How many Amur jaguars are left in the world. Jaguars. The rarest wild cats
Jaguar
Jaguar (Panthera onca) is a species of carnivorous mammals of the cat family, one of four members of the genus Panthera (Panthera), which belongs to the subfamily of big cats. The only representative of the genus in North and South America. The third largest in the world, and the largest representative of the cat family in the New World. This kind of predator extends from Mexico south to Paraguay and northern Argentina.
Body length without tail 120-185 cm, tail 45-75 cm, weight 36-113 kg, mostly 60-90 kg, in some cases up to 120 kg. The record in nature is 158 kg. The female is 20% smaller and lighter. An ordinary normal adult male of a large subspecies weighs about 90-110 kg, and a female 60-80 kg. The height at the withers is 68-76 cm, rarely up to 81 cm.
The lifestyle of jaguars is solitary. Like all predatory cats, jaguars are territorial animals; the area of the territory of one jaguar occupies from 25 (for females) to 100 square kilometers, depending on the landscape and the amount of game, as well as the gender of the beast. As a rule, the hunting area of the male is a triangle in shape. On its territory, the male hunts for 3-4 days in a certain area, and then moves to another area. In addition, the beast visits certain "border points" every five or fifteen days. For this reason, the jaguar is a real tramp, constantly "staggering" through the selva. The jaguar is extremely intolerant of other felines (particularly cougars) on its territory, but is quite peaceful towards its relatives and the hunting territories of jaguars often overlap.
The jaguar is a crepuscular predator. Its most active hunting hours are after sunset (approximately from 18:30 to 21:30) and before dawn (from 03:00 to 06:00). It often goes hunting on moonlit nights.
Its main prey is capybaras and ungulates like mazama deer, peccaries and tapirs, but it also attacks birds, monkeys, foxes, snakes, and rodents. The jaguar also hunts turtles - its powerful jaws are able to bite through their shells. It also digs turtle eggs from the sand on the ocean coast, sometimes rushes at sleeping alligators or snatches fish from the water. The jaguar swims excellently and rarely misses a prey that seeks salvation in the water like this how, of all cats, he is most indifferent to water and spends a long time in ponds.
The main hunting method of the jaguar is ambush in tall grass or in a tree. Usually he arranges such an ambush on the shore of a reservoir in the grass or on paths leading to a watering place. When attacking the victim, the jaguar, as a rule, jumps on it from the back or from the side, grabbing the neck. Most often, when attacking livestock, the jaguar seeks to knock down the victim, which is severely, and sometimes fatally, injured at the time of the fall. Unlike other large cats, the jaguar sometimes bites through the skull of the victim. If the prey has discovered a predator and flees, the jaguar never pursues it.
Brazilian hunters attribute to the jaguar the ability to hypnotize its prey. Having killed its prey, the jaguar begins to eat the prey from the head, gradually moving towards its back. If the prey is large, the predator stays with it, satisfying its hunger in two steps, with an interval of 10-12 hours. It is characteristic that the jaguar almost does not feed on carrion, therefore it very rarely returns to the remains of its prey.
On the hunt, the jaguar will emit a low guttural grunt, and at night and the mating season, a deafening roar.
Very few cases of jaguar attacks on people are known, and even fewer unprovoked ones. Cannibalism among these predators is an exceptional phenomenon. It is usually not aggressive, but rather curious and often pursues a person through the forest without showing hostile intentions, but occasionally rushes at people. People who unexpectedly met a jaguar in a thicket experienced a strange sense of reverence and some surprise .Although people have talked a lot about the bloodthirstiness of the jaguar, about his blind, indomitable thirst to kill, but these stories often turn into tales. The jaguar is not as scary as it is presented, and a person should rather call himself a "born killer". 
The jaguar does not have a specific breeding season. The female is ready for mating in the third year of life. Although the jaguar is a solitary animal, during weddings they can gather in small groups. It is characteristic that there are almost no duels between males, and the choice of a partner completely depends on the female. After choosing, the female moves to the territory of the chosen one. The male stays with the female only for the mating season.
Approximately 100 days after conception, in a den among stones, in a dense bush or hollow, the female gives birth to two to four cubs. Their pattern has more black than their parents, and it does not consist of rosettes, but of solid spots. In the den, young jaguars spend six weeks, and hunt with their mother until they find a suitable territory for hunting.
