The Far Eastern leopard, also called the Amur leopard, is the rarest cat in the Far Eastern region. The Far Eastern leopard is the rarest feline on the planet.
Nine dozen individuals - this is the official statistics released by scientists after a meticulous census of the population of the Far Eastern leopards, one of the five subspecies of the spectacular cat family.
The unreasonable extermination by man has led beautiful predators to the brink of extinction and the inclusion of a whole subspecies in the list of Red Book animals.
Habitat
The Amur leopard is the northernmost representative of the species, its habitat extends far north, beyond the 45th parallel. Even at the beginning of the last century, these animals occupied the Amur and Ussuri regions, met on the Korean Peninsula and in a significant part of Chinese lands.
Nowadays, the last representatives of Amur leopards are found in the northern regions of Russia and the border forests of China (Manchuria).
Deciduous forests, rugged terrain with rocky terrain, hills with cliffs suitable for hunting suit them for life. And of course a lot of water resources availability of places for watering.
The Far Eastern leopard does not like high snow cover, it needs a large number of herbivores for a successful hunt.
According to scientists, the Russian population reaches eight dozen individuals, while Chinese Manchuria accounts for only about a dozen animals. So far, there are too few of them to hope for the successful conservation of the planet's northernmost leopard.
Appearance, dimensions and weight
Once upon a time, Amur leopards were distinguished by their solid weight, large males gained up to 75 kilograms. Modern animals are slightly smaller: males weigh no more than 70 kilograms, females maximum 50. The length of the beast reaches 136 centimeters, the tail can grow by 90.
The appearance of northern animals with a claim to feline grace, multiplied by power. The slender elongated body is topped with a neat round head, the legs are slender and strong, the tail of the Far Eastern leopard is strongly elongated.
If it were possible to look into the eyes of a wild animal, then the vertical oval pupils would immediately attract attention, transforming into a circle when switching to night vision.
In the warm season, the Far Eastern leopard flaunts in a short "fur coat" of bright colors, in winter it "dresses" in a thick (but not lush) outfit of muted colors. You can see almost red individuals with a reddish or golden tint.
An outstanding feature of the skin of the Far Eastern leopard is black spots that develop into ring-shaped patterns or rosettes scattered throughout the body of the animal.
The scatter of spots is unique, there are no two leopards all over the world with the same patterns on a beautiful skin. Such a bright color at first glance helps the forest hunter to disguise himself, merge with the outside world, and hunt more efficiently.
An interesting feature of the species is sharp chocolate claws with a white “manicure”, the animal can quickly draw them into the paw pad so as not to spoil it while walking on rocky terrain.
Behavior and lifestyle
The Far Eastern leopard is a solitary nocturnal hunter, silently moving around its hunting grounds. The marked area of \u200b\u200bthe forest directly depends on the sex of the animal and the encumbrance of the family.
A lone male owns a decent area, greatly exceeding the land of a young mother. But as the litter matures, the female expands her boundaries. Moving further and further away from the lair.
Young males have to conquer their pieces of land, sometimes fighting with seasoned fellow tribesmen. The poorest parts of the forest fall to the share of young people and nursing mothers, the game-rich lands are always dominated by the strongest representatives of the species.
The Amur leopard goes hunting with the last rays of the sun and usually gets dinner before midnight. This beast has two tactics in reserve: to quietly sneak up on a potential victim or to attack her from an ambush. The hunter is always alone, with the exception of mothers with grown offspring.
In winter, when the day is short, it can also hunt in daylight, following the tracks laid by wild boars so as not to make their way through snow drifts. At dusk, leopards descend to rivers and streams to drink.
Occasionally there are clashes between leopards and other large predators, but the beast does not have full-fledged enemies. It is extremely rare that the Far Eastern leopard wanders to human settlements; attacks on livestock are recorded once every ten years. Skirmishes with dogs often occur, in most cases this occurs in the hunting grounds of a predator.
The average life expectancy in the natural environment is ten years, some individuals live up to fifteen. In captivity, the life of Amur leopards is extended to twenty years.
Nutrition
The favorite dish of the Far Eastern predator is spotted deer and roe deer grazing in the habitats of the Amur leopard. If these representatives of artiodactyls do not come across to the beast, then a wild boar or a small deer will become a possible victim.
