
6 Media
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Common name

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

[edit] Habitat

This species was originally distributed throughout the Korean Peninsula, northeastern China, and the Amur River Valley on the Russia-China border 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 is 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 is estimated that at least 100 are needed if the species is to avoid extinction.^[1]^[2] A few individuals are thought to remain on the Kaema Plateau and Baekdusan of North Korea, but the status of the species here is 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 is no solid evidence to support this.

[edit] Habitat loss

At the present time there still exist 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.

[edit] Behavior

Although their range overlaps with that of the Siberian Tiger, the population of that feline is not as heavily affected as it is 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 are 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.)