Amur Leopard

Its common name comes from the Amur River; other common
names for this subspecies are "Far East Leopard"
and the "Siberian Leopard".

While the Amur Leopard inhabits the same area as the Siberian Tiger,
it has received far less attention from the media and from charities.
The Amur leopard is the rarest of all the big cats, and is in immediate danger
of becoming extinct in the wild. It is suffering from habitat loss and
is especially vulnerable to natural disasters, such as fire, because of
extensive habitat fragmentation.
Amur Leopards prefer to live in forested territory, but most of its
remaining territory is surrounded by farms and villages,
making poaching easier.

Russian plans to build an oil pipeline through the last remaining habitat of
the Amur leopard were recently redirected to a safer route after
pressure from the WWF and other environmental organizations.

A Population Management Plan has been established for
this subspecies of leopard.
The PMP is a cooperative effort among zoos and
other captive-animal facilities to monitor the status and plan breeding
of the current captive population.

On April 16, 2007 a female was shot and killed by hunters, leaving
only six females left in the wild. 

A 14 week old Amur leopard made her public debut
at Marwell Zoo in Hampshire, England on 28 February 2008.

Physiology

^{The Amur Leopard is differentiated from the ten other living subspecies of leopard by
its longer fur, which is an adaptation for the cold, harsh conditions of the taiga.
The fur of the Amur Leopard is golden orange and about 2.5 cm long during the summer.
During the winter, the fur grows to around 7 cm, when it also lightens to
a pale cream colour. Its coat has larger and more widely spaced rosettes than
other leopards".} 
Info from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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