In difficult times, the predator switches to small animals, then game (grouse, pheasants), hares and badgers appear in its diet. "Chinese" leopards (inhabiting the lands of the PRC) expand their menu with local goats called gorals.
In the worst case, a predator can fast for two weeks without harm to health. But Far Eastern leopards use plant food, grass and grains exclusively for preventive purposes, thus cleansing the stomach.
Meat is necessarily included in the diet of small kittens, it becomes an additive to mother's milk. Babies receive the first meat in a semi-digested form from the mother, later she begins to deliver pieces of her prey to the family.
reproduction
Babies in this species of leopards appear very rarely, one pregnancy after three years. Unfortunately, there are very few mature, ready-to-breed females left. The situation is saved a little by the tendency of Amur leopards to polygamy, the pair is formed for a short time.
The mating season falls on November and December, the female ready for pregnancy informs the “cavaliers” about her position with frequent marks. But the lady still needs to be won, often several males achieve her location, announcing the surroundings with drawn-out loud cries.
As a result, the female goes to the male who won the "cat" battle. Priority and increased interest is shown to ladies who already have grown offspring. A female who has taken a walk sets up a den in a cozy cleft protected from the winds, and prepares to give birth three months after mating.
The maximum offspring of Far Eastern leopards is four blind spotted lumps. Although usually a couple of kittens are born. But, unfortunately, the mortality among newborns is too high. The eyes open after nine days, and the babies need a month to fully adapt. After another thirty days, they begin to explore the area near the lair.
The third month is the time to learn to hunt and explore the motherlands. Babies are already able to follow their mother for several kilometers. If you have to travel through snowdrifts, then the mother paves the path, and the little leopards follow her in single file.
The offspring receives mother's milk up to the age of six months, but from the third month meat is added to their diet. A one-year-old kitten can feed itself and survive in the wild, but it becomes an adult only by the age of two. From the age of two or three, the Amur leopard can create and acquire its own offspring.
Reasons for the downsizing
In addition to the extremely slow reproduction and replenishment of the population, the reason for the disappearance of the Far Eastern leopard was the barbaric human activity.
Forests and areas suitable for hunting grounds for predators. Rapidly shrinking under the onslaught of civilization, plus "help" Forest fires, destroying vegetation and forcing herbivores to migrate.
This also includes highways and railways laid through centuries-old forests, plowing land for fields, and uncontrolled cutting down of trees for logging.
Huge harm to the small population of Amur leopards is caused by poachers who poison animals with packs of dogs. Hunters seek to get the valuable skin of a beautiful animal, and Chinese healers pay more money for carcass parts used in the manufacture of potions.
Sometimes Far Eastern leopards become victims of reindeer park owners. Predators trying to get their own food are shot right on the spot of the “crime”. Very rarely, careless leopards are knocked down by cars passing along the highways.
Hunting for the Far Eastern leopard and its protection
Hunting for the most beautiful cat on the planet is strictly prohibited (since the fifties of the last century). The killer of the Amur leopard in China will have to pay with his own life. In Russia, a caught hunter will be imprisoned for three years, in a particularly serious case for seven years, and will pay a fine of two million rubles.
The predator was included in the Red Book of Primorsky Krai back in the sixties, but so far the population has not recovered. Nowadays, he looks at the reader from the pages of the International Red Book.
For more than a century, Far Eastern leopards have been protected on the lands of a specially created reserve "Kedrovaya Pad". In the 21st century, the Leopard Wildlife Sanctuary and the Land of the Leopards National Park were added to the legally protected lands.
The rescue of Amur leopards is carried out by governmental and non-governmental organizations that develop programs and plans. Specialists from the World Wildlife Fund joined the noble mission at the end of the last century.
The Far Eastern leopard is a beautiful and unique animal that deserves its place on our planet. This is not a domestic cat, not a toy, but a predator worthy of respect. And I want them to continue to live, and not become another line in a long list of forever lost representatives of the terrestrial fauna.
The main reasons for the extinction of the Far Eastern leopards include the development by people of their original habitats and a sharp decrease in the number of animals suitable for their food.
