Far Eastern leopard or Amur leopard. Far Eastern leopard (Amur leopard) The Far Eastern leopard lives in the mountains

The Far Eastern leopard is predatory mammals, one of the subspecies of leopard. Its body length is from 107 to 136 cm. Males reach 50 kg, females weigh about 423 kg. Inhabits mountain coniferous-deciduous and oak forests on Far East, on the borders of Russia, China and North Korea.

Males of this subspecies of leopard are from 107 to 136 cm in length, the tail is 82-90 cm long, the height is from 64 to 78 cm, and the weight is in the range of 30-50 kg. Females tend to be slightly smaller in size.

The body is slender, flexible, muscular, elongated, slightly compressed from the sides. The tail is long. The limbs are short, strong, with powerful and wide front paws. The light claws are strongly curved and sharp, their length can reach 5 cm on the front paws. The head is small, round in shape with a convex forehead, small ears, rounded, set wide. The eyes are small with a round pupil. Vibrissae black and white.

The coat is soft, thick, relatively short, and close-lying. Winter color ranges from light yellow to rich yellowish-red with a golden tint or reddish-yellow. The sides and outside of the legs are always lighter. In general, winter fur is paler and duller than summer fur. Black spots are scattered against the general background: solid and in the form of rings. Spots are absent only on the front of the muzzle.

The Far Eastern leopard, as a predator, eats everything it catches: from small rodents to large deer and even bears. Its diet is dominated by ungulates (and Siberian roe deer). If there are few of them, then the leopard hunts wild boars and wapiti calves, badgers and raccoon dogs. An adult individual needs one harvested ungulate for two weeks. During periods of lack of food, leopards hunt hares and hazel grouse. In addition, Amur leopards eat grass to clear the gastrointestinal tract of their fur, which they ingest while preening their fur.

Far Eastern leopards hunt most actively at dusk and at the beginning of the night. During the day they go hunting only in winter in cloudy weather. They hunt only alone; females occasionally hunt together with their growing offspring. Hunting consists of two main techniques: sneaking up on prey and waiting for it in ambush. Having crept up to the prey at 5-10 m, the leopard makes a sharp jerk and a series of jumps. A leopard can stay near the carcass of large prey for a week. When a person appears, he prefers to hide and then return to his victim.

The historical habitat of Far Eastern leopards included the southern regions of the Ussuri region, northeast China (Manchuria), and the Korean Peninsula. In the 20th century, the subspecies was distributed in southeast Russia, northeast China and Korean Peninsula. Due to human development of these territories, the range was divided into three isolated areas and formed three independent populations. Today, the Far Eastern leopard lives in mountainous and forested areas of about 10-15,000 km², located between Russia, China and Korea.

Leopards can live in a variety of landscapes; they usually only avoid populated areas. They can be found in large mountain formations, with ledges, cliffs and outcrops, which alternate with gentle slopes, with oak and cedar forests, with a roe deer population density of 10 animals per 1000 hectares, and other inhabited ungulates.

Sexual dimorphism in Far Eastern leopards is not pronounced; sexual differences in males and females are expressed in the smaller size of the latter and the light structure of their skull.

The Far Eastern leopard is a solitary, nocturnal animal. The spatial arrangement of its habitats is not seasonal. Males occupy an area of 238-316 km², up to a maximum of 500 km²; females’ areas are usually 4-6 times smaller, 107-128 km². The leopard uses an individual area, permanent paths and shelters for broods for many years in a row. The size of the area is determined by the age and sex of the leopard, the time of year, the topography and the number of food items on it. It is smallest in females during lactation, up to 10 km². In females with one-year-old offspring it is already 25-40 km², in young individuals it is 100-250 km². The largest territories are those of sexually mature males.

Leopards' territories sometimes coincide with each other at their boundaries, and several leopards may use the same paths. Young males can roam freely throughout the territories of adult relatives. Leopards rarely conflict with each other, but when it comes to serious clashes, death can occur.

