Endangered Amur leopard numbers recovering in eastern Russia and Siberia

By The Siberian Times reporter

18 August 2015

 

New estimate puts number at 80, almost double some recent figures.

Researchers of the Land of Leopard National Park and the Beijing Pedagogical University now say the number of leopards living in the wild is around 80. Picture: Vadim Bobrovsky

Verifying the number of  Amur, or Siberian, leopards is difficult but it seems the threatened big cats are making a significant recovery from being on the brink of extinction.

This follows moves in Russia and China to protect the animals from poachers. Researchers of the Land of Leopard National Park and the Beijing Pedagogical University now say the number of leopards living in the wild is around 80. Experts from the two countries have been working together to save - and monitor - the rare leopard.

The latest statistic emerged when a delegation from the Beijing Pedagogical University, a leading researcher of the Amur leopard and the Siberian tiger in China, visited Vladivostok this summer. This suggests around ten leopards have been spotted by photo-monitoring in an area of 6,000 square miles in China.

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The Land of Leopard National Park and Beijing Pedagogical University signed a long-term cooperation agreement to exchange information about the number of rare felines living near the joint border. Pictures: Land of Leopards

'The information previously possessed by the researchers was collected exclusively in our country,' said a national park statement. 'The monitoring in 2015 showed that about 70 felines were living in Russia. A growth in their population and the proximity of the Chinese border gave reason to think that some of the rare animals might have moved outside Russia. The leopard population in China was unknown until recently.'

The statement - suggesting a clear turning point in the fortunes of the big cat - went on: 'The scientists shared some of the monitoring material at a meeting held in the Land of Leopard National Park's Vladivostok office. The count of unique animals showed that the world population of the Far Eastern leopard was at least 80 animals.'

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In Russia the animals live only in the Primorye region, and 90% of them in the Land of Leopard National Park, set up by the Russian government to protect the animals and save them from hunters and poachers. Pictures: Land of Leopard

The Land of Leopard National Park and Beijing Pedagogical University signed a long-term cooperation agreement to exchange information about the number of rare felines living near the joint border.

Head of the park, Tatiana Baranovskaya, said: 'This agreement is a a long awaited event for us. We are confident that it will make it possible to achieve great results in the study and preservation of the population of the Amur leopard.'

The Russian leopard is the rarest large cat on the planet. Its population in Russia was only about 30 animals in the early 2000s. More recently, the figure of know leopards in the wild has been put at 45.
In Russia the animals live only in the Primorye region, and 90% of them in the Land of Leopard National Park, set up by the Russian government to protect the animals and save them from hunters and poachers. Trail cameras recorded the presence of 57 leopards in 2014.

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