The Rawr Facts: Amur Leopards

So, now let's head on back to our old friend the Amur leopard.  Amur leopard!  C'mon out!

RAWR!

















Okay, so, these cats can cook up a pretty good growl, huh?

Now, let's get down to the facts; what is an Amur leopard?

FACT R: Amur leopards are Russian and Chinese, meaning, they're found in Russia and in China.  But there are only a dozen at most in China.  Their lifespan is 10-15 years.

FACT A: You know the little spots leopards have?  Those are called rosettes, apparently, and Amur leopard's have rosettes with thicker borders than its other leopard cousins.  Also, each rosette has more space in between.



Amur Leopard rosettes: The reddish coat is its summer coat.

Leopard rosettes

Can you tell the difference?  It's really hard when you're not an expert  :/

FACT W: The Amur leopard is one of those cats that like alone time better than together time.  They are lone rangers that prowl in the night, kill prey in the darkness, and hide their unfinished dinner, lunch, or breakfast so no one would steal it.  Sometimes, the males will be good daddies and stay with their wives and even help raise the cubs.  So, they're not completely solitary creatures, I guess.

FACT R: Amur leopards have cubs.  And they're cute.  They have 1 to 4 at a time.  The little cubs stay with their mums until they're 1 1/2 to 2 years old.  To care for their little ones, the mother must keep her milk coming!  She will hunt for deer, boars, hares, badgers, and raccoon dogs.

FACT !: Amur leopards have been poached and illegally traded.  It seems that people haven't been able to resist the leopard's beautiful fur coats.  It was a mean game.  The people killed the leopards for fur and to protect the deer and hares that the people hunted for food and cash.  The Amur leopards would hunt the deer and hares for survival.  I would think that the people could have done without deer and hares.  Those poor, poor, cats, survival was tough and still is  :(

Extra FACT: The Russian government is trying its best to help repopulate these beautiful creatures.

What can you do?  How can you help?  Well,

Click here for more info at the bottom!  This is also the site I used for reference.  You can check it out.  And, definitely spread the word to your friends and family.  I'm pretty sure some people from Russia are looking at my blog.  If you are from Russia, get the word out!!!

I'm not sure what to do for my next tiger post... maybe some endangered species heads up thing...