But one can hope that the actions taken by Russia and China, in the form of creating protected lands and tightening the punishment for killing the Amur leopard, will increase the number of animals and permanently delete them from the pages of the Red Book.
Land of the leopard. carousel of life
With this film, commissioned by WWF, the Call of the Taiga studio is finishing its "leopardian" of 10 films in 20 years. The film received a special prize at the international film festival "To Save and Preserve" in Khanty-Mansiysk.
The best
In the story about Far Eastern leopard every time you have to use the definitions "MOST" and "ONLY". This is the northernmost leopard subspecies and the only one that has learned to live and hunt in the snow. This is the most peaceful subspecies of the leopard and the only one that has signed a non-aggression pact with humans. But, unfortunately, this pact turned out to be one-sided. Our leopard never attacks a person, and a person remains a deadly threat to him. Poaching continues for the leopard itself and for its food - roe deer and spotted deer, deforestation, systematic burning of vegetation, reconstruction and laying of roads, leopards getting into loops and traps intended for other animals. As a result, the historical range of the animal is rapidly “drying out”, the leopard disappeared from the Southern Sikhote-Alin and survived only in the South-West of Primorye. Today, the Far Eastern leopard turned out to be the RARE big cat on the planet. AT wild nature there are about 80 animals left!
© Valery Maleev
© Valery Maleev
© Valery Maleev
© Valery Maleev
© Valery Maleev
© Valery Maleev
© Vasily Solkin
Leopard reintroduction program
In November 2013, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources approved a new version of the Far Eastern Leopard Conservation Strategy, for the implementation of which leading scientists and experts, with the participation of WWF, developed an action plan until 2022 and a program for the reintroduction of this rare cat. These are fundamental documents that are the key to the preservation of the predator. At the new stage, the tasks are to increase the population of the Far Eastern leopard in the southwest of Primorye and adjacent territories of China and North Korea to 100 individuals, as well as to reintroduce leopards from zoos to create a second viable population on the basis of the Lazovsky Reserve. The task of WWF in this process is to provide comprehensive assistance, primarily expert assistance.
What has already been done?
The World Wildlife Fund constantly allocated funds to equip anti-poaching brigades with everything necessary, ensured the fight against fires, and organized educational work with schoolchildren. Over the past 10-odd years, we have been agonizingly seeking the creation of a single large specially protected natural area, which would cover the main core of the population of the rarest cat. And so, in April 2012, was created national park"Land of the Leopard", which is more than 10 times larger in area than the Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve , on the territory of which the leopard was guarded before!
Now the rarest leopard finally has a chance to survive. But in order to realize this chance, it is necessary to establish a permanent and reliable protection of this vast territory from poachers and fires, as well as effective educational work with the population. WWF is providing a new joint directorate national park"Land of the Leopard" and the reserve "Kedrovaya Pad" active and active assistance in this direction.
What else?
And thanks to another project that the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is conducting in Russia and China with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, it was possible to strengthen the protection of the territory in the south-west of Primorye - the only place in our country where two of the rarest big cats live - Amur tiger and Far Eastern leopard. The funds are directed to support anti-poaching activities, the work of regional protected areas, tracking and preventing conflict situations with large predators.
Of all the animals listed in the Red Book of Russia, far eastern leopard is probably in the most unenviable position. Today, according to experts, about 30-40 leopards live in the Far East. In neighboring China - no more than 10 individuals.
The number of Amur panthers, as the leopard is also called, began to decline sharply in the twentieth century. The hunt for him was carried out even before the revolution, but so far has not been of such a large-scale nature. In the 1920s and 1930s, this cat was declared an "enemy of the people", as it destroys species of ungulates that are valuable to humans. And this enemy was destroyed at the first opportunity.
In the 50s of the last century, the attitude towards the predator changed dramatically in the opposite direction and it was taken under state protection. Reserves were created, a rather competent policy was pursued to preserve the species on Earth, as a result of which its numbers stabilized and even began to increase.
In the “dashing nineties”, the life of the Far Eastern leopards deteriorated markedly. Poaching raids, human factor, reduction of security costs environment almost led to the complete destruction of the species.