The communication system of Far Eastern leopards includes visual marks, scent marks and sounds. Visual marks are burrs on tree trunks, loosening of soil or snow, trail chains. The smell is left by excrement and urine marks. Leopards often use combined marks, where they mark not the boundaries of their habitat areas along the perimeter, but their central parts.

Leopards reproduce very slowly: females give birth to no more than 1-2 cubs, pregnancy occurs only once every three years, and not all of them.

The Far Eastern leopard is a polygamous animal. Estrus in females begins in late autumn and lasts until the beginning of winter. At this time, fights often occur and loud roars of males are heard, although leopards are usually silent. Males seek contact with females, visit their areas, and often mark trails. Mating occurs in January, after which the females set up dens in caves and crevices.

Pregnancy lasts 90-105 days, in one litter there are 1-4 cubs, the mortality rate among which is very high. They are born blind, with thick, spotted fur. The weight of newborn kittens is 400-600 g. After a week, their eyes open, after two they begin to crawl, at the age of a month they can walk well, and after another month they leave the den. Only the female raises the cubs. At 2-3 months, the babies leave the den and follow their mother, who periodically selects new shelters for them. Milk feeding of offspring lasts from 3 months to six months. Kittens eat meat from 6-8 weeks. From about the same time, they learn to search for prey. Until the age of 13-14 months, young leopards live with the female. Then the brood disintegrates.

Sexual maturity occurs at the age of 2-3 years, in males a little later than in females. The latter have their first offspring at 25-55 months. In captivity, Far Eastern leopards live up to 20 years; in the wild, they live much shorter - 10-15 years.

A variety of wild animals, scavengers and predators, are not dangerous to leopards, and also do not represent food competitors for them. Among domestic animals, dogs pose a danger to them: both hunters and food competitors.

People cause great harm to the population of the Far Eastern leopard, which is associated with poaching, the destruction of ungulates that leopards feed on, and the destruction of their natural habitats.

Now the Far Eastern leopard is on the verge of extinction. This is the rarest of all leopard subspecies, wildlife there are about 57 individuals in national park"Land of the Leopard" and 8-12 in China. The animal is listed in the IUCN Red Book of Russia. Hunting for it is strictly prohibited.
The presence of spots on the body of the Far Eastern leopard disrupts the visual impression of the contours of its body, so it is invisible or little noticeable against the background environment. The main function of this coloration is to camouflage the predator during the hunt. The pattern of spots is unique to each individual, just like fingerprints are unique to humans.

Usually, when people hear the word “Amur leopard,” pictures immediately appear in their heads. African savannah. But few people know that the homeland of this subspecies is precisely the Far East of our country and the North of China. That is why it was called “Far Eastern”. Although in zoology this species of animal is known under a completely different name, namely the Amur leopard or Amur leopard.

Peculiarities

Currently, the Far Eastern leopard population is in a rather critical condition. Although in the last century in the Chinese provinces, as well as in Korea, these animals lived in large flocks. In addition, the Amur tiger is one of the rarest animals of the cat family. Unique feature What sets them apart from other predators is their keen intelligence. Even being very hungry, they will never attack a person (although you need to be very careful with this animal, it is a powerful predator).

In addition, the extinction of a species is influenced not only by humans, but also by its activities. For example, for the sake of building new highways and households, large areas of forest are destroyed, and along with them animals and all vegetation. Therefore, it is urgent to take measures to preserve the Amur leopard. Indeed, in the near future it may completely disappear. So, at Beijing University, scientists conducted an experiment to calculate how many Far Eastern leopards still live in the wild. The result was simply amazing. As it turned out, there are only 80 representatives of this species left on the entire planet.

Description

The Far Eastern leopard belongs to the cat family, but at the same time is very different from them. According to eyewitnesses, the animal’s appearance simply fascinates at first sight. Nature has endowed the leopard with a slender and fairly elongated body. It is worth noting that in adulthood, the body length of representatives of this species can reach up to 140 centimeters. They also have a long, straight tail. It is he who plays an important role during the jump, namely to perform cool maneuvers. According to scientists, the tail of the Amur leopard is one of the longest among the cat family. According to statistics, its length reaches one meter. An interesting fact is that in addition to strong paws, it also has a fairly strong neck. This is what allows him to grab and drag a victim that is almost twice the size and weight of himself.

