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==Threats==
==Threats==
Amur leopards are threatened by encroaching civilization, new roads, [[poaching]], exploitation of forests and [[climate change]].<ref name=iucn/>
Amur leopards are threatened by [[poaching]], encroaching civilization, new roads, exploitation of forests and [[climate change]].<ref name=iucn/>


===Poaching===
===Poaching===
Poaching of leopards forms a main threat for the leopards' survival, and there are indications that the problem is growing. In 14 months from February 2002 to April 2003, seven skins or part of skins were confiscated, six in Russia and one in China. 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. Many live close to protected areas where no hunting is allowed and where it is even illegal to take a gun or dog into the forest.<ref name=Hoette03>Hoette, M. (2003). [http://www.amur-leopard.org/files/document%20page/Amur%20leopard%20and%20tiger%20conservation%20in%20a%20social%20and%20economic%20context%20%283%20MB%29.pdf ''Amur Leopard and Tiger Conservation in a social and economic context'']. Zoological Society of London, Tigris Foundation, Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA).</ref>
There appears to be poaching of leopards as well as their prey species. Poachers include both poor local villagers and newly rich Russians, mainly from the city of [[Vladivostok]], as well as Chinese nationals who illegally cross the border into Russia. Russian hunters kill many more deer than is officially allowed and Amur leopards are sometimes caught in snares as well. Since 2002, skins or corpses of nine Amur leopards killed by poachers have been found in Russia and at least two leopards have been killed in China.<ref>http://www.amur-leopard.org/index.php?id=331#poaching {{dead link|date=May 2011}}</ref>


===Deforestation===
===Deforestation===

Revision as of 22:32, 17 December 2011

Amur leopard
Korean: 고려표범
Russian: Дальневосточный леопард
Chinese: 远东豹

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
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
Area of distribution
Synonyms

Panthera pardus amurensis

The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is a

IUCN. Only 14–20 adults and 5–6 cubs were counted in a census in 2007.[1]

The Amur leopard is also known as the Far Eastern leopard, Korean leopard, and Manchurian leopard.

Characteristics

Amur leopards differ from other subspecies by a thick coat. They show the strongest and most consistent divergence in pattern. Leopards from the

Korean peninsula have pale cream-colored coats, particularly in winter. Rosettes on the flanks are 5 cm × 5 cm (2.0 in × 2.0 in) large and widely spaced, up to 2.5 cm (0.98 in), with thick, unbroken rings and darkened centers.[2]

Their coat is fairly soft with long and dense hair. The length of hair on the back is 20–25 mm (0.79–0.98 in) in summer and 50 mm (2.0 in) in winter. The winter coat varies from fairly light yellow to dense yellowish-red with a golden tinge or rusty-reddish-yellow. The summer pelage is brighter with more vivid coloration pattern. They are rather small in size and fall within the range of variation in linear measurement of the species. Measurement of six males range from 107 to 136 cm (42 to 54 in) with a tail length of 82 to 90 cm (32 to 35 in) and a shoulder height of 64 to 78 cm (25 to 31 in). In weight males range from 32.2–48 kg (71–106 lb), and females from 25–42.5 kg (55–94 lb).[3]

Distribution and habitat

The specimen first described by Hermann Schlegel in 1857 originated in Korea.[4]

Amur leopards used to be found in northeastern

Khanka Lake. In the 1950s, leopards were observed 50 km (31 mi) north of Vladivostok and in Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve. The association of Amur leopards with mountains is fairly definite. They are confined more to places where wild sika deer live or where deer husbandry is practised. In winter they keep to snowfree rocky slopes facing south.[3]

Ecology

In the Ussuri region the main prey of leopards are

mice. In Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve roe deer is their main prey year-round, but they also prey on young Eurasian black bears less than two years old.[3]

The Amur typically faces difficulty in areas where it must share territory with tigers, but this is seldom the case in Russia. Studies have indicated that an increased tiger population in the Southwest Primorye area has not adversely affected the leopard population.[citation needed]

Amur leopards in zoos show some evidence of seasonal breeding with a peak in births in late spring/early summer. After a gestation period of around 12 weeks cubs are born in litters of 1–4 individuals, with an average litter size of just over 2. The cubs will stay with their mother for up to two years before becoming fully independent. Females first breed at an age of 3–4 years. In the wild, leopards live for 10–15 years and they may reach 20 years in captivity.[5]

Threats

Amur leopards are threatened by poaching, encroaching civilization, new roads, exploitation of forests and climate change.[1]

Poaching

Poaching of leopards forms a main threat for the leopards' survival, and there are indications that the problem is growing. In 14 months from February 2002 to April 2003, seven skins or part of skins were confiscated, six in Russia and one in China. 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. Many live close to protected areas where no hunting is allowed and where it is even illegal to take a gun or dog into the forest.[6]

Deforestation

The forests on which Amur leopards depend have slowly disappeared as a result of frequent fires. Local villagers start fires for various reasons, but mainly to stimulate the growth of ferns that are a very popular ingredient in Russian and Chinese dishes.

Inbreeding

Loss of genetic diversity in the small and isolated Amur leopard population may cause inbreeding depression (reduced numbers due to reduced reproduction, lifespan and increased vulnerability to diseases). However, the results of research so far are inconclusive and additional information on the effects of inbreeding is needed before conclusions can be drawn. because they only have young every two years. Amur Leopards may even go to the lengths of having intercourse with first cousins.

Development projects

Southwest Primorye is located close to the Russian borders with China and North Korea, making it an attractive area for infrastructure projects such as new railways, gas and oil pipelines, and ports. In 2005 and 2006 the Zoological Society of London and other ALTA partners led a successful international campaign against a plan to build an oil pipeline terminal on the coast of the Sea of Japan in the leopard’s range.

