Saturday, July 23, 2011

Creature Feature: Rare Amur Leopard

This WWF video shows the rarest leopard in the world, Panthera pardus orientalis, the Amur leopard. It lives in the temperate forests of the Russian Far East. Thick fur and large paws help it survive in extreme winter temperatures and deep snow. It feeds on deer, wild boar, hares, badgers and raccoon dogs. The leopard is a solitary hunter that reportedly can leap 19 feet horizontally and over 9 feet vertically. The video represents good news of the subspecies in Primorsky Province because the annual survey revealed 12 leopards compared to the past 5 years where only 7 to 9 leopards were identified. WWF attributes the 50% population increase to conservation efforts and improved management of Kedrovaya Pad Reserve and Leopardovy Federal Wildlife Refuge, both primary habitat for the Amur leopard. The Amur River watershed is a remarkable wilderness spanning 380 million acres and is home to the 50 Amur leopards believed to exist in the wild. The leopard shares this incredible wild domain with many other species--tigers, brown bears, musk deer, Oriental white storks, red crowned cranes and the world's biggest salmon, the Siberian taimen--some only found in the unbroken, old deciduous and coniferous forests of this remote hinterland.