Chinese authorities believe a fatal battle between an endangered Siberian tiger and an even more endangered Amur leopard may actually be a positive sign. The tiger-leopard duel resulted in the death of the leopard.
According to China.org.cn it is possible that the encounter occurred because both animals are increasing in number in China. Such encounters are extremely rare because of the size difference between the two animals. Male Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) can weigh as much as 675 pounds. Females are somewhat smaller. Male Amur leopards weigh in around 100 pounds. Currently, there may be about 500 Siberian tigers in Russia and China and perhaps North Korea. Amur leopards may number about 100 in a similar range. Unfortunately cats see other cats as competitors. The tiger-leopard duel may have been an effort by the tiger to eliminate a rival for food.
According to Chinese authorities:
“I feel very distressed, but this is the law of nature,” forest ranger Liu Guoqing told Xinhua in response to the deadly duel, while adding that it is a good sign of ever-expanding populations of these two endangered species. (Xinhua is a Chinese news agency – ed.)
In the late 1990s, there was only one isolated wild population of 25 to 35 Amur leopards left, and it was distributed in a narrow area across the border between China and Russia, Feng said. “It was just one step away from extinction.”
In recent years, with a series of measures implemented to conserve and recover the local ecosystem, China’s ecological environment has been significantly improved. Such measures, coupled with the establishment of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, have retrieved the Amur leopard from the brink of extinction.
“Nevertheless, the Amur leopard remains even more endangered than the Amur tiger,” Feng noted.”
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The Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park covers about 14,000 square kilometers (5,400 square miles) and was founded in 2016. It borders Russia and North Korea and preserves many other animals and plants, the Chinese say. It was specifically designed to help the two species survive. But it can’t eliminate a possible tiger-leopard duel.
China’s government appears determined to conserve its natural heritage after decades of neglect and outright slaughter. The communist government at one point tried to eradicate sparrows in one unfortunate example. Now, however, the Beijing government is working to preserve snow leopards, Gobi bears and other endangered animals