In most cases, males have more weight than females. For example, an average-sized man can weigh about 50 kilograms, while a female is only 40 kilograms.

One more interesting point, which concerns the Far Eastern leopard, is a change in the intensity of fur color. This phenomenon can be observed when the seasons change. For example, in summer it has a brighter and more intense color than in winter. All this helps the leopard to camouflage itself perfectly depending on the season.

Far Eastern leopard - interesting facts about the habitat. Representatives of this species for settlement in most cases choose regions in which large areas occupy forests, as well as moderate temperature And natural precipitation(rain, snow). These predators inhabit one of the remote areas of the Primorsky Territory, not far from the border of the Russian Federation and China.

It is worth noting that the Far Eastern leopard does not have a nomadic lifestyle at all. After all, by their nature they are conservatives, which means that they live where they immediately settled. Moreover, they even go the same route.

Activity and social organization

In general, representatives of this species are “nocturnal, solitary hunters.” They never go hunting during the day. It is worth noting that they appear at the watering hole only at dusk.

The Amur leopard feeds on roe deer, hares, deer, badgers and even Himalayan bears. It is very difficult for the prey to hide or even escape from this predator. After all, besides high speed, he also has fairly good, sharp eyesight and knows how to climb trees.

Offspring

The female carries the babies for 12 weeks. During this period, she carefully prepares and arranges the place where the children will see the light. In total, from 1 to 5 kittens are born.

A newborn Amur leopard weighs only 500-700 grams. Like all representatives of the cat family, they are born completely blind. I begin to see clearly only on the ninth day.

The female releases her cubs into the world only 2 months after birth. At this time, the female regurgitates semi-digested meat for them, then they begin to eat the prey brought by the mother.

The life expectancy of the Far Eastern leopard is 15 years.

Currently, most representatives of this species do not live in the wild, but in nurseries and protected areas. The Far Eastern leopard is listed in the Red Book.

A leopard (leopard) is an animal that belongs to the class mammals, order carnivores, family felines, subfamily big cats, genus panther.

International scientific name: Panthera pardus(Linnaeus, 1758).

The Greek word πάνθηρ, from which the word “panther”, another name for the leopard, comes, consists of two stems: πάν (everything, everywhere) and θήρα (beast, predator), that is, literally “full-fledged predator”. Although there is an opinion that the word “panther” comes from the Sanskrit pundarikam - “tiger”, “yellowish beast”. Prefix leo from Greek Λέων indicates a relationship with. In Rus', the leopard was known as the leopard, pard and pardus, although the last two names also applied to another animal - the cheetah. The word leopard, which is also used to call this type of mammal, is of Turkic origin.

A leopard can also attack a person. But man-eating leopards are much less common than those that attack people and lions. Only an old or sick animal can do this. A healthy and young animal attacks a person only if it is wounded.

A leopard eats up to 20 kg of meat per day. Having killed large prey, it feeds on it for another 4-5 days. Only after this does the leopard go on its next hunt.

Leopards drink a lot, especially after eating. In this regard, they always settle in places where there is constant water. Cats usually go to water at night.

In addition to animal meat, leopards eat grass to clear their gastrointestinal tract of hair that they ingest while grooming their fur.

How do leopards hunt?

Leopards are night hunters. But sometimes they can hunt during the day, especially in cloudy weather. Leopards go for prey in the pre-sunset hours and hunt in the first half of the night. If the hunt was unsuccessful, they continue it in the early morning.

