Leopard - Panthera pardus.

Cat News Special Issue 5, Autumn 2010: Cats in China: 30-33. IUCN Cat Specialist Group, ISSN 1027-2992.

Abstract:

In Asia, the leopard was originally widely distributed south of about 45°N. Across southwest and central Asia, leopard populations are small, separated and isolated; distribution and present status is however poorly known in most central Asiatic countries. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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