World's rarest cats spotted in nature reserve

CHANGCHUN - A pair of endangered Amur leopards have been spotted in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin.

It is the first time that field cameras caught two Amur leopards at the same time in Jilin, home to a quarter of all the rarest cats in the world.

One of the reasons for the sighting is an improved habitat for the animals, which are at high risk of extinction.

China established a nature reserve in Hunchun in 2011 to protect Far Eastern big cats like Amur leopards and Siberian tigers.

Photo taken on Oct 8, 2012 shows an endangered Amur leopard in a nature reserve in Hunchun in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin, home to a quarter of all the rarest cats in the world. [Photo/Xinhua]

On Tuesday, Lang Jianmin, education director with the animal conservation bureau in the forest-clad Hunchun City, said, "The two leopards, a male and a female, are very much like lovers."

Lang said the film of the leopards, side by side, was taken on November 16.

"We've hardly seen pictures like these. Amur leopards do not live together unless they are mating. And the honeymoon, once every three years, lasts only about a week," Lang added.

Amur leopards, classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered, are in the highest risk category in IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

In 2007, IUCN concluded that Amur leopards were extinct in China and only 19 to 26 survived in Russia.

However, the rare scene of the couple, together with a survey released in April shows that the population of Amur leopards has been recovering in China.

The survey, co-conducted by Jilin Provincial Forestry Department (JPFD) and World Wide Fund For Nature, said that the predators are making a comeback as China has improved efforts to protect forests and fight poaching.