IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Jutzeler, E.; Zhigang, W.; Weishi, L.; Breitenmoser, U. | |
| Leopard | |
| 2010 Cat News (Special Issue 5): 30-33 | |
Leopards are believed to be still relatively abundant in the forests of the Indian sub-continent, through Southeast Asia and into China, although they are becoming increasingly rare outside protected areas (Nowell & Jackson 1996, IUCN 2010). In China, they are still present throughout the east, centre and south. In the 1950s, national campaigns to eradicate pest animals - including tigers and leopards - had a considerable impact on the populations, mainly in the south. Based on purchased skins, 2,000-3,000 leopards were killed each year during the mid 1950s (Shoemaker 1997). The Critically Endangered Amur leopard has been reduced to a very small population in Russia, China, and possibly North Korea. The 2007 census revealed 25-34 animals remaining in the wild (ScienceDaily, 18 April 2007). Although _P. p. orientalis _is extremely rare compared to the other subspecies, we know much more about leopards in northeastern China than about those in the rest of the country, because the Amur leopard has received much attention and has also profited from field research and conservation activities focussing on Siberian tigers (Han 2001). |
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