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The Amur leopard once ranged from South Beijing to Korea and even as far north as Vladivostok. Presently Amur leopards continue to inhabit parts of Russia, North Korea and China, however, the species has suffered significant decline and populations are both scattered and restricted to nature reserves and otherwise inaccessible/hard to reach areas. In Russia, the last surviving Amur leopards are found only in an area southwest of Primorye on the border with China and North Korea. Meanwhile camera traps have confirmed the presence of the Amur leopard in the Chinese provinces of Wangqing, Hunchun and Jilin. However, the only evidence for the Amur leopard's continued existence in North Korea comes from a 2009 North Korean government web page detailing a population in residence in North Korea's Myohyangsan Nature Reserve. This health database has also provided much baseline data necessary for the Disease Risk Assessment (DRA) which Dr. Lewis and WVI’s epidemiologist Dr Alex Tomlinson completed in 2015.
The pelts were sold in the village of Barabash, Russia, and were believed to have originated from the Kedrovaya Pad reserve. In 2009, police officers confiscated an Amur leopard skin found in a car in the Primorsky province of the Russian Far East, and in 2013 a dealer was apprehended with an Amur leopard pelt in his possession in Vladivostok. Apart from being poached for their fur, leopard bones hold high financial value in traditional Asian medicinal practices, particularly in China where the bones are steeped in rice wine to produce health tonics and other unsubstantiated remedies for an array of medical problems. This rampant loss of habitat, paired with the ever-expanding human population, has also placed an immense strain on sources of sustenance for the Amur leopard, as preferred species of prey have gradually become scarce in certain regions. Not only must the subspecies compete with fellow apex predators, such as Amur tigers, for free-roaming deer, boar and hares; villagers and farmers living in settlements surrounding prime leopard habitat also depend upon these prey species for their survival.
A keystone predator in the forest ecosystem
Native to the Russian Far East, Northern China and the Korean Peninsula, Amur leopards have developed several morphological adaptations to withstand the often harsh climates of the high-altitude, temperate forests they inhabit. Believed to have once sustained large, widely distributed populations across its endemic range states, the Amur leopard began suffering extensive populations declines in the 1970s as a result of poaching, habitat loss, and reduced availability of prey. With just over 100 individuals remaining, the subspecies faces an extremely high risk of extinction without the implementation of effective conservation measures. Big cat specialist, WVI founder and Veterinary Director, Dr. John Lewis, has developed the Amur Leopard Health Database to compile all available health data on captive and wild Amur leopards. Working with other colleagues in WVI (notably Dr Alex Tomlinson) and other organisations, he has also produced a comprehensive Disease Risk Assessment which is essential if the risk of disease to the new leopard population is to be minimised.
Dr. Lewis has created and now maintains a comprehensive health database for buy xanax without prescrition all captive Amur leopards in Europe. A vital resource for the reintroduction programme, the database allows selection of the healthiest and most suitable leopards for the process. Drawing on the information he has gathered from working with both captive and wild Amur leopards over many years, he has created and maintains the Amur Leopard Health Database which is a compilation of all available health data on captive and wild Amur leopards. This database is used to identify significant disease issues in zoo leopards, and thereby avoid the inclusion of all but the healthiest in the reintroduction programme. Systemic environmental issues also indirectly threaten the Amur leopard by diminishing its habitat and food sources. Habitat loss and fragmentation result from extensive deforestation driven by logging, agricultural expansion, and infrastructure development like roads and pipelines.
In the wild, reproduction remains rare due to low population numbers and limited genetic diversity. To make matters worse, the Amur leopard is also poached by hunters who want to acquire the leopard's coat and bones for sale on Asian black markets. Likewise, hunters are known to kill Amur leopards simply to eradicate natural competition for wild game, as well as in retaliation for Amur leopards occasionally preying on domestic animals. In fact, hunting is a significant problem for the Amur leopard due to most of the species' surviving territory being located in easily accessible and already popular hunting grounds.
Fire-fighting teams and anti-poaching brigades have been established in the Amur leopard’s habitat. Education and outreach programmes are encouraging local people to value their forests and the amazing wildlife found in them. And a leopard was one of the mascots chosen by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for the winter Olympic games in Sochi in 2014. It was then that a group of Russian and international experts came together to develop a conservation strategy to save this spectacular animal. They agreed that while it was essential to protect the remaining wild leopards, another possibility for strengthening their chance of survival would be to release captive-bred leopards into the wild.
WVI has been involved for many years in a range of activities related to saving the Amur leopard. We work to ensure that the current tiny population of Amur leopards is not at risk from disease and that veterinary issues posed by the reintroduction project are understood and professionally managed. For both the existing population of Amur leopards and those that might be reintroduced in the future, a proper understanding and assessment of the risks of disease and inbreeding is crucial.
Despite their elusive nature, as well as their remote and relatively limited geographical range, Amur leopards play an incredibly important role in the sustaining the ecological vitality of their surrounding environment. As the subspecies is widely considered to be an apex predator within their natural habitat, consuming a wide variety of prey throughout the year, they consequently aid in maintaining healthy levels of species density. As a number of the Amur leopard’s preferential prey are herbivorous and omnivorous, the population control service provided by these skilled hunters therefore affects the health of the forests they, as well as a myriad of other plant and animal species, depend on.