Photo in the News: World's Rarest Big Cat Captured

Source:
news.nationalgeographic.com...

November 16, 2006—In the remote forests of southeastern Russia, scientists have captured what's believed to be the rarest big cat on Earth: a Far Eastern leopard.

The team, led by biologists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, caught the 100-pound (45-kilogram) male in a snare last week while studying Siberian tigers in the Russian Far East, 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Chinese border

The chance capture gave biologists a priceless opportunity to study the elusive feline, and Melody Roelke (below), a specialist in big-cat genetics with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, wasn't shy about getting a closer look.

She and other team members conducted a thorough series of tests on the leopard, from studying its teeth to collecting sperm samples, before releasing the animal back into the wild.

Among the scientists' main concerns is whether Far Eastern leopards, also known as Amur leopards, can continue to sustain their tiny, isolated population, or whether disease and inbreeding may eventually wipe out the cats.

"This capture represents a milestone in our cooperative efforts to save the Far Eastern leopard and Siberian tiger from extinction," said Dale Miquelle, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Russia Program, in a statement.

"With the information gained from these animals, and others to come, we will be in a much better position to determine appropriate conservation actions."

Just Sharing!

Thats pretty cool, although to me it looks like a regular leopard.

What are the main differences between this leopard and other leopards?

id say there rare cause there in russia
id like to know how they collect sperm sample, they drug a animal an "pleasure" him till he gets off?.

not trying to be sick minded or anything just curious

That is extra cool!!!!! Let’s hope some sick poachers don't kill them off to collect some stupid superstitious aphrodisiac or something.

As for how they get a sperm sample, I'm sure they use a needle and a syringe to extract it.

Originally posted by DalairTheGreat
id say there rare cause there in russia
id like to know how they collect sperm sample, they drug a animal an "pleasure" him till he gets off?.

not trying to be sick minded or anything just curious

lol, you can do that with a domesticated dog, I imagine with a leopard its done by manual extraction with a needle in the testes.

Originally posted by Kacen
Thats pretty cool, although to me it looks like a regular leopard.

What are the main differences between this leopard and other leopards?

There have been as many as 30 subspecies of leopard suggested; however, most of these are questionable.

* African leopard, Panthera pardus pardus (lower risk, least concern)
* Anatolian leopard, Panthera pardus tulliana (critically endangered, possibly
extinct)
* Amur leopard, Panthera pardus orientalis (critically endangered)
* Arabian leopard, Panthera pardus nimr (critically endangered)
* Barbary leopard, Panthera pardus panthera (critically endangered, possibly
extinct)
* Indian leopard*, Panthera pardus fusca (lower risk)
* Indo-Chinese leopard*, Panthera pardus delacouri (vulnerable)
* Java leopard*, Panthera pardus meas (endangered)
* North China leopard*, Panthera pardus japonensis (vulnerable)
* Persian leopard or Iranian leopard*, Panthera pardus saxicolor (endangered)
* Sinai leopard or Judean Desert leopard, Panthera pardus jarvisi (critically
endangered, possibly extinct)
* Sri Lanka leopard*, Panthera pardus kotiya (endangered)
* Zanzibar leopard, Panthera pardus adersi (extinct)

The One Captured was the Amur Leopard, About 35 Left in the World!

Originally posted by Kacen
Thats pretty cool, although to me it looks like a regular leopard.

What are the main differences between this leopard and other leopards?

They stand apart from other leopards in their longer fur and legs, probably to better cope in the harsh, cold conditions of the taiga. They also have larger and more widely spaced rosettes. Their fur lightens to a pale cream during winter, but is more golden orange during summer. During the summer, their fur is usually about 2.5 cm long, but during winter, their fur is around 7 cm. Males are about fifty percent larger than females, and their weight ranges from 65 to 155 pounds.

Beautiful animal -- what a gorgeous plumy tail! This one looks relatively young and healty, and I hope there's some way they can preserve the species through zoo breeding or something.

Originally posted by syrinx high priest

Originally posted by DalairTheGreat
id say there rare cause there in russia
id like to know how they collect sperm sample, they drug a animal an "pleasure" him till he gets off?.

not trying to be sick minded or anything just curious

lol, you can do that with a domesticated dog, I imagine with a leopard its done by manual extraction with a needle in the testes.

Ok, extracting sperm out of dogs and making it a profession is one thing, but milking a 200 pound jaguar with human anesthetic is another.... you really got me thinking on that one!