The Amur Leopard is a critically endangered animal living in Asia. The leopard is a predator native to Korea, Northeast China and the Russian Far East. Its scientific name is Panthera Pardus Orientalis.
The Amur leopard enjoys living in temperate broad leaf and mixed forests. Some factors that are key on the leopards survival are trees, wide range of animals, and season changes.
Adaptations:
1. The fur changes from light brown in the winter to golden red in the summer - to absorb more sunlight
2. thick fur in the winter - protects from cold
3. long tail - helps balance when climbing trees
4. extremely good eye sight - spot any prey or danger quickly
5. strong teeth - tear apart its preys flesh
The Amur Leopards reproductive behavior includes the following:
1. its gestation lasts for approximately 12 weeks.
2. the cubs stay with the mother for 2 years until complete independence.
3. females start breeding age at 3-4 years.
The leopard mainly feeds on four types of animals. Roe and sika deer, hares, and badgers. It has no predators, except for humans. We poach them for their fur and then sell it for a too large a price on markets. Deforestation is another large factor in the Amur Leopards decreased population. Inbreeding has and can cause a genetic mistake in their DNA. This mistake carries a disease that is extremely threatening to the leopards. Sadly, the population rate of the Amur leopard is less than 40 individuals.
Watch a video about the Amur Leopard!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5zhdiUdKqI
But why is the Amur leopard so important to save?
The Amur leopard has a distinct DNA compared to other leopards. Biodiversity is key in an ecosystem. Biodiversity is one part of the ecosystem every organism needs to survive in its biome. If the Amur leopard goes extinct, its preys will soon over populate which can create a problem in the whole area, for animals, plants, and even humans. We need to keep the food chain the Amur Leopard is part of stable.
What has been done so far to help the Amur Leopard not go extinct?
ALTA members have developed a comprehensive conservation program for the Amur leopard’s range in Russia and Northeast China that includes:
- Anti-poaching
- Forest fire-fighting
- Compensation for livestock killed by tigers and leopards
- A comprehensive education and public awareness program
- Population monitoring (Snow-track counts and camera trapping)
- Ecological and biomedical research
- Support for protected areas and hunting leases
- Lobbying for improved conservation policies and regulations
- Amur leopard conservation in China
I think the Amur leopard is one of the most beautiful species on this planet and deserve all the help needed to protect them from extinction. Many things have been done to help, and I hope that they will help them survive. But what can we do to help? We need to educate people who live in areas where Amur Leopards used to roam about them. Teach them what they provide us as a species, how they help the ecosystem in staying stable, and how we need to help the leopard. We should reintroduce them into the wild and be positive that they will not be shot by hunters. Many groups like WWF and The Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance have sponsored a lot of money and helped to protect them from complete extinction. We should also donate money to groups like these and help them work on conserving such a great species.
APA citations:
Information-
-U.Breitenmoser, C.Breitenmoser-Wursten, P.Henschel, L.Hunter (2008). "Panthera pardus orientalis". International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources . http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/15957/0/full. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
-World Wilflife Fund (2010). The cat that Stalks alone: An endangered Solotary Hunter. Retrieved February 20, 2010, from http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/amurleopard/amurleopard.html
Images and video-
-http://www.wildlifeextra.com/images/amur-dead.JPG
-http://homepage.mac.com/topcover/blog/images/Amur-Leopard_thumb.jpg
-http://www.bergoiata.org/fe/felins/Focal%20Point,%20Amur%20Leopard.jpg
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5zhdiUdKqI
