One of the most endangered big cats in the world, they are on the IUCN Critically Endangered Red list. They lost 80% of their range in the wild just between 1970-1983. Also called the Manchurian or Korean leopard, they occupy a remote area of the China-Russia border (the Amur River valley) and China-North Korea (the Ussuri River valley). In China and Korea they are on the verge of extinction, and in Russia they are estimated to number 30-50 adults.

Efforts to save the Siberian (Amur) tiger will also help this cat, as the larger range protected for the tiger will also make room for the leopard. However, with the breakup of Russia and widespread illegal trade of tiger and leopard products in Asian countries, both of these cats could be extinct in the wild in a few short years. The Amur leopard is the type of cat EFBC/FCC is concentrating on with our breeding programs. We have several adults we imported from European zoos (Tallin, Helsinki, Moscow, and Berlin) to spread out the captive bloodlines and minimize inbreeding. The Tigris foundation is working to protect these rare cats in the wild.

Weight: males range from 80 to 198 pounds, females 60 to 130 pounds.

Height: measured at the shoulder, 18 to 30 inches.

Lifespan: in captivity, they have been known to live 20 years or more; in the wild it is thought to be closer to 12 years.

Habitat and Range: Amur leopards are found primarily in boreal forests of Asia. They have the northernmost range of any leopard subspecies and can be found from eastern Russia, near the Amur River to the Jilin Province of China.