On the black market, its skin and some organs are especially valued, which are used in alternative medicine China. Poachers are not afraid of punishment for killing a rare animal - very rarely they give real terms, and the fine for legal entities is 500 thousand rubles. True, now (in February 2013) the State Duma Committee for Nature Management is developing a bill that seriously toughens the responsibility for catching, transporting a dead animal or its parts, and illegal trafficking.
Poachers and buyers for the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard will now not only have to pay a fine of half a million rubles, but also serve a sentence of at least 5 years. But these measures are still very lenient compared to Chinese law. In the Celestial Empire, for the murder, sale or purchase of these big cats, the guilty face capital punishment.
Life in conditions of survival.
In the photo you have already seen how beautiful this animal is. The body of a leopard is very flexible and graceful. Its length rarely exceeds 140 cm, height at the withers - no more than 80 cm, body weight of an adult male - 45-50 kg. The fluffy tail can reach 70-80 cm. The color and shape of the drawings for each individual is very individual, it can be used to distinguish one animal from another.
The Amur leopard is a twilight predator. Goes hunting in the evening. Most often it hunts by stealth. His sharp eyesight helps him to see the victim at a distance of more than a kilometer!
The basis of its diet is made up of wild ungulates - small wild boars, roe deer, red deer, musk deer. Sometimes a hungry leopard approaches human habitation and attacks domestic animals. This, however, happens extremely rarely.
The Far Eastern panther is not averse to feasting on the Manchurian hare, ordinary foxes, animals of the mustelid family (ermines, sables, columns), ordinary squirrels, and some birds. Can't even escape it prickly hedgehogs. Raccoons, which often hide from danger in trees, do not escape from the leopard in this way - he himself, like the lynx, climbs well into the crown of the tree.
In general, all panthers, and especially the Amur ones, are born tactics! Having found the victim, they manage to approach it at a distance of up to 5-10 meters! The spotted predator does all this so quietly that a cautious musk deer with acute hearing cannot sense the approach of danger. He sneaks, using all the advantages of the terrain.
Then the leopard in one or two throws overtakes the unsuspecting prey. But this is not always the case. Very often he has to catch up with fast hares or deer. Adult Far Eastern panthers are able to run at a speed of 50-60 km / h.
He does not eat large animals immediately. A medium-sized roe deer is enough for him for 4 days or even a week or more. It protects the carcass of the killed prey from other predators and even birds. Sometimes he can drag her up a tree - the Amur leopard has enough strength!
Our spotted animal does not refuse carrion, from which an unpleasant smell is already coming.
Leads a solitary life. Each animal secures the territory in which it hunts. In one male, the “site” can reach 450 square meters. km. Females occupy an area of 50-100 square meters. km.
Leopards mark their possessions and protect from uninvited guests. Territorial disputes often arise between predators, which are resolved by force. In a fight, leopards cause serious injuries and injuries to each other, which often end in the death of one of them.
But fights for land occur only between individuals of the same sex. Male and female, living in the neighborhood, calmly enter each other's sites.
In winter, the mating season begins for the leopard. Males try to win the attention of the female, fights occur between males. One male fertilizes several females.
Pregnancy lasts 3-3.5 months. The female goes to remote places where she builds a nest. She gives birth in small caves and crevices, under the roots of wind-torn trees.
Up to 3 small kittens are born. Blind, weak cubs weigh about 500 g, and their dimensions are such that they easily fit in the human palm.
In the first months, their main food will be mother's milk. After 30-40 days, they will get stronger and begin to leave the lair. Then they will taste meat for the first time in their lives.
For two years, the mother will teach the kittens how to hunt. Having matured, they leave their mother and look for their own plots for living.
Neighborhood with a person always avoids. The stronger Amur tiger also pushes the Far Eastern panther - they are food competitors to each other.
Despite the fact that this spotted cat is a predator, it is not the first to attack a person. Noticing people from afar, she tries to silently leave.
The Far Eastern leopard is one of the most beautiful animals on our planet, so our main task is to preserve this species for future generations! If no measures are taken to protect and protect, then this animal may disappear in the coming months. I hope we don't have to talk about the leopard in the past tense.
The rarest predator from the cat family is the Far Eastern leopard. It is also called the Amur leopard or Amur leopard - the IUCN Red Book includes five subspecies of leopards, but the Far Eastern Amur leopard is the smallest and is on the verge of extinction. On the this moment in the wild, there are about 80 individuals.