These predators are capable of attacking a wide variety of animals, acting cunningly and swiftly. They lie in wait for their victims mainly on the ground, but at the same time, they are excellent at climbing trees, overtaking prey there too. The gait of these felines is silent. They try to watch for their prey on animal trails or at a watering hole, on a salt lick or even on a tree branch. Leopards quietly and deftly sneak up on the object of the hunt, approaching it within 2 meters, and make the decisive throw. The leopard does not like to chase its prey: it most often runs no more than 40-50 meters after an animal attacked from an ambush. Leopards kill small animals with a bite to the neck. Jumping onto the back of a large animal, they knock it down, fall with the full weight of their body, wrap their paws around the victim’s neck and bite its throat or back of the head.

Leopards usually hunt alone. The female can go hunting with adult children while the family has not yet broken up. As a rule, leopards kill one animal without touching or scaring the rest. If the leopard does not eat the killed victim immediately, then it can drag the remains of the meal up a tree to protect it from other carrion eaters. But usually they carry the remains several hundred meters away and hide them in thickets of plants. These predators do not compete with other big cats for food, as they feed not only on large ungulates.

Leopard breeding

In the southern regions of their habitat, leopards breed all year round. In the Far East they mate in January. During the mating season, male leopards are aggressive, often fight, and roar loudly. Leopards make a den for their offspring in the most remote and secluded places. These can be various depressions: under trees, under stones, in rocks. Before the babies appear, the female lines the bottom of the den with dry leaves and grass.

A leopard's pregnancy lasts 3 months. Childbirth occurs at night and lasts 6-10 hours. Usually there are 1-4 babies in a litter weighing 500-700 g and a body length of up to 15 cm, but up to 6 newborn kittens are possible. Leopard cubs are born blind and helpless, covered with long, thick brownish fur with dark spots. They begin to see clearly in 1.5 weeks, and get to their feet only after 2 weeks, crawling around the den. Leopard kittens meow like their domestic relatives. If a female leopard senses danger, she hides the kittens in another place, carrying them in her teeth one at a time. The female keeps the babies in a shelter until 6-8 weeks, and then they begin to leave the den to play. The female feeds them meat food: first regurgitating half-digested food, and then bringing them killed small animals and birds. At 5-6 months, after the mother stops feeding her cubs milk, she begins to lead them to killed prey.

The brood follows the mother more than a year, learning hunting and survival techniques before she goes into heat. Young leopards from the same litter stay together for some time. They become sexually mature after 2 years, with females slightly earlier than males. During this period, young animals disperse and settle in other places.

Subspecies of leopards, photos and names

A leopard is a species of animal from the panther genus. There are several subspecies of this type:

Panthera pardus delacuri (Pocock, 1930) – Indochinese leopard,
Panthera pardus fusca (Meyer, 1794) – Indian leopard,
Panthera pardus japonensis (J. E. Gray, 1862) – North China leopard,
Panthera pardus kotiya (Deraniyagala, 1956) – Ceylon leopard,
Panthera pardus melas (G. Cuvier, 1809) – Javan leopard,
Panthera pardus nimr (Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1833) – South Arabian leopard,
Panthera pardus orientalis (Schlegel, 1857) – Far Eastern leopard, Amur leopard, East Siberian leopard,
Panthera pardus pardus (Linnaeus, 1758) – African leopard,
Panthera pardus saxicolor (Pocock, 1927) – Persian leopard. Currently, the Central Asian leopard (Caucasian leopard) (lat. Panthera pardus tulliana, Panthera pardus ciscaucasica) is also combined with Persian.

Below is brief description each subspecies.

Indochinese leopard (lat.Panthera pardus delacouri) - a subspecies that is often black. The predator lives in Southeast Asia(Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand). According to data from 2016 (Rostro-García et al., 2016), it is no longer found in Singapore, may have been extirpated from Laos and Vietnam, and has almost disappeared from Cambodia and southern China.

The population, not exceeding 2503 individuals, is constantly under threat of destruction. Due to deforestation, the area that is familiar environment habitat of this species. Poaching and illegal wildlife trade are also negatively impacting Indochinese leopard numbers.

Indian leopard (lat.Panthera pardus fusca).