According to various sources, there are from 3 to 9 subspecies of the jaguar, of which at least 1 (Texas) has been exterminated.
Jaguar hunting is strictly prohibited in all habitats, except for French Guiana, which ignores the convention for the protection of endangered species!!!
In captivity, the jaguar lives up to 22-25 years.
Known subspecies:
Panthera onca onca, found in the Amazon rainforest; 
Panthera onca arizonensis - in Mexico;
Panthera onca centralis - in Central America;
Panthera onca goldmani - in Mexico and Belize;
Panthera onca hernandesii - in Mexico;
Panthera onca palustris - in Southern Brazil;
Panthera onca paraguensis - in Paraguay;
Panthera onca peruvianus - in Peru and Ecuador;
Panthera onca veracrucis - in Texas.
The oldest remains of the jaguar date back to about 2 million years ago. In those days, the jaguar inhabited the entire south of the present USA. Now the range of the jaguar has been reduced to a third of the original.
For the first time, scientists have managed to obtain relatively accurate data on how many Amur leopards live in the world. This was reported to RG by the chief public relations specialist of the Leopard Land National Park, Maria Okulova.
Previously, Russian scientists operated with data obtained on the territory of only our country. According to the latest monitoring, about 70 Red Book predators live in the south of the Far East. According to experts, the growth of the population and the proximity of the border with China gave reason to believe that some of the cats moved outside of Russia, but until recently, data on the number of leopards in the neighboring state were unknown.
The situation changed in the summer of 2015, when employees of Beijing Normal University arrived in Vladivostok. In China, only they are engaged in studying the populations of the Far Eastern leopard and the Amur tiger. Photo monitoring of rare cats in China has been conducted since July 2012 on an area of six thousand square kilometers. For three years of work, Chinese scientists have received a lot of data, which they shared with their Russian colleagues.
Comparison of images of leopards revealed many coincidences of individuals, which indicates the active movement of predators across the border. After analyzing the data of photo monitoring on the territory of the two countries for 2014, scientists have established that the global population of the Far Eastern leopard is at least 80 individuals, said Maria Okulova.
According to the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Sergey Donskoy, the appearance of the Far Eastern leopard in China is the result of many years of work by Russian specialists.
Now we hope that our Chinese colleagues will support our initiative, and with the help of two states we will be able to bring the population of this cat in the wild to a stable level, protecting it from the threat of extinction,” Donskoy said.
The leaders of the National Park "Land of the Leopard" and Beijing Normal University signed a long-term cooperation agreement. First of all, the document involves the exchange of data on the number of rare cats near the border of the two countries.
Help "RG"
The Far Eastern leopard is the rarest of the big cats on the planet. Leopard hunting has been banned since 1956, the predator is listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Red Book of Russia, as well as a number of other security documents.
A large-scale study of the population of the Far Eastern leopard in Russia is carried out using photo monitoring over an area of 3 thousand square kilometers with the support of the Russian Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, the Russian Geographical Society, ANO "Far Eastern Leopards", the Russian Academy of Sciences, WWF, WCS and other non-governmental environmental organizations. organizations.
Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)- the largest tiger in the world. And the only one of the tigers that has mastered life in the snow. No other country in the world has such a wealth. Without exaggeration, this is one of the most advanced predators among all others. Unlike the same lion, which forms prides (families) and lives off collective hunts, the tiger is a pronounced loner, and therefore he needs the highest skill in hunting.
The tiger crowns the top of the food pyramid of a unique ecological system called the Ussuri taiga. Therefore, the state of the tiger population is an indicator of the state of the entire Far Eastern nature.
The Amur tiger conservation project was one of the first serious steps taken by WWF in Russia. The census data for 2004/2005 showed that, through the joint efforts of state and public environmental organizations, the number of tigers had stabilized at a level of more than 450 individuals.
And here is the interview itself with a WWF employee(questions are divided into groups to better understand the information):
State of the tiger population
How does Amur tiger monitoring work? How do you distinguish one tiger from another so as not to write down one tiger twice?
Tigers are not seen during the count. Experts consider their traces. In order to distinguish one footprint from another, a measurement system has been developed and tested in practice. So without a tape measure, the accountant is not allowed into the taiga. By correctly measuring the footprint, you can understand whether it is a male or a female or a young animal. Then the counter determines the freshness of the trail and its direction ... In a word, in order not to count the same tiger twice, you need to learn a lot. In tiger business, tracking is recognized as a science.
