Bigcats News

[Ngala]

From "The Land of the Leopard":

Leopards and tigers freely crossing Russia–China border
Monday, December 5, 2016
 Russian and Chinese scientists have tracked cross-border movements of Amur leopards and Amur tigers. Data on the number of wild feline animals living in the territories of both countries were made public at NEASPEC meeting.
A report on the project “A Study of Cross-Border Movements of Siberian Tiger and Amur Leopard Using Camera Traps and Molecular Genetic Analysis” handled by FSBI “Land of the Leopard”, WWF Russia and Center for Feline Animal Studies (China) was presented on November 28–29 in Beijing at a meeting of NEASPEC (U.N. North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation).
The Russian side was represented in this project since 2014 by National Park “Land of the Leopard” and by the Biology & Soil Science Institute, FEB RAS and the Chinese participant was the Center for Feline Animal Studies of the State Forestry Administration of the PRC. The project was coordinated by Amur Branch of WWF Russia. The key achievement of joint studies is credible information about cross-border migrations of Amur leopards and Siberian tigers.
It became known that at least 15 leopards and 19 tigers were registered in both countries during the whole study period. Animals crossed the border in a different manner. Some crossed the border up to 10 times which is indicative of their “dual nationality”: such wild cats permanently reside in the territories of both countries and we cannot say whether they are Russian or Chinese residents.
Some animals cross the border one time and stay in a new location. Specialists registered migration from Russia to China of two leopards and two tigers born in Russia and now living in China.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reply