vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #599 / Environment / Reading article...

A recent inspection of a state nature reserve in southern Primorye, the habitat of the Far Eastern leopard, has revealed illegal forest cuttings which put the already dwindling population of the world’s rarest wild cat at a greater risk of extinction.

The routine check by Primorye’s office of federal animal and plant health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor found unauthorized logging at ‘Borisovskoye Plato’, one of the three preserved areas in Primorye which the leopard inhabits, a statement from the office said Thursday.

According to the statement, 525 oaks were illegally cut in the territory, a process that destroyed 0.25 hectares of fertile soil.

The damage inflicted upon the reserve by poachers is estimated at 14 million rubles ($564,500).

The intense tree felling in the area is a cause of anxiety for the leopards and has led to an incident involving a wild cat, the office spokesman’s aide Vitaly Salenko revealed. “The leopard attacked a logger’s patrol dog,” Salenko said.

Forest cuttings have been one of the major reasons for the population decrease of the Far Eastern leopard in southern Primorye. According to environmentalists’ estimates, for the past three decades the habitat of the wild cat has been reduced by 45 times. This limited territory, as well as forest fires, have also contributed to the decline in population.

According to the latest census performed in February and March by World Wildlife Fund ecologists in Primorye and adjoining China, some 34 Far Eastern leopards remain in the territory, with the animal’s habitat mostly in Primorye’s Khasansky and Nadezhdinsky counties.