Are there more tigers in India than in Russia? Why do you say that the situation with tigers in Russia is better?
According to the most recent data (International Tiger Forum in Kathmandu, 2009), 1,400 tigers survive in India today. But at the same time, the number of tigers in India six years ago was more than twice as high! That is, the population is simply melting before our eyes. And Russia is the only country in the range of the tiger, where the number has increased significantly since the middle of the last century, and has been relatively stable for the past 10 years. At the same time, Russia "owns" today the largest tiger population in a single range (about 11% of the world population).
How many tigers are there in the world? Where is the situation the worst, and where is the best?
The situation with the conservation of tigers on a global scale can be described as catastrophic. Over the past 100 years, the number of this species has decreased by 25 times - from 100 thousand to 4 thousand. At the same time, the number continues to decline. So, in India, where the largest number of tigers live, their number in 1995-2005 decreased from 3.5 thousand to 1.4 thousand. In a number of regions, tigers disappeared completely - Transcaucasia (1930s), Central Asia (1960s), about. Bali and about. Java (Indonesia, 1960-1980s). Currently, tigers have survived in 14 countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, China, North Korea (not confirmed), Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand.
WWF has always said that tiger numbers have stabilized. But I recently read in the media that it has been declining a lot in recent years! This is true?
Yes and no. An analysis of long-term monitoring results shows that in the last four years there has been a steady downward trend in the number of tracks found at the registration sites. WWF shares the dismay caused by these results. However, many journalists "strengthened the feed." And concrete figures appeared that did not correspond to reality. Someone wrote about the halving, and in one of the media there was a phrase “only 36 animals were found” ... Today, WWF has fully taken on the burden of financing the next monitoring. In mid-December 2009, the monitoring participants have already entered the white trail, and our experts will control the progress of field work at the registration sites.
How many Amur tigers are left? Is it a lot or a little? How many tigers can live in Russia?
The last frontal count of the Amur tiger took place with the participation of WWF in 2005. He showed that we have about 500 Amur tigers. This is neither much nor little. This is exactly as much as the areas of the Ussuri taiga that have not yet been cut down can contain. The plans of WWF for the next ten to twelve years are to resettle the tiger within its historical range, i.e. return to those places where he once lived, but then was exterminated. Thus, we expect that the number of tigers will grow to 750. However, this is only possible due to an intensive increase in the number of ungulates.
The main enemy of the tiger is the poacher
How do poachers kill a tiger? Guns or traps?
Something we do not really want to publish on the WWF website detailed instructions on effective ways to hunt the Amur tiger. Let's just say that various traps claim much more tiger lives than attempts to find a tiger in the taiga and sneak up on him with a gun. Recently, cases of shooting at tigers gaping on the side of the road from a car window have become more frequent.
Why do poachers need a tiger?
Hope to sell tiger parts to Chinese smugglers. Hope to sell the tiger skin to the rich majors. But the most dangerous thing is just thoughtless shooting at a tiger you meet by chance, not “why”, but “just like that”.
Who is now fighting poachers in the Far East?
This is one of the most painful and acute questions! Here are simple and clear numbers for you.
AT 2002 more than 1400 people.
AT 2009 year, the total number of inspectors was halved to 760 people and more than halved their funding.
At present, the responsibility for the protection of the tiger has been transferred to the subjects of the Federation. On the territory of nature reserves and national parks, tigers are protected by their security services, in non-protected areas - by the Department for the Protection, Control and Regulation of the Use of Fauna of the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories. WWF provides assistance to all these state structures.
Is it true that in China the death penalty for killing a tiger? So no one is killing him?
It is not that simple. Deep in China, the severity of punishment is at work. But in the strip bordering Russia, the poor and hungry local Chinese population establishes tens of thousands of poaching loops. And the loop is blind. She indiscriminately strangles both the deer and the tiger.
Who and how is helping the wounded tiger now? Who is treating him? What about orphaned tiger cubs? Can they be released later?
