RARE LEOPARD BIRTH RAISES HOPES FOR SPECIES ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION
Marwell Zoological Park is celebrating the birth of an endangered Amur leopard. With less than 35 remaining in the wild, Amur leopards are one of the rarest big cats in the world.
The female cub was born on the 18th November 2007 as part of a European conservation breeding programme to help save the species from extinction. The cub was born to Marwell’s resident adults, Mum, Ascha and Dad, Akin.
Amur leopards used to roam a wide area, living in the forests and mountains of Russia, Korea and China. Over the last few years their range has become smaller and smaller and they now only live in the Far East of Russia.
The Amur leopard, like most big cats, has suffered due to trophy hunters and poachers killing them for their beautiful fur coats and for their bones for the wildlife trade – leopard bones can be passed off as tiger bones for use in Chinese medicine. Other major reasons include loss of habitat and depletion of their prey species due competition with humans.
Marwell’s resident Research Programme Manager, Heidi Mitchell is carrying out work to better understand big cat reproduction in captivity and believes that the extremely small wild population size makes the species vulnerable for two reasons: “Such a small wild population means that the species is extremely vulnerable to “catastrophes” such as fire or disease. Secondly, inbreeding also threatens their viability as this can lead to genetic problems including reduced fertility”
Heidi continues: “Because of these risks to the current wild leopards, planning is under way for an ambitious project to reintroduce these big cats to the wild to form a second population in an area that was formerly part of their natural range.”
To celebrate the birth Marwell is offering a special cub adoption package. Adopters will receive an exciting package containing: a certificate with a picture of an Amur leopard, a fact sheet all about Amur leopards, an admission ticket to the park, a copy of Marwell’s magazine and their name will also be featured on the Park’s adoptions 'Thank You' board for everyone to see! To adopt Marwell’s Amur leopard cub online go to www.marwell.org.uk or alternatively phone 01962 777988 for an application form. The package costs £50.
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