Range: Korea, the northeast corner of China and the southwest corner of Siberia
Habitat: Mountainous pine and deciduous forest.
Description: Amur leopards are up to 9 feet long, including their tails. Males weigh between 80 and 200 pounds and females weigh between 60 and 130 pounds. Their coats, which may become paler in the winter, range from pale yellow to gold and are covered in rosettes of dark spots. Their heads, lower limbs and bellies are solid black. Animals that are black all over are known as panthers.
Adaptations/Habitat: Strong swimmer. Agile and stealthy hunter, often captures prey by springing down from trees. The most quiet hunter of the big cats. Stores the rest of prey in a tree if it can not consume the entire meal. Primarily nocturnal and relatively solitary. They can run at a speed of 37 mph for short periods and can leap 20 feet horizontally, 10 feet vertically.
Breeding/Growth: Amur leopards mate in January and February. After a 3 to 4 month gestation period females give birth to litters of up to 6 cubs – most commonly 2 or 3. The cubs’ eyes open in about 10 days and they are weaned at about 3 months. They stay with their mother until the age of 2 or 3.
Diet: Carnivore, preys on anything it can bring down. Favorites include deer, boar, hares, and badgers.
Exhibit: Amur leopard exhibit, next to Gibbon Island
Notes: STATUS: Critically Endangered (the most endangered of the big cats in the world with only about 40 individuals left in the wild). Amur leopards are threatened by poaching and habitat loss due to logging and human-induced forest fires.