The Tiger Special Inspectorate is responsible for this. Every winter five or six orphaned tiger cubs get into trouble. They are caught and transferred to the Utes Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center. This is not a government agency. It does not receive any funding for such work. Therefore, the costs of treatment and rehabilitation of tiger cubs are borne by charitable organizations. If rehabilitation is carried out according to all the rules, then the tiger can be returned to the wild. During the existence of the Tiger Special Inspectorate, two cured adult tigers and four orphaned tiger cubs raised without a mother were released into the taiga. W WF has been pushing for the creation of a STATE rehabilitation center for many years. And just recently, such a decision was finally made.
tiger dinner
Can a tiger fish?
Not only fish, but also manages crayfish.
Domestic cats eat grass, some like vegetables and fruits. You can't feed a cat alone with meat. Tell me, does the tiger eat anything else besides meat?
The tiger knows medicinal herbs well and uses them if necessary.
Why does the WWF say that the cedar must be saved in order to save the tiger? Does a tiger eat pine nuts?
Cedar is the breadfruit of the Ussuri taiga. The number of wild boar directly depends on the harvest of pine nuts. And the wild boar is the basis of the tiger's food base.
How much does a tiger eat in a year?
According to experts, one tiger needs to eat at least fifty adult ungulates a year.
What animals does a tiger eat?
In fact, the tiger eats everything that is inferior to him in size. From the Manchurian hare, which is the size of a glove, to the Himalayan bear, which can be as heavy as a tiger. However, the basis of its diet is ungulates: wild boar, red deer, spotted deer and roe deer.
Good question. It is usually asked to us by hunters. But many years of research have shown that it is the tiger that is the “softest” predator, which is simply not able to seriously reduce the number of ungulates. Where hunters are serious about using various biotechnical measures to raise the number of game to a new level, the number of tigers is also beginning to grow. However, soon the number of tigers living in this "supermarket" becomes stable, and ungulates continue to increase. But where the tiger disappeared, the wolf instantly comes. The wolf, unlike the tiger, can and can seriously undermine the number of ungulates.
tiger and man
Do tigers distinguish people - evil from good, poachers from forest rangers? Or maybe we all look the same to them?
Reliable cases are known when a wounded tiger for a long time and purposefully pursued the very person who shot him. So we are not all the same for him ...
In places where tigers live, they attack domestic animals, livestock, and even people. What is being done to protect a person from a tiger?
Responsibility for resolving all conflict situations between a man and a tiger is assigned to the state body - the Special Inspectorate "Tiger". Initially, the beast is scared away. If this does not work, they are caught and transported to lands remote from people. Shooting is allowed only in case of immediate mortal danger to human life.
What to do if you meet a tiger in the forest? Should I run away or, on the contrary, freeze and stand still?
Do not run away under any circumstances. Otherwise, the tiger will react to you like your kitten to a paper wrapper on a string. It is recommended to slowly, without turning your back on the beast, clear the way for it and leave. The human voice helps a lot. But only if it is a calm and confident human voice. If there is no certainty that a pig squeal will not pour out of you, it is better not to open your mouth.
Is it possible to tame a tiger, if you start from childhood, so that he makes friends with a person? Or is he too wild a beast that cannot be fully trusted, but only trained and kept in a cage?
A cat - she is a cat in the taiga. After all, admit it, even your domestic cat is sure that she is the mistress of the house, and you are just in her service. What can we say about a cat weighing under two hundred kilograms? We do not recommend experimenting.
tiger house
WWF does not want to breed tigers in other regions of Russia - for example, in Kamchatka or in the Moscow region?
The Amur tiger is the only tiger subspecies that has learned to live in the snow. And yet he remains a southerner - the height of the snow cover is the most important limiting factor for the tiger. The tiger is historically tied to a very specific climatic region - the south of the Far East. And any attempts to settle it, for example, in the deep snow of Kamchatka are doomed to failure. But even this is not the main thing. In the past, during the times of socialism, there were a lot of attempts to acclimatize different animals (raccoon dog in Europe, American mink in the Far East, etc.) where they never lived. Time has shown that all these experiments only harmed the local nature. Today such "improvisations" are forbidden.
Are there any excursions to nature reserves where you can see the Amur tiger in the wild?
To see a wild Amur tiger in the wild Ussuri taiga is a crazy luck even for those who study them from morning to evening. And the beast is extremely secretive, and the taiga is completely impenetrable. So if you're lucky, you might see it. But not a single reserve guarantees you such a meeting. In order to film a few minutes of a tiger in the Lazovsky Reserve, a Korean television company had to live in the taiga for two and a half years ...