The body length of males reaches 128-142 cm, the tail length is 71-92 cm, the maximum weight of the leopard does not exceed 77 kg. The length of females is 104-117 cm, the length of the tail is 76-88 cm, females weigh 29-34 kg.

The Indian leopard lives in Northern India and adjacent countries: Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, southern China. Indian leopards have long been famous as cannibals. Perhaps in earlier times, this was due to the fact that they ate the unburied corpses of people who died during periods of epidemics, and then, having tasted human flesh, continued their attacks.

North China leopard (lat.Panthera pardus japonensis) has the same dimensions as the Amur leopard: body length up to 136 cm, tail up to 90, weight up to 75 kg. The average weight of males is 50 kg, females - 32 kg.

North China leopards are found in the forests and mountains of central and northeastern China. According to data from 2015 (Laguardia et al., 2015), the number of predators is 174-348 individuals. For comparison: in 1998 their number reached about 1000 individuals.

Males reach a length of 142 cm, females 114 cm. The length of the male’s tail is up to 96.5 cm, the female’s is up to 84 cm. Weight Limit males up to 77 kg, females – up to 44 kg.

This species got its name from its only habitat - the island of Ceylon, which is now called Sri Lanka. Between 700 and 950 individuals live in the wild (data for 2015).

Javan leopard (lat.Panthera pardus melas) - one of the endangered subspecies, lives only on the island of Java in Indonesia. It is dying out due to a reduction in the territory of residence, which is just over 3000 square meters. km and continues to decrease. According to data from 2008 (Ario et al., 2008), there are from 350 to 525 individuals in nature.

Previously, it was believed that the Javan leopard is exclusively black in color, but then it was found that spotted colors are also found among them.

South Arabian leopard (lat.Panthera pardus nimr) is the smallest leopard, reaching a length of no more than 140 cm with a weight of up to 20 kg (for females) and up to 30 kg (for males). The background color can be either pale yellow or bright gold. Patterned rosettes.

The predator was once widespread in the Middle East. Currently, South Arabian leopards live only in small areas in the western part Arabian Peninsula. An endangered subspecies in dire need of protection. According to data from 2008, no more than 45-200 South Arabian leopards live in the wild.

Far Eastern leopard (Amur, East Siberian) (lat.Panthera pardus orientalis) also called Manchurian leopard or Korean leopard. Small subspecies. Body length is 107 - 136 cm, tail length is 82-90 cm, shoulder height is up to 78 cm. The weight of a leopard is on average 32-48 kg, but can reach 75 kg. It differs from other subspecies in its softer and longer fur: 30-50 mm on the back and up to 70 mm on the belly. In winter, the color of the animal is lighter than in summer. The background varies from cream to golden. The sides are lighter, and the belly and inner sides of the limbs are white. In summer, the color of the coat is more saturated. The predator's skull is strongly compressed in the interorbital region.

Currently, Far Eastern leopards live in a small area on the border of three countries - Russia, China and North Korea. A century ago, its habitat occupied the entire Korean Peninsula, Primorye and areas in northern China. As of 2014, no more than 50-60 individuals remained in the wild. This is the rarest living leopard. Active efforts are currently being made to conserve and restore the population both in captivity and in the wild. In the south of Primorsky Krai, reserves have been created to preserve this rare animal.

African leopard (lat.Panthera pardus pardus) - the most common subspecies. Body length - up to 180 cm, tail - up to 110 cm. The maximum weight of males reaches 91 kg, while average weight is 60 kg. Females weigh on average between 35 and 40 kg.

The predator occupies vast territories in Africa, found in mountains, savannas, semi-deserts, humid tropical forests. Avoids desert areas where there are no permanent sources of water. Not found in the Sahara and in the desert regions of northern Africa and Namibia.

Persian leopard ( aka Central Asian leopard, Caucasian leopard) (lat.Panthera pardus saxicolor) - a large animal with a body length of up to 183 cm (according to the website www.inaturalist.org up to 259 cm) and a tail length of up to 116 cm. The leopard’s weight reaches 60 kg. The winter fur of the animal is pale, dull, the background is grayish-ochre, the spots are relatively rare, of a brownish tint. Summer fur can be of two types - lighter and darker.

