Amur Leopard - Population & Distribution

Situation critical, but reasons for hope

Previous Population and Distribution
The distribution of the Amur leopard has been reduced to a fraction of its original range, which once extended throughout northeastern ("Manchurian") China, including Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces, and throughout the Korean Peninsula. The species range in Russia was dramatically reduced during the seventies, losing about 80% of its former range.

Current Population and Distribution
Today, the leopard inhabits only about 5,000 km² and the last remaining viable wild population, estimated at less than 40 individuals, is found in a small area in the Russian Province of Primorsky Krai, between Vladivostok and the Chinese border. In adjacent China, fewer than 10 scattered individuals are estimated to remain. In South Korea, the last record of an Amur leopard dates back to 1969, when a leopard was captured on the slopes of Odo Mountain, in South Kyongsang Province.