AMUR LEOPARD  
Panthera pardus orientalis

The Amur Leopard, named for the Amur River, is considered the most critically endangered subspecies of leopard remaining in the wild today. Estimates at this writing are that there are only 45 or less individuals remaining. While the Amur Leopard inhabits the same area as the Siberian Tiger (originally throughout Korea, northeastern China and southeastern Russia), it has received far less attention and funds from the media and from charities. The Amur leopard is the rarest of all the big cats, and is in immediate danger of dying out in the wild. It is suffering from habitat loss and is thus also especially vulnerable to natural disasters, such as fire. 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 for building 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. This is a cooperative effort among zoos and other captive-animal facilities to monitor the status and plan for breeding of the current captive population.

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