According to 2008 data, there are from 870 to 1290 adult individuals in the world. Persian leopards live in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, eastern Turkey, Turkmenistan (in the Kopet Dag mountains); in Azerbaijan: in Nakhichevan, in the Talysh Mountains, in Karabakh; in Armenia and in the Greater Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. The habitat of leopards is the base of cliffs and scatterings of stones, sometimes plains overgrown with bushes.

Individuals that were previously widespread in the North Caucasus were completely exterminated in the middle of the 20th century. But we can hope that predators will return to these places again, since since 2007, Russia has launched a program to restore the population of the Central Asian (Caucasian) leopard. The Caucasus Leopard Recovery Center operates on the territory of the Sochi National Park, and its first pets have already been released into the wild. The Central Asian leopard is included in the Red Book of Russia as an endangered species.

The Far Eastern leopard, also called the Amur leopard, is the rarest cat of the Far Eastern region. The Far Eastern leopard is the most rare beast from the cat family on the entire planet.

Nine dozen individuals - these are the official statistics released by scientists after a scrupulous census of the population of Far Eastern leopards, one of five subspecies of the spectacular cat family.

Unreasonable extermination by humans has brought beautiful predators to the brink of extinction and the inclusion of an entire subspecies in the list of Red Book animals.

Habitat

Amur leopard- the northernmost representative of the species, its habitat extends far to the north, beyond the 45th parallel. At the beginning of the last century, these animals occupied the Amur and Ussuri regions, and were found on the Korean Peninsula and on 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).

They are suitable for life deciduous forests, rough terrain with rocky terrain, hills with cliffs suitable for hunting. And definitely a large number water resources, availability of places for watering.

The Far Eastern leopard does not like high snow cover and needs a large number of herbivores for a successful hunt.

According to scientists, the Russian population reaches eight dozen individuals; 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 considerable 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 animal reaches 136 centimeters, the tail can grow by 90.

The appearance of northern animals claims to be feline grace, multiplied by power. The slender, elongated body is crowned with a neat round head, the legs are slender and strong, and the tail of the Far Eastern leopard is very elongated.

If you could look into your eyes wild beast, then the vertical oval-shaped pupils, which transform into a circle when switching to night vision, would immediately attract attention.

In the warm season, the Far Eastern leopard sports a short “fur coat” of bright colors; in winter, it “changes clothes” into a thick (but not lush) outfit of muted colors. You can see almost red-haired individuals with a reddish or golden tint.

The outstanding feature of the Far Eastern leopard's skin is the black spots that form ring-shaped patterns or rosettes scattered throughout the animal's body.

The range of spots is unique; in the whole world there are no two leopards with the same patterns on their beautiful skin. This seemingly bright color helps the forest hunter to camouflage himself, blend in with the surrounding world, and hunt more efficiently.

An interesting feature of the species is its sharp chocolate claws with a white “manicure”; the animal can quickly retract them into the pads of its paws so as not to spoil them while walking on rocky terrain.

Behavior and lifestyle

The Far Eastern leopard is a solitary nocturnal hunter, moving silently across its hunting grounds. The marked area of the forest directly depends on the sex of the animal and the burden of the family.

A lone male owns a decent area, much larger than that of the young mother. But as the litter matures, the female expands her boundaries. Moving further and further from the lair.

Young males have to conquer their own pieces of land, sometimes fighting with seasoned fellow tribesmen. The poorest parts of the forest fall to the lot of young people and nursing mothers; game-rich lands are always in the hands of 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: sneak up on a potential victim unnoticed or attack it from an ambush. The hunter is always alone, with the exception of mothers with grown-up offspring.

In winter, when the days are short, he can hunt during daylight, following the tracks laid by wild boars so as not to wade through snow drifts. At dusk, leopards descend to rivers and streams to drink.

Leopards occasionally clash with others large predators, but the beast does not have full-fledged enemies. It is extremely rare for the Far Eastern leopard to wander into 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 the predator.

