'World’s rarest cat species': Amur Leopard spotted in Russia, conservationists elated

Conservationists in Russia have hailed a rare sighting of an Amur leopard mother and her three cubs as proof of the country's effort to bolster their numbers. Amur leopards are listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red list and in a bid to tackle their fast diminishing numbers, Russia has launched a variety of conservation programmes. Some of those programmes include artificial breeding in closed spaces. 

Captured in Primorye

A rare video of the endangered cat mother and her kids was captured by scientists in Land of Leopard National Park, Primorye. For this purpose, they used remote camera traps. In the video, the young mother, identified as Leo 117F, is seen spotting a mystery animal and then leaving the scene, apparently walking closer towards it. Soon her cubs also discover the animal and begin to watch their mother’s interaction with the “intruder” intently,” the Guardian reported citing the Russian national park. 

Expressing joy, Ivan Rakov, spokesman for the national park, told the Guardian that it was the first time that the four-year-old Leo 117F was caught on camera. Furthermore, he said that they were joyed that she was able to raise a family. Over the past 20 years, the number of Amur leopards in Russia has grown to around 100 from 35.

In recent years, Russia has put considerable efforts into boosting its leopard population. Earlier in December, two Persian leopards landed in Moscow to join a program for the reintroduction of leopards into the wild. The leopards, an eight-year-old female and a nine-year-old male, travelled from a Stockholm zoo by plane to Moscow via Dubai. They are being taken to the Center for Reintroduction of the Leopard in the Caucasus in the Sochi National Park, near the southern Russian city of Sochi.

Image: The Land of the Leopard national/Phys.org