The world's only wild population of the Amur leopard in the Primorye Territory not only remains stable, but is also increasing. This is evidenced by the data obtained by scientists using the largest photomonitoring network in Russia. Analysis of more than 1 million images showed that 125 adult specimens of the rare spotted cat now live in the protected areas of the Far East.
The core of the population is located in Land of the Leopard National Park. The increase in the number of the rare predators leads to their settlement outside the protected areas. The Amur leopards are returning to the territories where they were exterminated in the last century.
In the early 2000s, there were only about 35 specimens of the Amur leopard in the world. Since then, thanks to the joint efforts of environmental and government organizations in Russia, their number has more than tripled. The results of the most recent studies of the Russian population of the rare predator were published on April 5 – the day of the foundation of Land of the Leopard National Park. In 2023, it turned 11 years old.
“The stability of the population of the Amur leopard is good news for nature and people who care about the conservation of biodiversity around the world. This is the result of the hard work of the employees at the national park, which was created exactly 11 years ago. However, leopards are still vulnerable animals. In order to ensure the survival of these animals for many years, we need to continue to make efforts to preserve their natural habitat, fight fires and poaching,” said Viktor Bardyuk, director of Land of the Leopard Federal State Budgetary Institution.
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The Russian Geographical Society has been actively involved in the projects to restore the number of the Amur leopard since 2011. Our goal is to study the state of the predator population, as well as the development of infrastructure of specially protected natural areas within its ranges.
New data on the world's only wild population of the Amur leopard were obtained by the researchers at the national park using a modern photomonitoring network. More than 500 camera traps took over 1 million images. For the first time, the scientists used artificial intelligence to help them process the pictures. As a result, the specialists managed to find more than 11 thousand shots with leopards.
A detailed analysis showed that 125 adult Amur leopards now live in Primorye. In addition, at least 13 kittens were born over the past year. In 2022, at least 120 of these rare predators were recorded in the region.