Many of the world’s big cats are in danger of becoming extinct. But for one large cat, things are looking up. The endangered Amur leopard has made the news, this time for something positive. Since 2007 the wild population of these cats has doubled in size. In both southeastern Russia and northeastern China the Amur leopard has been doing really well. Data shows that these cats went from around 30 animals to up to 57, in just a few short years. This is really good news and the people who keep a close watch on these animals are really excited about it.
The Russian Academy of Sciences used camera traps to help identify individual cats and they were placed in the Land of the Leopard National Park, which is home to 60% of the world’s population. These traps are less invasive than traditional means of collecting data. This allowed watchers to keep a close eye on these animals without disturbing the area. Hopefully in the future these large cats will make a full come back. Both the governments of China and Russia are working hard towards re-establishing their original population. Other big cat programs have proved successful and researchers are hoping that this one will too.
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