Amur leopard


The Amur leopard is a leopard subspecies native to the Primorye region of southeastern Russia and northern China. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as in 2007, only 19–26 wild leopards were estimated to survive in southeastern Russia and northeastern China.
, fewer than 60 individuals were estimated to survive in Russia and China. Camera-trapping surveys conducted between 2014 and 2015 revealed 92 individuals in an large transboundary area along the Russian-Chinese border., the population was thought to comprise 128–130 sub-adult and adult individuals.
Results of genetic research indicate that the Amur leopard is genetically close to leopards in northern China and Korea, suggesting that the leopard population in this region became fragmented in the early 20th century. The North Chinese leopard was formerly recognised as a distinct subspecies, but was subsumed under the Amur leopard in 2017.

Naming and etymology

The names 'Amurland leopard' and 'Amur leopard' were coined by Pocock in 1930, when he compared leopard specimens in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London. In particular, he referred to a leopard skin from the Amur Bay as 'Amur leopard'. Since at least 1985, this name has been used for the leopard subspecies in eastern Siberia and for the captive population in zoos worldwide.
The Amur leopard is also known as the "Siberian leopard", "Far Eastern leopard", and "Korean leopard".

Taxonomic history

In 1857, Hermann Schlegel described a leopard skin from Korea under the scientific name Felis orientalis.
Since Schlegel's description, several naturalists and curators of natural history museums described zoological specimens of leopards from the Russian Far East and China:
In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group subsumed P. p. japonensis to P. p. orientalis. The remaining synonyms are not considered valid subspecies. However, a 2024 study which performed phylogenetic analysis on the basis of cranial morphology and mitochondrial genome analysis suggested that P. p. japonensis is likely a distinct subspecies.

Genetic research

of leopard samples from Primorsky Krai and North Korea revealed that they cannot be distinguished. It is considered very probable that the Amur leopard metapopulation became fragmented less than a century ago.
Phylogenetic analysis of an old leopard skin from South Korea revealed it to be an Amur leopard.
The complete mitochondrial genome of a wild male leopard specimen from Shaanxi province in central China has been amplified and is 16,966 base pairs long.

Characteristics

The Amur leopard can easily be differentiated from other leopard subspecies by its thick, pale cream-colored fur, particularly in winter. Rosettes on the flanks are and widely spaced, up to, with thick, unbroken rings and darkened centers. Its fur is fairly soft with long and dense hair. The length of hair on the back is in summer and up to in winter. The winter coat varies from fairly light yellow to dense yellowish-red with a golden tinge, or rusty-reddish-yellow. In summer, the fur is brighter, with more vivid coloration pattern. It is rather small in body size, with males larger than females. Males measure with an long tail, a shoulder height of, and a weight of. Females weigh.
The North Chinese leopard was first described on the basis of a single tanned skin which was fulvous above, and pale beneath, with large, roundish, oblong black spots on the back and limbs, and small black spots on the head. The spots on the back, shoulders and sides formed a ring around a central fulvous spot. The black spots on the nape were elongated, and large ones on the chest formed a necklace. The tail was spotted and had four black rings at the tip.

Distribution and habitat

In the Russian Far East, the Amur leopard currently inhabits an area of about.
It is well adapted to the cold climate and heavy snowfall of the region. The association of the leopard with mountainous areas has been recorded. It is usually confined to places where wild sika deer live, or where deer husbandry is practised.
Leopards cross between Russia, China, and possibly North Korea across the Tumen River, despite a high and long wire fence marking the boundary.
The first camera trap image of an Amur leopard in northeastern China was taken in 2010 in Hunchun National Nature Reserve, in the Changbai Mountains of Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces.
This habitat consists of broadleaved and conifer forests at elevations of, where the annual average temperature is about.
In this area, leopards were repeatedly photographed by camera traps set up between January 2013 and July 2014 covering up to.
Elsewhere in China, Amur leopard distribution is fragmented, with small populations occurring foremost in isolated reserves. In Shanxi Province, leopards were recorded in 16 protected areas and six nature reserves during camera trapping surveys between 2007 and 2014.

