Brief biography Leopard
We are written about the Far Eastern Leopard Leopard Panthera Pardus - one of the most common predators. In the world, there are from two to three dozen subspecies of leopards, differing from each other in color and the location of stains. They live in the savannahs and tropical forests of Africa and in oases of the Sahara desert, among the mountain ranges of India, on the Yangtze plateau in China and in the Far East of Russia.
However, despite such a variety of subspecies, one of them is on the verge of extinction. The rarest representative of the cat family-the Far Eastern leopard, who only about 30 individuals remain in the wild, lives only in the south-west of the Far East of Russia. The Phoenix Foundation believes that it is necessary to do everything possible to preserve this endangered subspecies.
The status of the Far Eastern leopard Panthera Pardus Orientalis in the Red Book of the Russian Federation of the Far Eastern leopard refers to the I category, as the rarest, which is on the verge of disappearance of the subspecies with an extremely limited area, the main population of which is located within Russia. In addition, the Far Eastern leopard is included in the Red Book of the International Union of Nature Protection and in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of the Views of the Wild Fauna and Flora, which are threatened by the disappearance of the Sites.
Hunting for a leopard is prohibited from a year. According to G., the distribution and habitat of the Far Eastern leopard - the northernmost subspecies of the leopards, the area of its distribution extends a little north of the parallel. Currently, the Far Eastern leopard lives only in the southwest of the Primorsky Territory. This is one of the rarest representatives of the cat family in the world.
In the Far East of Russia there is no other type of mammals, the position of which would be so critical. The habitat of the Manchu type typical of the Far Eastern leopard is the habitat. This representative of the Koshachi family prefers territories with a crossed relief, steep hills slopes, rock outputs and watersheds. In Primorye, the Far Eastern leopard is guarded in the Kedrov Pad reserve and specialized reserves “Barsovy” and “Borisov Plato”.
Many experts consider biology to the Far Eastern leopard the most beautiful subspecies of leopards, often comparing it with a snow leopard. And in fact, this is a beautiful slender cat with a length of the body, and the tail, which reaches, see the tiger, the leopard is not large: the female weighs up to 50 kg, and the male up to 70 kg.
The hairline does not exceed 2.5 cm in summer, and in winter it becomes more magnificent, thick and long, reaching the winter coloring varies from light yellow to a rusty-red and yellowish-red with a golden tint. In the summer it becomes brighter. Scattered throughout the body are clearly defined continuous black rings of spots, or individual spots in the form of sockets, give the skin of the Far Eastern leopard a special, unique coloring.
The leopard has very acute vision, he can see his victim at a distance of 1.5 km. However, the sense of smell and hearing of this cat are no less well developed. Far Eastern leopards reach puberty of 2 years, and males a little later than females. The wedding season occurs, as a rule, in the second half of winter. After a 3-month pregnancy, females give birth to, less often 3 spotted kittens.
Kittens are born blind and weigh only G. Eyes open only on the 7th-9th day of life. The female is arranged in caves, crevices, under the twisted roots of trees in deaf, secluded places. From two months, the mother feeds the cubs with semi -digested meat, accustoming to game. At the age of three months, leopards change their appearance, four spots on children's fur coats turn into sockets, like in adult leopards.
Kittens remain with a female up to two years. Each female leopard has its own individual site, which is about km, used only by it and its kittens. Males use a large territory at a time and visit areas of females for mating. The areas of males include areas of adult females. On their territory, which they regularly bypass, leopards leave marks on the trees and rake the ground in places of rest or next to prey.
Hunting leopards - loners, hunt at dusk or after the onset of darkness. The main food objects are a spotted deer and roe deer, although a badger, a raccoon dog and a Manchu hare play a non -least role in nutrition. The leopard can also penetrate the deer of the farm, where it kills the park deer. The leopard, like the tiger, hunts in two ways: it either hides prey or attacks from an ambush.
Possible group hunting of females with cubs. During the hunt, the predator skillfully uses the terrain: he tries to move, choosing various shelters and irregularities, does not step on dry branches and foliage, but follows the traces of animals, plant roots and stones. Approaching quite closely meters to prey, the leopard makes a swift throw, followed by a series of jumps.This representative of the cat family can carry long hunger strikes.
Typically, an adult leopard needs one adult of ungulates for days. But under poor hunting conditions, the interval between the extraction of large ungulates can reach days. The reasons for the reduction in numbers are the main reasons for the reduction in the number of Far Eastern leopard are: poacher's shooting of the destruction of its range, due to logging, expanding the network of roads and railways, as well as frequent forest fires, the reduction of ungulates that make up the feed base of this type the genetic depletion of the population due to closely related crossings.
In nature, the leopard is studied using the same methods as for studying the tiger. Literature Methodological manual "Far Eastern Leopard": Materials to help the teacher. Vladivostok year. Red Book of the Primorsky Territory. Vladivostok, Red Book of the Russian Federation. AST Astrel, rare animals of our country. Leningrad, "Science", Brakefield, Tom. Big Cats: Kingdom of Might.
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