Conservation Threats to Amur Leopards

Written By: Aimee Turcotte
​At Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, we are fortunate to have Amur Leopards, one of the rarest big cat species in the world. These apex predators face numerous threats, including habitat destruction, illegal poaching, climate change, and disease. If Amur Leopards were to go extinct, the food web would become destabilized due to an increase in prey species such as hares (7.). The Amur Leopard ensures there is no overpopulation of one prey species, which protects biodiversity and maintains the balance of the ecosystem (7.).

Amur Leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis) are agile and adaptable big cats found in the Russian province of Primorsky Krai and China. The mountainous forests of these Asian regions experience various climate conditions, including hot summers and extremely cold winters, to which Amur Leopards have acclimated by growing denser fur in winter (2.). The mixed deciduous and coniferous vegetation of the forests provides Amur Leopards with cover while stalking their prey (10.). At Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, the Horticulture and Animal Care departments designed the habitat of the Amur Leopard to replicate the mountainous forests of the leopard’s native range by adding rocks, logs, trees, bushes, and stumps throughout its habitat. The extreme winter and summer climate conditions in the Amur Leopard’s native range are similar, but to a lesser degree, to the temperature shifts that the Amur Leopards at the zoo experience here in Connecticut.

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