How Conservation Helps the Amur Leopard NumbersĬonservation efforts involving groups such as the World Wildlife Fund are gradually having a positive effect on reversing the decline in Amur leopard numbers.Įven just a decade ago, Amur leopard numbers in the wild were believed to be as low as 30, so the current count of around 100 is a sizeable improvement in such a short period of time. Poachers and hunters also kill the animals which the Amur leopard prey on for food, and therefore this also has a knock-on effect on Amur leopard numbers. From 1970, around 80 percent of the habitat of the Amur leopard was lost in under 15 years due to forest fires, logging and conversion to agricultural land.Īs well as depriving the Amur leopard of its natural forest habitat, such loss also depletes the numbers of the wildlife which the Amur leopard depends on as a food source. The animal is also hunted and killed for its bones, which are used in traditional medicinal practices on the Asian continent. Sadly, the beautiful and distinctive spotted fur of the Amur leopard makes it a target for poachers who can sell the fur on the black market for large sums of money. The region of the Russia/China border where the Amur leopards reside is mature forest, where they are insulated from the colder climate in winter by their thick fur, which grows to 7cm in length.Īway from the wild, the numbers of Amur leopards in captivity within the Global Species Management Program are 213, according to figures from the Zoological Society of London, with over half that number in the European breeding program. Although smaller than its African cousins, the Amur leopard can still reach speeds of 37mph when hunting its prey - usually deer, moose or wild pigs. The Amur leopard is a nocturnal animal which usually hunts and lives alone, with individual territories ranging from 20 to 120 miles in size. There are also unsubstantiated reports of sightings in North Korea. The bulk of the population of Amur leopards resides in south-west Primorye in Far East Russia, with a smaller number found across the border in China. The Amur leopard lives the furthest north out of the sub-species of leopards, having adapted to the colder climates of the area it inhabits. Yet this beautiful animal remains critically endangered and is the rarest big cat you can see in its natural environment. The encouraging part of this statistic is that their numbers have begun to rise over the last decade due to conservation efforts. The answer to how many Amur leopards are left in the world is, sadly, only around 100 in the wild.