Do tigers only live in reserves? Can a tiger live near a city?
Unfortunately, protected areas cover only 20% of the tiger's range. The remaining eighty percent are territories where hunting and logging are allowed. Tiger tracks are regularly found in the countryside suburbs of Vladivostok, Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk. In a word, the tiger today inhabited ALL the territory where at least some forest remained. But at the same time, according to radio tracking of tagged tigers, the competition for the right to get an "apartment" in the reserve is deadly tough.
How much space does one tiger need?
For a female, 20 square kilometers of deep taiga is usually enough. The male needs much more - up to 100 square kilometers. Usually, on the individual site of one male, the sites of two or three females with cubs fit. If there is a lot of food, that is, ungulates, then up to four females can live in the same territory.
How long is a tiger's tail and other general questions about a tiger
What is the difference between the Amur, Ussuri and Siberian tigers?
Nothing different. The official name of our tiger is the Amur tiger. However, for foreigners, everything that lies on the eastern side of the Urals is Siberia. Therefore, in the American scientific literature, our Amur tiger is listed as the Sibirian Tiger. The term "Ussuri tiger" was introduced at their own peril by Channel 2 correspondents when they were preparing a report on Vladimir Putin's participation in a project to study Amur tigers in the Ussuri Nature Reserve. But the animal is actually the same. And he does not even suspect about this linguistic leapfrog with its name.
What is the difference between a tiger and a leopard?
All cats are very similar in their behavior. A tiger with a leopard is no exception. However, the leopard is more plastic, he manages to live very close to a person, never catching his eye. The tiger can't do that. For happiness, he needs a deaf, deserted taiga.
What is the relationship between a female and a male tiger after the appearance of a cub?
The tiger meets with the female for only two or three days. And, having done his male business, he leaves her until the moment when his children grow up and are ready to start an independent life, that is, for about two years. The father does not participate in feeding and raising offspring. So all worries about children fall on the fragile shoulders of the female.
How long is the tail of the largest and smallest tigers?
The largest - Amur tigers - have a tail length of up to 115 cm. The smallest - Sumatran - 60-90 cm.
How many teeth does a tiger have?
Like all cats in the world, the tiger has 30 teeth.
What is the life span of a tiger?
Under ideal zoo conditions, Amur tigers can easily live up to twenty years. In real wild taiga life, not every tiger manages to live to be ten. The life of females, as a rule, is shorter than males, because they have to spend incredible strength and vitality not on themselves, but on raising offspring.
Is the number of stripes in a tiger the same for life or does it change with age? Do tigers in different countries differ from each other in appearance?
The stripe pattern of a tiger not only does not change, it serves as a reliable individual sign, like human fingerprints. No two tigers have the same stripe configuration. This is the basis for the method of photoaccounts.
The number and configuration of black stripes on the skin vary in different geographic areas and is one of the bases for distinguishing subspecies of the tiger. The number of which reaches 100.
Our Amur tiger is distinguished by thick, long (compared to other subspecies) and fluffy fur, with a duller red background and fewer stripes than other subspecies. The Indochinese tiger, for example, has a darker overall coloration, while the Sumatran tiger is considered the brightest.
Can tigers purr?
In fact, science says that large cats are deprived of the ability to purr like domestic cats, that is, to vibrate both on exhalation and on inhalation. But, you will laugh, unaware of the scientific research on their hard cartilage, supposedly interfering with vibration, Amur tigers purr in a good mood.
Can tigers climb trees?
It is believed that adult Amur tigers are unable to climb trees. However, reliable cases are known when a tiger easily and naturally climbed onto the tops of huge fir trees or into the crowns of old oaks. If he really needs it, he can. Keep this in mind.
Protect and love tigers and all other animals
The material was taken from the website of the World Wildlife Fund
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When the first settlers from Russia in the middle of the 19th century came to explore new lands, which are now called the Primorsky Territory, they first encountered amazing big cats, which they had only heard about in fairy tales about tropical countries. These were tigers and leopards, not afraid of either snow or frost. People, alas, perceived their amazing neighbors with hostility and began to destroy them, therefore, in the period up to the 21st century, the habitat of leopards has decreased several times.
Lazovsky Reserve
Formed in 1935.
Location - south-east of Primorye on the territory of the Lazovsky district of the region.
The area is 121 thousand hectares.
Inhabitants - more than 20 Amur tigers.