Appearance
The Amur leopard, like all types of leopards, has a medium-sized rounded head with rounded ears, an elongated slender body, a long tail and strong slender paws with powerful retractable claws. No description of the Amur leopard is complete without mentioning its extraordinarily beautiful emerald eyes with oval vertical pupils.
The male is larger than the female, its body length can reach 135-137 cm, tail length - 80-90 cm, the height of the animal at the withers is about 70 cm. How much does a leopard weigh? Average weight leopard from 30 to 50 kg, females - 25-40 kg. The largest representatives of this subspecies weigh 60-70 kg.
His fur is luxurious - thick, soft and quite long. In summer, its length is about 2.5 cm, and in winter it reaches 7.5 cm. Longer belly fur protects the animal from frost in the cold season.
In winter, the main color varies from light sand to yellowish-red, in summer it becomes brighter and more saturated. The tips of the paws, chest and belly are always lighter than the body. A unique pattern on the skin is created by black spots arranged in rings or rosettes.
habitats
The habitat of this northernmost subspecies is the southwest of Primorsky Krai. The Far Eastern leopard mainly lives in Russia, and only about 1/3 of the total population lives in China.
For life, the seaside leopard chooses areas with forests of the Manchurian type, giving preference to places with rugged relief, replete with hills, watersheds and rocky outcrops.
Lifestyle and habits
The Amur leopard has excellent eyesight, it is known for its ability to see its prey at a distance of more than 1 km. The sense of smell and hearing of this predator are also well developed.
The Far Eastern leopard, in pursuit of prey, is capable of developing high speeds (up to 60 km / h). This predator is mainly active at dusk. Before sunset, he begins to search for prey and hunts for the first half of the night. On cloudy days and in winter, it often goes hunting during the day. It is most often sent to the watering place only after dusk.
The leopard is a solitary animal, strictly observing the boundaries of its territory. The patches are small and do not overlap between individuals of the same sex. The female (alone or with kittens) usually occupies from 50 to 100 square meters. km, and the male occupies a territory 5-6 times larger, visiting the sites of females only for mating. A male's territory may overlap with that of several adult females.
The Amur leopard guards the boundaries of its territory vigilantly, regularly bypasses them, leaving marks on the trees.
Nutrition
The Far Eastern leopard hunts alone stealthily or from an ambush. The female often hunts with the cubs. Skillfully using the terrain, the predator moves, hiding in various irregularities, bypassing dry foliage and branches, moving almost silently and imperceptibly. When 5-10 meters are left before the prey, the predator makes a swift throw and grabs its prey. It happens that a leopard on a tree eats prey. He is able to drag prey twice his weight up a tree.
The diet of this predator consists mainly of ungulates. He also preys on various small animals. Most of the animals that make up the diet of this wild cat are the objects of hunting and poaching, and their numbers are gradually declining. It is especially difficult for a predator to get food in winter.
reproduction
The Far Eastern leopard reaches puberty by 2.5-3 years, females develop earlier than males. The male often takes care of several females at once. The rut takes place in late autumn - early winter.
The female arranges a lair in remote places, choosing secluded crevices, caves or depressions under the roots of fallen trees.
Three months later, the female has 1-2 (rarely 3-4) kittens. Babies are born blind, about 500 g in weight, covered with fluffy spotted fur. After 7-9 days, their eyes open, on the 15th day the kittens begin to crawl confidently, and after the second month of life they can already get out of the den. At three months, the kittens change the color of their coats, the spots are collected in rosettes as in adult animals. At 1.5-2 years old, the cubs leave their mother and begin an independent life.
In the wild, this predator lives 12-15 years, and in captivity it lives up to 20.
Reasons for the disappearance
Since 1970, this subspecies has lost almost 80% of its habitat. Massive deforestation, infrastructure development in Primorsky Krai and fires have become the main reason.
Lack of food
Permitted hunting for ungulates and poaching lead to a decrease in their numbers and a decrease in the main food supply.
Illegal trade and poaching
Because of its beautiful fur, this rare cat becomes a victim of poachers. The high price of the skin makes poachers risk their freedom and even their lives (in China, killing a leopard is punishable by death).