Historical range

Historical records indicate that the Amur leopard occurred throughout eastern Siberia, northeastern China including near Beijing, the mountains to Beijing's northwest, as well as across Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula. Amur leopards entered the city of Seoul in the late 19th century. They were hunted on the Korean Peninsula for their skins and were extensively persecuted during Japanese rule. At least 624 leopards were killed during the Japanese occupation between 1910 and 1945. In South Korea, the last known leopard was captured in 1970. The Amur leopard is considered locally extinct in South Korea, and likewise probably in North Korea as well. Some researchers have proposed that some of North Korea's more isolated, remote regions may yet still provide ideal leopard habitat, with ample prey sources and dense, quiet woodlands, free of competition from tigers.
In Russia, the Amur leopard's native range was dramatically reduced during the 1970s to about 20% of the original land. Its northernmost range boundary commenced on the coast of the Sea of Japan at 44°N, continuing south at a distance of from the coast to 43°10'N. There, their range turned sharply westward and north of the Suchan River basin, continuing north to encompass the source of the Ussuri River and two of its right-bank tributaries toward the bank of Khanka Lake. In the 1950s, leopards were observed about north of Vladivostok city and in Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve.
In China, Amur leopards historically occurred in the Lesser Khingan, Changbai and Wanda Mountains until the 1970s. In the following decades, the range decreased to a few areas in Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces. Today, only small and isolated populations remain in northern China, specifically in Jilin.

Ecology and behavior

Like other leopard subspecies, Amur leopards are solitary, unless females have offspring. Records from camera-traps indicate that they are more diurnal than nocturnal, as well as crepuscular during both the summer and winter seasons. This activity pattern coincides with activity periods of prey species such as Siberian roe deer, Manchurian sika deer and Ussuri wild boar.
Amur leopards are extremely conservative in their choice of territory. An individual's territory is usually located in a river basin which generally extends to the natural topographical borders of the area. The territory of two individuals overlaps sometimes, but only slightly. Depending on sex, age and family size, the size of an individual's territory varies from. Individuals use the same hunting trails, migration routes and even rest places over the course of many years.
Leopards are resident at places where wild animals are abundant, and follow herds of ungulates. In the Ussuri region, their main prey are Siberian roe deer, Manchurian sika deer, Manchurian wapiti, Siberian musk deer, Amur elk and Ussuri wild boar. They also catch hares, Asian badgers, fowl, and mice. In Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve, roe deer is their main prey year-round, but they also prey on young Asian black bear cubs under two years old.
When density of ungulates is low, leopards have large home ranges of up to.
During a study of radio-collared Amur leopards in the early 1990s, a territorial dispute between two males at a deer farm was documented, suggesting that Amur leopards favour such farms for hunting. Female leopards with cubs are often found in the proximity of deer farms. The large number of domesticated deer on the farms is a reliable food source in difficult times.

Reproduction

Amur leopards become sexually mature at the age of 2–3 years. They are able to reproduce up to 10–15 years of age. Estrus lasts 12–18 days, and in exceptional cases up to 25 days. Gestation lasts 90–105 days, and usually between 92 and 95 days. A newborn cub weighs. The young open their eyes on the 7th–10th day and begin to crawl on the 12th–15th day. By the second month they emerge from their dens and also begin to eat meat. Cubs are weaned when three months old, and then learn to hunt. Lactation continues for five or six months. Cubs reach independence at the approximate age of two to three years. They stay with their mother until they are around 18 months to two years old. Juveniles sometimes stay with their mother until she comes into estrus again. Until the 1970s, cubs were seen in Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve and in northeastern China most often between the end of March and May. Litters comprised two to three cubs. In captivity some individuals have lived for 21 years. In 2011, an adult Amur leopard female was radio-collared in the vicinity of the Land of the Leopard National Park in the Khasansky District of Primorskyi Krai. During three years of tracking, she used a home range of with a core area of. During estrus, she moved in a core area of. After giving birth in late June, she reduced her movements to an area of about for a month, in which she shifted her cubs three times. From autumn onwards, she gradually increased her home range. When the cubs were more than one year old, the family moved together in the initial home range of.
During a population census in 1997, four females found with young had only one cub each. Results of radio telemetry studies confirmed that young stay with their mother for two years. In Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve, the young of two different litters were observed with their mothers at the same time.