Continuation
According to scientists, by the beginning of the 2010s, the population had approached the "point of no return", when the natural restoration of numbers is almost impossible. It was even proposed to completely remove the remaining predators from nature and place them in zoos in order to try to restore the population under favorable conditions.
However, the problem was solved by creating the Leopard Land National Park and starting to protect all the main habitats of the remaining leopards. The result is already noticeable today, five years later: the number of leopards has increased from 35 to 80 individuals, 57 of which live directly on the "Land of the Leopard". Now scientists need to completely eliminate the threat of extinction of these beautiful and graceful predators from nature.
New lands for the leopard
The area of habitats currently occupied by the leopard is about 4 thousand km2. For a large predator, this is very small. The range of the leopard from the east is limited by Peter the Great Bay, from the west - by border areas (with China and North Korea. - Approx. TASS). In addition to the leopard, about 30 individuals of the Amur tiger live in this territory. The population density of the leopard in this area is approaching critical. Geographical isolation does not allow increasing the area of suitable habitats for the leopard, - says Vladimir Aramilev, director of the Joint Directorate of the Lazovsky Reserve and the Call of the Tiger National Park.
The fact that leopards have already completely populated the protected lands of southwestern Primorye and have begun to return to territories where they have not been seen for decades is evidenced by the data of the Land of the Leopard specialists.
We see that the population is growing. In the near future, we are waiting for an exit "to a plateau" (stabilization of the population. - Approx. TASS), as with the growth of each population. But now the number of broods and kittens in broods is increasing. Colleagues outside the national park are talking about having leopards. This suggests that there is an expansive resettlement, - says the director of the National Park "Land of the Leopard" Tatyana Baranovskaya and adds that the first, not yet verified, information about the appearance of leopards in the Ussuriysky Reserve has appeared.
Now our population is developing according to its own tactics, this population has its own problems and successes. At the moment, the danger of extinction has passed, but so far no one understands what is happening to it. That is why the question arose and arises of creating a reserve population, from the genetic material that has been preserved in zoos, because in the wild we have 80 individuals, and in zoos - more than 200, Baranovskaya notes.
Insurance for the future
The goal of the project, which is scheduled to start this year, is to create a reserve leopard population that will not be related to the existing one. This should "insure" the entire subspecies of a rare predator from extinction due to sudden diseases, natural disasters or human activities. The project assumes that special centers will be created in the Lazovsky Reserve in the east of the region, where young predators born from leopards from zoos will be prepared for life in the wild and then released into the wild.
To achieve this result, it is planned to use the genetic material of Far Eastern leopards from zoos. Several individuals of the Far Eastern leopard will be delivered from the zoos of the world for breeding in the conditions of the Primorsky Territory, - says Vladimir Aramilev.
At the same time, two options are being considered: in the first case, offspring will be received from animals brought from zoos in a special breeding center. Kittens who have not been in contact with humans since childhood will be taught life skills in the wild.
There is a second, faster way: to bring young leopards from zoos and adapt them to the conditions of Primorsky Krai. Our foreign colleagues are already working on this, but the number of zoos where you can breed and grow leopards without the presence of a person is very limited, Aramilev notes.
Primorsky specialists already have experience in preparing leopards for life in the wild.
Practically such experience already exists. The leopard Leo80M, which came to us as a teenager, was being prepared by us for release into the wild, and, if it were not for his health problems, he would have already been released into the wild,” Baranovskaya notes.
National Park "Land of the Leopard"
Founded in 2012.
Location - southwest of Primorye.
Purpose - the protection of the Far Eastern leopards.
The area is 279 thousand hectares.
The inhabitants are 57 leopards and 30 Amur tigers.
Continuation
A one-year-old male Far Eastern leopard Leo80M was found in June 2015 by border guards in the Leopard Land National Park on the border of Primorye and China. He was seriously injured when he fell into a poacher's trap, and to save the animal, his fingers on his front paw were removed. The young predator was placed in the Center for the Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Tigers and Other Rare Animals in Primorye, where he was taught how to hunt in order to be released into the wild. However, the experts realized that if the leopard was returned to the taiga, it could die due to the thinning of the skin in the places of healed wounds. Now the leopard, who was named Nikolai, lives in the nursery of the Moscow Zoo, and specialists, using his example, have developed and tested programs for the rehabilitation and return of these predators to the wild.
