China releases video of wild Amur leopards

A video clearly shows a wild Amur leopard with dark, coin-shaped markings in its skin walking by the camera and staying for 10 seconds. The high-definition video of an Amur leopard was taken at 9:52 am on May 23, 2013 in Suiyang county, Northern China's Heilongjiang province. Heilongjiang province's wildlife watchdog announced on Dec 27 that it had captured three video of three Amur leopards.[Photo/Xinhua]

HARBIN -- Forest authorities in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province released three videos of the endangered Amur leopards on Friday.

The three high definition (HD) videos were recorded in a nature reserve in Suiyang Township, Dongning County on May 23 and September 1, respectively, according to the provincial forest industry bureau.

The bureau released a HD video of Siberian tigers on December 18.

"It is the first HD video of live wild Amur leopards recorded in Heilongjiang," said Dr. Feng Limin of the Cat Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission, International Union for Conservation of Nature.

They were confirmed as two male adult leopards, said Feng, also a wildlife biologist at Beijing Normal University.

The leopards in the video were strong and agile, which showed that they were in good health, said Zhang Shusen, an official with the provincial forest industry bureau.

Wild population have increase in the forests of Heilongjiang as natural forest protection projects have improved the ecosystem, he said.

Amur leopard and Siberian tiger mainly live in east Russia, northeast China and northern parts of the Korean Peninsula.

Some 500 Siberian tigers and 40 Amur leopards are thought to live in the wild.