Conservation

Young Amur Leopard at the Colchester Zoo

Although not much attention has been paid to the situation, significant progress in conserving Amur leopards and tigers has been made over the last decade. A coalition of 13 international and Russian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have pooled resources by creating The Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA). Inside the Russian Far East, Phoenix Fund conducts anti-poaching and habitat protection activities, while other ALTA members conduct public outreach, policy development, and scientific research to forward Amur leopard conservation. Collectively, ALTA members have been co-operating for many years in developing, financing and implementing conservation projects in Russia and China.

ALTA members have developed a comprehensive conservation program for the Amur leopard’s range in Russia and Northeast China that includes:

  1. Anti-poaching
  2. Forest fire-fighting
  3. Compensation for livestock killed by tigers and leopards
  4. A comprehensive education and public awareness program
  5. Population monitoring (Snow-track counts and camera trapping)
  6. Ecological and biomedical research
  7. Support for protected areas and hunting leases
  8. Lobbying for improved conservation policies and regulations
  9. Amur leopard conservation in China

In addition, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is also a major contributor. They are mainly focused in russia ( the Amur leopard). And

In recent years wildlife in Russia has suffered from a lack of political interest in conservation.[7] Negative developments since 2000 include the abolition of the State Committee for Nature Conservation, revoking the law enforcement rights of Inspection Tiger (an anti-poaching brigade for protection of tigers and leopards), and a reduction of approximately 80% in the number of field inspectors for protection of forests and animals. The only official North Korean government site,

Hyangsan
County, there were some leopards. It is likely the southernmost living group of Amur's Leopard.

Re-introduction into the wild

In March 2009 the Minister of Natural Resources of Russia during his meeting with Vladimir Putin reassured the Prime Minister that the ministry is planning to restore Amur Leopard population by introducing new "imported" Amur Leopards into the area and creating suitable and safe habitat for them. Mr. Trutnev did not explain where the ministry is planning to get additional leopards and how. (It is assumed that Ministry is planning to re-introduce captive animals (cubs) into the wild). He has also said that the job is going according to the plan, and that specialists are already working on the project and that the government already allocated all required funds for the project.[8]

There is the possibility that leopards from zoo stocks will be used for reintroduction into the wild within the foreseeable future. The reintroduction plan is completed and will hopefully be approved at a meeting in Vladivostok in March 2010. This would create a second population as a backup, probably in the Lazovsky Nature Reserve where Amur leopards have historically been found.

Further information on the reintroduction of Amur leopards from zoos can be found in Chapter 18 of 'Reintroduction of Top-Order Predators', published in 2009.

In captivity

There are approximately 300 Amur leopards in zoos in Europe, Russia and North America. These are part of breeding programs that try to ensure that the zoo populations do not become too inbred. The most active zoo to breed Amur leopard´s is

Tallinn zoo
in Estonia. Transfers of animals are made between zoos so that different individuals can breed together to produce cubs with high genetic variation. It is important to maintain zoo populations of the Amur leopard with a reasonable level of genetic variation because it is likely that some individuals from zoos will be reintroduced into the wild in the future.

In media

A female Amur Leopard and her cub were featured on Planet Earth’s episodes "From Pole to Pole" and "Seasonal Forests". The female's name is "Skrytnaya", which means 'The secretive one'. The male cub died at the age of around 18 months; he was the result of inbreeding - the cub's sire was also Skrytnaya's sire.

The Animal Planet documentary, The Last Leopard (2008) is about the plight of Amur leopards in Russia.

In 2009, the

E4 (channel)
.

Footage of an Amur leopard was included in an episode of the BBC's Natural World series, titled 'The Secret Leopards' (first aired on 20 January 2010) and also the BBC's 'Nature's Miracle Babies' Episode 2.

A live webcam feed with sound of a female Amur Leopard and her one surviving cub is available from a Tallinn Zoo video feed. The two other cubs, Hasan and Hanka, both born in 2010, are now slated to be transported to other zoos.[9]

The television series "Wild Russia" also showed a quick glimpse into the life of the Amur Leopard.

References

  1. ^ a b c Template:IUCN
  2. ^ Pocock, R. J. (1930). The panthers and ounces of Asia. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 34: 64–82, 307–336.
  3. ^ a b c Geptner, V.G., Sludskii, A. A. (1972). Mlekopitaiuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Vysšaia Škola, Moskva. (In Russian; English translation: Heptner, V. G., Sludskii, A. A., Komarov, A., Komorov, N. (1992). Bars (Leopard). Pages 203–273 in: Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II, Part 2: Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats). Smithsonian Institute and the National Science Foundation, Washington DC).
  4. ^ Schlegel, H. (1857). Felis orientalis. Page 23 in: Handleiding Tot de Beoefening der Dierkunde, Ie Deel. Boekdrukkerij van Nys, Breda.
  5. ^ Projects: Amur Leopard Fact File. ALTA Amur Leopard Conservation. Accessed 21 May 2011.
  6. ^ Hoette, M. (2003). Amur Leopard and Tiger Conservation in a social and economic context. Zoological Society of London, Tigris Foundation, Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA).
  7. ^ http://www.amur-leopard.org/index.php?id=331#Political [dead link]
  8. ^ Ministry of Environment will undertake the restoration of the population of leopards in Russia (Translated title from Russian). 18 March 2009. Lenta.ru Accessed 21 May 2011.
  9. ^ "Khasan and Khanka were separated from their mother Darla" (in Estonian). Estonia: Tallinn Zoo. 2010-11-25. Retrieved 2011-04-17.[dead link]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Panthera pardus orientalis.
Wikispecies has information related to Panthera pardus orientalis.

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