Rare Photo of Three Amur Leopards Offers Hope for World's Most Endangered Cat

[dlo13]

Boris been getting it in...

http://www.worldwildlife....09/WWFPresitem14391.html

Rare Photo of Three Amur Leopards Offers Hope for World's Most Endangered Cat

Three Individuals Represent Almost 10 Percent of Population


For Release: Nov 25, 2009

Lee Poston
[email protected]
(202) 495-4536




[emoji]169[/emoji] Valerii Maleev/WWF-Russia

Washington, November 25, 2009 -- Three Amur leopards photographed during an anti-poaching operation in the Russian Far East offer a little Thanksgiving hope for the world's rarest big cat, World Wildlife Fund said today. Only about 40 critically endangered Amur leopards exist in the wild, so the photograph of three healthy individuals around a kill is good news for the future of the sub-species. View exclusive photos of the rare Amur leopard

As soon as the cats -- a female and two cubs -- were identified, an anti-poaching interagency group tightened security by blocking roads around the location. This quick response was even more critical because of the fresh snowfall on the ground, which makes it easier for poachers to track these rare cats. While at least one Amur leopard cub in a litter usually dies, both of these cubs survived their first six months.

"During this holiday season, the presence of these three leopards is something we can all be thankful for," said Dr. Darron Collins, Director of WWF-US's Amur-Heilong Program. "If we can protect them from poachers and loss of their habitat and recover their prey populations, Amur leopards may yet survive for future generations."

The anti-poaching interagency group was formed in January of this year to better protect the region's Amur leopards. It includes WWF, Russian government agencies and other conservation organizations. To date, the group has conducted 67 operations; instituted four criminal cases; confiscated 12 guns and rifles, filed 18 protocols for administrative infringements; and inspected 33 vehicles. All this is being done with one purpose - to save the Amur leopard from extinction.

 

[Methodical Management]

Thanks for posting this! I actually just checked our staff email account to find a letter from Dr. Collins containing this exact same discovery. It'swonderful to see a young family of cubs and a breeding female thriving.

Of course, the situation for Amur Leopards remains perilous and we're certainly hoping we can renew our membership to the Amur Leopard Conservation Societynext year to help them continue to protect these magnificent creatures.

As I told Dr. Collins, I truly appreciate that their approach helps to preserve the Amur Leopards' habitat and help human beings learn to coexist with themrather than removing leopards, holding them captive in zoos, and forcing breeding in artificial conditions, which causes individual leopards to suffer in hopesthat humans may somehow repair or stem the damage they've caused to this and other critically endangered species. The WWF's efforts to save the AmurLeopard have been conducted with the utmost respect for all involved. I sincerely hope that, as you continue to support us, we'll be able to continuesupporting them. Unfortunately, small donations cannot be specifically directed to a program like this, which makes pooling our resources through commonfund-raising efforts the best way of targeting those individual programs that achieve a special resonance with us.

 

[i3allistic]

WOW! some good info ....imma save the WWF website and donate some spare money when i pay all my bills later next week

arctic fox

 

[certifiedsw]

Artic Fox...

And great picture of the leopards.

 

[itz rolli]

man i used to write letters to WWF asking for info about endangered animals all the time as a kid.

 

[miketysonthekiller]

That arctic fox is serious business

 

[sherwin100s]

Wow so there's only about 30 of these cats still alive?

 

[krispacinla]

Wow Artic Fox and Amur Leopards. Nicee!

 

[queensfinest101]

wow, i always wondered that the animals i admired growing up ( especially big cats, jaguars are my fav) will still be around to be admired by my kids.. and soon. kind of makes me sad sometimes..

but dope pics of both the fox and the leopards

 

[thesouthside]

I love these rare animals like the cats bears and foxes
i wish there was a simple way to have one as a pet

 

[dyzzle]

Originally Posted by i3allistic

WOW! some good info ....imma save the WWF website and donate some spare money when i pay all my bills later next week

arctic fox

BOSS.

 

[c hanna]

baller animals. hopefully they get saved

 

[jawnyquest]

copped

 

[Methodical Management]

Wow so there's only about 30 of these cats still alive?
There's no surefire way of taking a 100% accurate census and populations fluctuate, but there are said to be fewer than 40. The good news isthat they are big cats - and cats can breed relatively quickly. The trick is to ensure that sufficient genetic diversity exists, which makes it all the morecritical to protect the remaining 30-40 leopards.

WOW! some good info ....imma save the WWF website and donate some spare money when i pay all my bills later next week
That would be wonderful. Our direct donations remain fairly modest, so we feel our greatest contribution as a community is to spread awarenessand encourage others to learn about and support important causes like this one. To see a fellow member decide to give independently is inspiring and I hopeothers will follow your example.

 

[hueyp in louiev]

This is great to see.

I pray that these cats can be brought back from the brink along with the Florida Panthers.

Its a bleak outlook though.

 

[danikerhino]

What about the Amur Tigers and the Lions and Cheetah's in the middle east?

 

[cabron james 23]

I refuse to support Incest

 

[so authentic]

Originally Posted by i3allistic

WOW! some good info ....imma save the WWF website and donate some spare money when i pay all my bills later next week

arctic fox

 

[edz one]

the next donation that NT makes could be for the leopards

 

[4x6191990]

If we are donating to help save wildlife, I would gladly chip in.

 

[i d0nt pass]

Dogs > Cats

 

[antonlavey]

Originally Posted by i3allistic

WOW! some good info ....imma save the WWF website and donate some spare money when i pay all my bills later next week

arctic fox

copped

 

[calikix88]

 

[MPLS612]

Originally Posted by i3allistic

WOW! some good info ....imma save the WWF website and donate some spare money when i pay all my bills later next week

arctic fox

I'd rock him.

 

[senatorjeffsmith]

They're featured in the first episode of Planet Earth.