This experience will help Primorye specialists. A similar project is currently being implemented in the Sochi National Park and the Caucasus Reserve: here, in the breeding center, Persian leopard cubs are successfully propagated and adapted to local conditions, and the first "graduates" are already successfully developing the lands of the Caucasian Reserve.
Why Lazovsky Reserve?
In the process of preparing the project, work was carried out to assess habitats outside the southwest of Primorsky Krai. As a result of two independent analyzes, it was found that the best habitats for the leopard are in the Lazovsky Reserve and the territories adjacent to it, says Aramilev.
The Far Eastern leopard is not a new species in the conditions of central Primorye. According to experts, he lived here quite recently: rare sightings of the animal in the Lazovsky Reserve were noted until the 80s of the last century. At the same time, the leopard got along well in the same territory with the tiger and other predators. He occupied a niche of a medium-sized cat that hunted sika deer, roe deer, badgers and raccoon dogs.
Therefore, the appearance of a new species in the ecosystem will not lead to any disturbances, but, on the contrary, will return ecosystems to their original form, Aramilev believes. - In the new territory, there are much fewer threats to the leopard population than in the current range. The habitats in the proposed site are more extensive, the population density of ungulates is higher than in the southwest, and the population density of humans is lower. The reintroduction site has everything necessary for leopards to live.
The conditions of the southern Sikhote-Alin, where the Lazovsky Reserve is located, the scientist believes, can accommodate a population of 150-200 leopards. It is possible that in a few decades, representatives of the two populations of leopards, developing new lands, will meet in a natural way.
In a favorable scenario, both populations will be able to exchange individuals to improve genetic diversity, both naturally and artificially. Thus, the task of preserving the Far Eastern subspecies of the leopard on planet Earth will be solved, Aramilev notes.
Doubts and fears
Experts emphasize that the creation of a reserve leopard population is a long and difficult process, which is designed for 20–25 years. Only after this time the number of released animals can reach the planned 40-50 individuals. Preparatory work has already begun.
The Ministry of Natural Resources responded to the proposal of scientists to create a second population of the Far Eastern leopard and approved a reintroduction program. Currently, the Lazovsky Reserve, which is a structural subdivision of the Ministry of Natural Resources, is conducting preparatory work for the implementation of this project at the expense of the organization's budget. Also, financial assistance in the development of the project is provided by the World Wildlife Fund (Russia), notes Aramilev.
It is the long period during which the conditions for the implementation of the project can change significantly that causes fears among specialists today.
The creation of a reserve population in the Lazovsky Reserve is an important and necessary matter. But at the same time, we must be aware that when we work with live animals, we must be extremely careful and attentive. These are not guinea pigs, but a rare species. And if you do it, then do it well and correctly. It is impossible to drop this case halfway and say: "It didn't work out." This is a responsibility to animals, - Tatyana Baranovskaya believes.
Far Eastern leopard
The rarest subspecies of the leopard, found in the area of mountain coniferous-broad-leaved and oak forests in the south-west of Primorsky Krai and the border regions of China. According to the census of 2015, about 80 of these animals remained in the wild.
Continuation
Leopard for Primorsky Krai is no longer just a rare animal that needs to be protected and protected. Thanks to the efforts of scientists and ecologists, who never tire of telling the people of Russia about the rare inhabitants of the Ussuri taiga, the rare spotted cat has become a symbol of the region along with the Amur tiger.
This is a very intelligent and plastic animal, with its own psyche and clear social perception of the surrounding world. We cannot treat them as things. And, of course, the preservation of these beautiful animals is the image of the whole country. And we can't leave the matter of preserving them halfway, - the director of "Land of the Leopard" believes.
Marina Shatilova
Conservation status: Species on the verge of extinction
Listed in the Red Book of Russia and the Red Book
International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Usually people think of leopards as savannahs. Despite this, in the northernmost part of its range, a rare subspecies of leopards lives in the Russian Far East and northern China. Therefore, the subspecies is called the Far Eastern leopard, but it is also known as the Amur leopard or Amur leopard. (Panthera pardus orientalis).
The Amur leopard is listed in the Red Book of the International Conservation Union (IUCN) and is classified as a subspecies on the verge of extinction. Due to extensive habitat loss and conflicts with humans, the Amur leopard population is in critical condition. However, the fact that its more famous cousin - - increased its population from less than 40 individuals 60-70 years ago, gives hope for the preservation of the subspecies. It is believed that the Far Eastern leopard can be saved from extinction through the implementation of conservation projects.
