Cross-border camera trap research puts wild Amur leopard number at 84

[Judi Lynn]

by Mongabay.com on 19 July 2018

An international team of scientists has used camera traps in China and Russia to come up with a more accurate estimate of Amur leopards in the wild.

The research, published in the journal Conservation Letters on June 19, used photographs from the traps to identify individual leopards that live in the borderlands between the two countries. Scientists recognize this area as likely the last place on Earth where this critically endangered leopard subspecies (Panthera pardus orientalis) lives. That fact makes collaborations of this type, which included biologists from Chinese, Russian and U.S. institutions, critical to learning more about an elusive animal.

“This first rigorous estimate of the global population of the Amur leopard represents an excellent example of the value of international collaboration,” Dale Miquelle, who coordinates the Wildlife Conservation Society’s tiger program and was a co-author of the study, said in a statement.



Previous surveys of the Amur leopard used their tracks in the snow, which made it difficult to pick out individual cats. The camera trap photographs used in this study allowed the team to pick out individuals by the patterns of their spots.

More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/cross-border-camera-trap-research-puts-wild-amur-leopard-number-at-84/