Size: Male weight: 32 to 48 kg, male length; up to 2m. Female weight: 25 to 43 kg, female length up to 1.5m.

Habitat and Distribution: Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest in Siberia, Manchuria, China, Korea and the Russian federation.

Age: Up to15 years in the wild but up to 23 years in captivity.

Groups and Breeding: Amur Leopards are solitary animals, coming together only to breed. They reach sexual maturity at around 3 years old. Once pregnant, a female’s gestation period is 90 to105 days, after which, she will give birth to a litter of 1-6 cubs. Unfortunately, infant mortality is high and mothers are not commonly seen with more than 1or 2 cubs. The pregnant females find a cave, a crevice among boulders, a hollow tree, or thicket to make a den and give birth. Cubs open their eyes after a period of 10 days and at around 3 months they start to follow the mother out on hunts. At one year of age, leopard young can probably fend for themselves but they remain with the mother until up to two years of age.

Diet: They are carnivores but eat a varied diet of mammals such as deer, hares and badgers, birds and fish.

• Leopards are very good climbers and can climb down a tree head first.
• Some leopard species are highly adapted to living in a cold environment; their long legs allow them to survive in cold, snowy climates. Their fur changes colour according to the season and can grow up to 7cm long.
• They have a top speed of 37 miles per hour and can jump up to 3m vertically.
• Like many cats, they mark their territory by spraying urine!
• The Amur Leopard is considered to be one of the most critically endangered big cats in the world. This is largely due to loss of natural prey species, being hunted for its coat and for its bones which are used in traditional Chinese medicine.