Far Eastern Leopard Conservation

A number of Russian and international organizations are engaged in efforts to save the Far Eastern leopard, and conservation plans include the increasing the current population; development of a captive breeding center, and establishment of a second, separate population. Very little is known about Far Eastern leopard ecology, however, making it difficult to move forward effectively with recovery plans, evaluate ongoing conservation activities, and define future priorities. WCS is conducting scientific research to improve our understanding of this sub-species, and is also working to improve wildlife and habitat management in the leopard’s range.

Ecological Research

In 2006, WCS together with the Institute of Biology and Soils (Russian Academy of Sciences) and other partners began a field research project to collect ecological and biomedical information needed to inform conservation and recovery planning for the Far Eastern leopard. Activities include capturing leopards and tigers to collect samples for genetic and medical analysis, and year-round tracking of individuals. This project is helping us to identify:

• the primary sources of mortality for leopards, and how to increase survival rates; 
• reproductive success and the risk of inbreeding, which could depress leopard reproduction rates or cause other health problems; 
• food and habitat use by leopards, and the impacts of human disturbances on the population;
• movement corridors within Russia and between Russia and China, and
• the relationship between tigers and leopards, and how to mitigate competition between the two species.

Population Monitoring

Since 2002, WCS has been using camera trapping to survey the leopard population over a significant portion of its range. Before 2002, camera traps had never been used for population monitoring in Russia, but this method has turned out to be very effective. Camera trapping allows us identify individual leopards by their unique spot patterns, and therefore we are able to monitor individual animals over many years, estimate population density and trends over time, and learn about rates of population turnover.

 
Figure 1. Since 2002, WCS has camera-trapped between 8 and 14
Far Eastern leopards on a study area at the northern end of the leopard's range.  

Since 1997, WCS has also assisted in implementing snow-track surveys, a method first used by Russian scientists for estimating leopard density and distribution in the 1970s. We attempt to repeat snow track counts every 3 years. Camera-trap results between 2002 and 2007 by our crew, and more recently by WWF in an adjacent site, as well as recent snow-track counts (2000, 2003, 2007) indicate a small but stable population of around 30 leopards in Russia.  

 

Wildlife and Habitat Management

WCS is engaged in several activities to improve wildlife and habitat management in leopard range. We are working with local hunting associations to improve wildlife management and promote leopard and tiger conservation on multiple-use forest lands. In 2004 we teamed up with TIGIS and Tigris in a study of the impacts of fires in leopard habitat, and we are now beginning activities to improve fire suppression and prevention in the region. Finally, we are training partners in the MIST patrol monitoring system, which provides rapid assessments of the activities and impact of anti-poaching brigades working in leopard territory.