Specific language: • • • • • • • • • • •
Basin: cuenca Patch: parcela Limbs: extremidades Seasonally: según temporada Length: longitud Fur: piel Speed: velocidad Captivity: cautividad Badgers: tejones Fowl: aves Breed: criar
• remain pregnant: • • • • •
permanecer embarazada Tend: tender (tendencia) Cubs: cachorros Logging: tala Prey: presa Poaching: caza furtiva
Amur leopard ď‚— The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus
orientalis) is one of the world's most endangered cats. It is a solitary, nocturnal leopard.
Amur leopard lives in the Amur River basin of eastern Russia. Now extinct from China and the Korean Peninsula, the few leopards that remain are critically endangered
The Amur leopard is now restricted to a small patch of habitat in Southeast Russia along the Chinese and Korean borders, where no more than forty individuals survive.
Amur leopards are much smaller than tigers. They can weigh 50-
60 kg. Amur leopards have long limbs to walk in the snow. The color of their fur changes seasonally, from a reddish yellow in the summer to a light yellow in the winter. The length of their fur also can change with the temperature, from 2.5 cm in the warmer months to 7 cm during the coldest times of the year.
The Amur leopard can run at speeds of up to 37 miles per hour. The Amur leopard is solitary and strong. They live for 10-15 years, and in captivity up to 20 years. The
Amur leopard is also known as the Far East leopard, the Manchurian leopard or the Korean leopard. The Amur leopard is a strictly carnivorous predator that primarily hunts roe and sika deer but will also eat badgers, dogs, fowl, and even young bears.
ď‚— Amur leopards breed in the spring and early summer
months. Females remain pregnant for three and a half months. They tend to have one to six cubs. Cubs reach independence at approximately two years old.
Causes of Population Decline Habitat destruction: Between 1970 and 1983, 80 percent of the Amur leopard's habitat was lost due to logging, forest fires... Human Conflict: With less wild prey to hunt, leopards have going to farms where they have been killed by farmers. Poaching: The Amur leopard is illegally hunted for its fur, which is sold on the black market for $500 to $1,000