Save the critically endangered Amur Leopard from Extinction!
- by: Bethany Lockwood
- recipient: Russian Government, Conservation Centers
With a total population of 30-35 individuals, the Amur leopard, or Far Eastern leopard, is one of the most - if not the most - endangered large cats on earth.
-
(The following information was sourced from the WWF, I do not claim any of the text, all credit goes to the WWF.)
What are the main threats toward the Amur Leopard?
Habitat loss and Fragmentation
It is estimated that between 1970-1983, the Amur leopard lost an astonishing 80% of its former territory. Indiscriminate logging, forest fires and land conversion for farming are the main causes.
Still all is not lost. Even now large tracts of forest, which are ideal leopard habitat exist. If these areas can be protected from unsustainable logging, rampant forest fires and poaching of wildlife, the chance exists to increase the population of the subspecies in the wild.
Prey Scarcity
There are still large tracts of suitable habitat left in China, but the prey base in these forests is insufficient to sustain populations of leopards and tigers. Prey populations will recover if the use of the forests by the local population is regulated and if measures are taken to limit the poaching of ungulates. For the Amur leopard to survive for the long term, it needs to repopulate its former range. But for that to happen, prey populations need to recover first.
Poaching and Illegal Trade
The Amur leopard is poached largely for its beautiful, spotted fur. In 1999, an undercover investigation team recovered a female and a male Amur leopard skin, which were being sold for US$ 500 and US$ 1,000 respectively, in the village of Barabash, not far from the Kedrovaya Pad reserve. This suggests that there is a market for such products within the locality itself.
Agriculture and villages surround the forests where the leopards live. As a result the forests are relatively accessible, making poaching a bigger problem than elsewhere. Not only for the leopards themselves, but also for important prey species, such as roe deer, sika deer and hare, which are hunted by the villagers both for food and hard cash.
Conflict with humans
Amur leopards are particularly vulnerable because of their preference for deer, a natural predatory preference but dangerous in the Russian Far East due to direct human involvement: farmers in the Russian Far East raise deer for human consumption, and to produce antlers for the Asian medicine market.
In absence of wild prey, the leopards often venture into the deer farms in search for food. Owners of these farms are quick to protect their investment by eliminating leopards attacking their stock. Presently, the leopard's most immediate threat comes from such retaliatory or preventive killing.
Vulnerable population size and inbreeding
Additionally, the Amur leopard is threatened by the extremely small wild population size, which makes them vulnerable to "catastrophes" such as fire or disease, to chance variation in birth and death rates and sex ratios (e.g., all cubs born for two years might be male), and to inbreeding depression.
Father-daughter and sibling matings have been observed and it is possible that this may lead to genetic problems including reduced fertility. Such matings do of course occur naturally to a certain extent in large cat populations, but in a very small population there is no possibility of subsequent outbreeding. Studies have shown that the number of cubs per adult female fell to 1 in 1991 from 1.9 in 1973.
-
How can we help?
Donations
Donate any sum of money to conservation efforts such as the WWF. Even the smallest sum of money helps!
Raise awareness
Spread the word about the endangered Amur Leopard and what can be done to help prevent its extinction.
Adoption
There are a number of organizations that allow you to adopt a [wild] Amur Leopard, the WWF for example allow you to adopt El'duga and her cubs for a minimum sum of £3 a month.
Thank you for taking your time to read this petition, I hope you people feel the same way as I do about the beautiful Amur Leopard and sign this petition. We cannot let these majestic animals die, we must do something to protect them!
[ Feel free to express your views in the comments area and express your own ideas on how we can help save the Amur Leopards. ]
-
(The following information was sourced from the WWF, I do not claim any of the text, all credit goes to the WWF.)
What are the main threats toward the Amur Leopard?
Habitat loss and Fragmentation
It is estimated that between 1970-1983, the Amur leopard lost an astonishing 80% of its former territory. Indiscriminate logging, forest fires and land conversion for farming are the main causes.
