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Endangered species of the month

Amur Leopard

Panthera pardus orientalis

Some facts about this subspecies:

Height of the withers: 64–78 cm

Weight: 32–48 kg (males), 25–42 kg (females)

Length: 107–136 cm body with an 82–90 cm long tail

Habitat: The Amur Leopard is the only leopard subspecies adapted to a cold snowy climate and is mainly found in forests within montane ecosystems.

Distribution: The last remaining viable wild population, estimated at about 100 individuals, lives in a small area in the Russian Province of Primorsky Krai, between Vladivostok and the Chinese border. In adjacent China, a small population of scattered individuals are estimated to remain. In South Korea, the last record of an Amur leopard dates back to 1969, when an individual was captured on the slopes of Odo Mountain, in South Gyeongsang Province.

Diet: Carnivore. They mainly hunt ungulates such as Siberian Roe Deer (Capreolus pygargus), Siberian Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus), Elk (Alces alces) and Wild Boar (Sus scrofa).

Surviving number: Circa 100.^[1]

Conservation status: Critically Endangered. IUCN 3.1. Assessed June 30, 2008.^(PDF) The nominotypical subspecies Panthera pardus pardus is listed as Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1. Assessed July 11, 2015.)

First described: By the German naturalist Hermann Schlegel, 1857 in Felis pardus. Handleidung tot de oefenig der Dierkunde. 1:23