Sad news from the wild kingdom. One of the last seven known female Amur leopards has been killed. The Amur leopard, which lives in the far east of Russia, is the rarest cat on Earth:
“A hunter shot the leopard through the tail bone. It tumbled over and was then beaten over the head with a heavy object, Pavel Fomenko, WWF's regional biodiversity coordinator said. Amur leopards have not been known to attack humans. Last week environmentalists said there were only between 25 and 34 Amur leopards – still living in the wild. However, at least 100 are needed to guarantee the species' survival. There are more male leopards in the wild than female because cats tend to produce males when under stress, according to Fomenko.”
Will it soon go the way of the Baiji dolphin?