Conflict with a person
Since the main diet of this predator is deer, in search of prey they often climb into reindeer farms. This partly solves the problem of feeding leopards, but sometimes they become a victim of reindeer herders.
Inbreeding
The small population of this subspecies makes it extremely vulnerable to such factors:
- diseases;
- change in the birth and death rate;
- change in sex ratio;
- inbreeding depression.
There is a high probability that family ties lead to a change at the genetic level, one of the manifestations of which is a decrease in the birth rate. The average number of pups per adult female in one litter has decreased by almost 50% over the past twenty years.
Security
The conservation of the Far Eastern leopard and the restoration of the population within the historical range is very important! At the moment, many zoos are breeding this subspecies in captivity. It is worth noting the high results in the breeding of this wild cat, obtained in the Tallinn Zoo.
An animal exchange program between zoos is now being actively developed, which will prevent the degeneration of this subspecies due to genetic changes as a result of inbreeding. In the future, it is planned to relocate these predators into the wild.
To preserve the population of this rarest animal in Russia, the national park "Land of the Leopard" and the reserve "Kedrovaya Pad" were created, on the territory of which most of the entire population lives. In the Red Book, the Far Eastern leopard is listed as close to extinction, but gradually the number of these animals in the wild is growing.
Video
Watch a fascinating documentary film about the Far Eastern leopard.
The Far Eastern leopard is perhaps the only species of this animal that lives in Russia, namely in the Far East. It should be noted that a small number of representatives of this species live in China. Another name for this species is the Amur leopard. It is probably not worth describing the appearance of this predator, since it is almost impossible to convey beauty and grandeur in words.
The saddest thing is that at the moment the subspecies is on the verge of extinction, therefore it is listed in the Red Book. The population of the Far Eastern leopard is so small that the probability of its complete extinction is high. Therefore, the habitats of the predator of this species are under careful protection. Experts in this field argue that it is possible to get out of the critical situation if the implementation of environmental projects is started.
Description of the breed
Despite the fact that this type of predator belongs to the cat, it has a fairly large number of differences. Yes, in summer time a year, the length of the wool is no more than 2.5 centimeters. But in the cold season, the woolen cover becomes larger - up to 7 centimeters. The color also changes - in the summer it is more saturated, but in winter it becomes much lighter, which actually has a completely logical explanation. The light color allows the animal to effectively disguise itself and thus successfully hunt its prey.
The male weighs about 60 kilograms. Females are slightly smaller - rarely weighing more than 43 kilograms. The structure of the body of this predator should be noted - long legs allow you to move quickly not only in the warm season, but also in periods when everything is covered with a sufficiently large amount of snow.
As for the habitat, the leopard chooses relief areas, with various slopes, vegetation, and always with water bodies. At the moment, the habitat of these animals is located on only 15,000 square kilometers in the region of Primorye, as well as on the border with the DPRK and China.
Life cycle
In the wild, that is, in its natural habitat, the Far Eastern leopard lives for about 15 years. Oddly enough, but in captivity this representative of predators lives longer - about 20 years.
The mating season is in the spring. Puberty in a leopard of this species occurs after three years. Over the entire life span, the female can give birth to 1 to 4 cubs. Maternal care lasts about 1.5 years. Until about six months, the mother breastfeeds her cub, after which a gradual weaning occurs. Upon reaching the age of one and a half years, the leopard completely departs from its parents and begins an independent life.
Nutrition
It should be noted that in China there are quite large areas, which, in fact, are ideal for a leopard of this species to live and breed there. The only extremely negative circumstance is the lack of feed. At the same time, it should be noted that this extremely negative factor can be eliminated if the process of using forests by the population is regulated. In other words, these areas should be made protected areas and hunting should be prohibited there.
The critical decline in the number of the Far Eastern leopard is due to the fact that animals are being shot in order to get beautiful, and therefore expensive fur.
The only way to restore the number and natural habitat of this animal is to prevent the extermination of leopards by poachers and to protect those areas that are their habitat. Sadly, but so far everything is going precisely to the disappearance of this species of animals, and not to increase their numbers.
Video about the Far Eastern leopard