Still all is not lost. Even now large tracts of forest, which are ideal leopard habitat exist. If these areas can be protected from unsustainable logging, rampant forest fires and poaching of wildlife, the chance exists to increase the population of the subspecies in the wild.
Prey Scarcity
There are still large tracts of suitable habitat left in China, but the prey base in these forests is insufficient to sustain populations of leopards and tigers. Prey populations will recover if the use of the forests by the local population is regulated and if measures are taken to limit the poaching of ungulates. For the Amur leopard to survive for the long term, it needs to repopulate its former range. But for that to happen, prey populations need to recover first.
Poaching and Illegal Trade
The Amur leopard is poached largely for its beautiful, spotted fur. In 1999, an undercover investigation team recovered a female and a male Amur leopard skin, which were being sold for US$ 500 and US$ 1,000 respectively, in the village of Barabash, not far from the Kedrovaya Pad reserve. This suggests that there is a market for such products within the locality itself.
Agriculture and villages surround the forests where the leopards live. As a result the forests are relatively accessible, making poaching a bigger problem than elsewhere. Not only for the leopards themselves, but also for important prey species, such as roe deer, sika deer and hare, which are hunted by the villagers both for food and hard cash.
Conflict with humans
Amur leopards are particularly vulnerable because of their preference for deer, a natural predatory preference but dangerous in the Russian Far East due to direct human involvement: farmers in the Russian Far East raise deer for human consumption, and to produce antlers for the Asian medicine market.
In absence of wild prey, the leopards often venture into the deer farms in search for food. Owners of these farms are quick to protect their investment by eliminating leopards attacking their stock. Presently, the leopard's most immediate threat comes from such retaliatory or preventive killing.
Vulnerable population size and inbreeding
Additionally, the Amur leopard is threatened by the extremely small wild population size, which makes them vulnerable to "catastrophes" such as fire or disease, to chance variation in birth and death rates and sex ratios (e.g., all cubs born for two years might be male), and to inbreeding depression.
Father-daughter and sibling matings have been observed and it is possible that this may lead to genetic problems including reduced fertility. Such matings do of course occur naturally to a certain extent in large cat populations, but in a very small population there is no possibility of subsequent outbreeding. Studies have shown that the number of cubs per adult female fell to 1 in 1991 from 1.9 in 1973.
-
How can we help?
Donations
Donate any sum of money to conservation efforts such as the WWF. Even the smallest sum of money helps!
Raise awareness
Spread the word about the endangered Amur Leopard and what can be done to help prevent its extinction.
Adoption
There are a number of organizations that allow you to adopt a [wild] Amur Leopard, the WWF for example allow you to adopt El'duga and her cubs for a minimum sum of £3 a month.
Thank you for taking your time to read this petition, I hope you people feel the same way as I do about the beautiful Amur Leopard and sign this petition. We cannot let these majestic animals die, we must do something to protect them!
[ Feel free to express your views in the comments area and express your own ideas on how we can help save the Amur Leopards. ]
We, the signers of this petition are desperately asking that you invest more money and time in Conservation Efforts to save the Amur Leopard from extinction.
We cannot let these beautiful creatures die out, especially when there is still hope to save them. Together, we can take the necessary steps (much as we did with the Amur Tiger) and save this species from extinction. We need to make more people aware of this situation, so that they will also support us in this campaign.
Please, do something to save these amazing animals!
Thank you for taking your time to read this and we hope you do decide to take action.
Sign PetitionSign PetitionWe cannot let these beautiful creatures die out, especially when there is still hope to save them. Together, we can take the necessary steps (much as we did with the Amur Tiger) and save this species from extinction. We need to make more people aware of this situation, so that they will also support us in this campaign.
Please, do something to save these amazing animals!
Thank you for taking your time to read this and we hope you do decide to take action.
See more petitions:
You have JavaScript disabled. Without it, our site might not function properly.
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.