Average life expectancy in natural environment- ten years, some individuals live up to fifteen. In captivity, the life of Amur leopards is extended to twenty years.

Nutrition

The favorite food of the Far Eastern predator is sika deer and roe deer grazing in the habitats of the Amur leopard. If the animal does not come across these representatives of artiodactyls, then a possible victim will be a wild boar or a small wapiti.

In difficult times, the predator switches to small animals, then game (hazel grouse, pheasants), hares and badgers appears in its diet. “Chinese” leopards (living on the lands of the People's Republic of China) expand their menu to include local goats called gorals.

In the worst case scenario, a predator can fast for two weeks without harm to health. But Far Eastern leopards consume plant foods, 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. The babies receive their first meat in semi-digested form from their mother; later she begins to deliver pieces of her prey to the family.

Reproduction

Babies of this species of leopards appear very rarely, one pregnancy after three years. And unfortunately, there are very few sexually mature females ready to reproduce. The situation is somewhat saved by the tendency of Amur leopards to polygamy; the pair does not form for long.

Mating season falls in November and December, the female, ready for pregnancy, informs the “gentlemen” about her position with frequent marks. But the lady still needs to be won; often her position is achieved by several males, who fill the surrounding area with long, loud cries.

As a result, the female goes to the male who wins the “cat” battle. Priority and increased interest is shown to ladies who already have raised offspring. The female, who has taken the day off, sets up a den in a cozy crevice protected from the winds, and prepares to give birth three months after mating.

The maximum litter of Far Eastern leopards is four blind spotted lumps. Although usually a couple of kittens are born. But, unfortunately, the mortality rate among newborns is too high. The eyes open in nine days, and 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 maternal lands. Babies are already able to follow their mother for several kilometers. If you have to travel through snow drifts, then the mother makes a path, and the little leopards follow her in single file.

The offspring receive 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 only becomes an adult at two years of age. From two to three years old, the Amur leopard can begin to have its own offspring.

Reasons for the decline in numbers

In addition to extremely slow reproduction and population replenishment, the reason for the disappearance of the Far Eastern leopard was barbaric human activity.

Forests and areas suitable for hunting grounds for predators. They are rapidly declining under the onslaught of civilization, plus they “help” forest fires, destroying vegetation and forcing herbivores to migrate.

This also includes highways laid through centuries-old forests and railway tracks, plowing land for fields, uncontrolled logging trees for logging.

Poachers who poison the animals with packs of dogs cause enormous harm to the small population of Amur leopards. Hunters strive to obtain a valuable skin beautiful beast, and Chinese healers pay more money for parts of the carcass used in making potions.

Sometimes Far Eastern leopards become victims of deer park owners. Predators trying to get food for themselves are shot right at the scene of the “crime.” Very rarely, careless leopards are hit 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 an Amur leopard in China will have to pay with his own life. In Russia, a caught hunter will be imprisoned for three years, or in a particularly serious case, seven years, and will pay a fine of two million rubles.

The predator was included in the Red Book of the Primorsky Territory back in the sixties, but the population has not yet 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 the specially created Kedrovaya Pad nature reserve. In the 21st century, the Leopardovy Nature Reserve and the Land of 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. At the end of the last century, specialists from the World Wildlife Fund joined the noble mission.

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 the long list of forever lost representatives of the earth’s fauna.

The main reasons for the extinction of Far Eastern leopards include human development of their original habitats and a sharp reduction 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 penalties for killing the Amur leopard, will increase the number of animals and remove them from the pages of the Red Book forever.

Far Eastern (Amur) leopard

The Far Eastern leopard is also called the Amur, Manchurian or Korean leopard, as well as the Amur leopard. These large spotted predators have chosen the mountain taiga regions and wooded areas of Northeast China, Korea, and the Far East. The Far Eastern leopard is the rarest subspecies of the cat family. Today, only 35 individuals of these unique big cats live in the wild. Some experts claim that the number is even smaller - 20-25 individuals, while others generally claim that the population has completely disappeared in the taiga forests.