Description
The Far Eastern leopard has a number of distinctive features from other representatives. Wool in the summer period reaches a length of 2.5 cm, and in winter it grows up to 7 cm. The color of the coat in winter is light, with shades of reddish-yellow, and in summer it has brighter and more saturated tones. Unlike other subspecies, the Amur has longer legs that allow it to walk on snow. The weight of males varies between 32-48 kg, but there are also larger individuals, weighing about 60 kg. Females weigh between 25-43 kg.
Where does it live?
The Far Eastern leopard lives in temperate woodlands with a wide range of temperatures and rainfall. Today, the habitat area of the Far Eastern leopard is about 5,000 km².
How many Amur leopards are left?
The number of the last remaining viable population of the subspecies in the wild is estimated to be 20-25 individuals. The animals are located in a small area of Primorsky Krai (RF), between Vladivostok and the Chinese border. In neighboring China, 7-12 individuals remained. In South Korea, the last record of a Far Eastern leopard dates back to 1969, when it was caught on the slopes of Mount Oda in Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea.
Historical distribution
The distribution of the subspecies has been reduced to a small fraction of its original historical range. Previously, the Far Eastern leopard lived throughout the northeast of Chinese "Manchuria", including in the provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang, as well as throughout the Korean Peninsula.
social structure
The Far Eastern leopard prefers a nocturnal and solitary lifestyle. However, as you know, some males can stay with females after mating and even help with raising offspring. It is not uncommon for several males to chase one female and fight for the right to mate with her.
Reproduction and life cycle
Sexual maturity in the Amur leopard occurs at the age of 3 years. Life expectancy in the wild is 10-15 years, and in captivity up to 20 years. The mating season for the Amur leopard falls in the spring and early summer. The litter consists of 1-4 cubs. Weaning from mother's milk occurs at the age of three months, and the cubs acquire independence at 1.5-2 years and leave their mother to continue to lead a solitary lifestyle.
diet
The basis of the diet of the Far Eastern leopard is raccoon dogs, roe deer, small wild boars, hares, spotted deer, and badgers.
Main Threats
Between 1970 and 1983, the Far Eastern leopard lost about 80% of its original habitat. The main reasons were: the timber industry, fires and the transformation of land for agriculture. Fortunately, all is not yet lost. To date, there are forest areas suitable for leopard habitat. These areas can be protected from harmful human influence and increase the population in the wild.
Lack of loot
In China, there are vast areas that are suitable habitat, but the level of food supply is insufficient to maintain the population at the required level. The amount of prey may increase due to the settlement of the use by the local population and the adoption of measures to protect ungulates from poachers. To survive, the Far Eastern leopard needs to repopulate its former habitat.
Poaching and illegal trade
The Amur leopard is subject to illegal hunting mainly because of its beautiful and spotted fur. In 1999, an undercover investigation team conducted an experiment: they recreated the skin of a female and male Amur leopard, and then sold it for $500 and $1,000, respectively, in the village of Barabash, not far from the Russian nature reserve Kedrovaya Pad. This experiment shows that there are illegal markets for such products near the habitats of animals. Agriculture and villages are surrounded by forests inhabited by leopards. As a result, access to forests appears, which makes poaching a more serious problem than in regions remote from people. This circumstance applies not only to leopards, but also to other animals that are destroyed by local residents for food and money.
Conflict with a person
Amur leopards are especially vulnerable because deer make up part of their diet. In the Russian Far East, deer depletion, due to the value of the horn in Asian medicine, prevents the leopard from getting enough food. Due to the decline of the deer population in the wild, leopards often wander into reindeer farms in search of food. The owners of these farms often kill leopards in order to protect the reindeer.
Inbreeding
The Far Eastern leopard is also endangered due to its extremely low population in the wild, which makes it vulnerable to various "catastrophes" such as forest fires, diseases, changes in birth and death rates, sex ratios (for example, all cubs born may be male for several years), as well as inbreeding depression. These felines have been observed to be related and it is possible that this could lead to genetic problems, including lower birth rates. Studies have shown that the average number of pups per adult female has dropped from 1.9 in 1973 to 1 in 1991.