The Far Eastern leopard is an endangered animal.

How to recognize the Amur leopard

The weight of male Far Eastern leopards varies between 32-48 kilograms; previously, larger representatives of the species weighing up to 60-75 kilograms were also found. Females weigh much less than males, their weight reaches 25-43 kilograms. Average length the bodies of Amur leopards are 105-135 centimeters. At the withers they reach 65-75 centimeters. Far Eastern leopards have long tail about 80-90 centimeters in size. The predator has thick, soft and long fur. IN summer time The length of the fur is 2.5 centimeters, and in winter the fur becomes much longer - 7.5 centimeters. The fur on the back is shorter than on the belly.

Far Eastern leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis).

The main color of the skin is pale yellow, but the chest, belly and tips of the paws are lighter than the rest of the body. The skin is decorated with black spots. On the back and sides, the spots are closely adjacent to each other, and between them there are spaces of a yellowish-red color. The coloring of Amur leopards is much lighter than that of African and Indian leopards. Distinctive feature Far Eastern leopards have blue-green eyes.

Lifestyle, diet and number of Amur leopards

At one time, the Amur leopard had a difficult time in the places where they lived Amur tigers. But, today, these problems are considered so insignificant in comparison with those that man himself created. The main reason for the extermination of the population of these unique predators is poaching.

The Amur leopard is a real predator.

Far Eastern leopards are hunted not only by the local population, but also by wealthy Russians from Vladivostok. Chinese citizens who cross the border with Russia illegally also contribute.

Since 2002, 9 Far Eastern leopards have been shot in our country and 2 in China. Mass poaching is curbed by harsh laws. In this matter, the strictest policy is being pursued in China, where the death penalty is imposed for killing an Far Eastern leopard. In our country, the laws are more loyal - poachers receive 2 years in prison and a fine of 500 thousand rubles. Deforestation, which is the main habitat of this predator, also leads to a decline in the population of the Far Eastern leopard. Local residents often set the forest on fire, thereby stimulating the growth of fern, which is one of the popular ingredients in Chinese and Far Eastern Russian kuna. The sale of ferns brings in large profits, and the population of the unique animal is declining. The numbers of these animals are declining alarmingly.

Baby Amur leopard: you can’t play with such a kitten.

Amur leopards feed mainly on sika deer, roe deer, badgers and hares. The current situation leads to the fact that big cats are forced to change their usual habitat because they cannot provide themselves with the necessary amount of food. As a result, Far Eastern leopards often die from hunger and bullets from hunters. But if in China and the Far East you can rarely find this predator, then in North Korea the situation is much sadder, people there have already destroyed almost all the animals. The Korean leopard has not been seen in these lands for more than 40 years.

Reproduction of the Far Eastern leopard

The greatness of the Amur leopard is amazing.

These inhabitants of taiga forests prefer a solitary lifestyle. Only during the mating season do males come together with females. The mating season usually falls in January. Pregnancy in females lasts 3 months. Future mother is looking for a lair, it can be a cave, a depression in the ground or a crevice between stones. Babies are born in the spring, there are 2-3 cubs in a litter, they have no vision, but their skin is already spotted. Young leopards do not leave their mother for 2 years. At 3 years of age they begin puberty. In the wild, the life expectancy of Far Eastern leopards is 12-15 years. In captivity, these unique cats live longer - up to 20 years.

Protection and measures to increase the number of Amur leopards

The Amur leopard is a victim of poachers.

The outlook for the population in the wild is very dismal. Far Eastern leopards live in zoos, where they breed. Today in the zoos of our country, North America and Europe there are 300 individuals of Amur leopards. Good results in breeding these animals have been achieved at the Tallinn Zoo in Estonia. Experts from a number of countries are developing a program for the exchange of Far Eastern leopards between zoos. This should give positive results at the genetic level and prevent the degeneration of the subspecies. There are grandiose plans to resettle Far Eastern leopards into the wild in the future.