Magnificent and Vibrant! Chinese Leopards Spotted Again in Jiying
The photo shows the rare images of the Chinese leopard captured by infrared cameras in the Yaoli Mountain National Nature Reserve from the second half of last year to February this year.
Daguan.net (Henan Daily reporter Chen Hui, correspondent Ren Yingfeng) ‘Two Big Kings’ leopard, which lives in Henan, has appeared again! On March 9th, the Jiying City Urban-Rural Integration Demonstration Zone Forestry Bureau released the biodiversity monitoring results of the Yaoli Mountain National Nature Reserve. From the second half of 2019 to February 2020, the Yaoli Mountain National Nature Reserve captured precious images of the Chinese leopard 42 times using infrared cameras, and monitored the Chinese leopard in multiple monitoring sample areas.
The Chinese leopard, also known as the ‘golden leopard’, is a Chinese-exclusive subspecies and is listed as a national Grade I key protected wild animal. Chinese leopards are highly sensitive in vision and smell, and their temperament is vigilant. The average activity range is 50-100 square kilometers, and they generally do not approach humans proactively. Since the Yaoli Mountain National Nature Reserve in Jiying started wild animal infrared camera monitoring in January 2015, the ‘appearances’ of the Chinese leopard have continued to rise, and the number of detections has increased year by year, and the distribution range in the Yaoli Mountain area of Jiying has shown significant recovery.
Reporter interviewed Professor Jiang Guangshun, Deputy Director of the National Forestry and Grassland Bureau Cat Animal Research Center and Professor of Wild Animals and Natural Reserve Land Use of Northeast Forestry University. He said that the patterns of the Chinese leopard are unique and will not change throughout their lives, and can be identified by comparing patterns to determine individual identity.
It is reported that the Yaoli Mountain Chinese leopard has been identified with images for no less than 6 individuals. During the monitoring period, the infrared camera captured leopard images 42 times, and these infrared cameras were distributed in multiple sample areas. According to a relevant person in the Jiying Forestry Bureau, this represents a close exchange between the Chinese leopard population in Jiying and the Chinese leopard population in other areas of the Yaoli Mountain, and is in a state of diffusion, which is of great significance for the health and recovery of the Yaoli Mountain Chinese leopard population.
On January 22, 2018 and September 14, 2018, the infrared camera photographed ‘couple leopards’ and ‘mother and child leopards’ respectively. Jiang Guangshun said: ‘The Chinese leopard is mainly distributed in the North China Plain to the Huangtu Plateau transition zone, and here the existence of this top predator is significant, which fully demonstrates that the protection effect is very good.’
The Chinese leopard is a large cat in the cat family, and globally, it is in a state of severe decline. As a top predator, the Chinese leopard is an indicator species of ecological quality, and its migration and settlement can most intuitively reflect the overall situation of the entire region’s ecosystem.
From the perspective of the survival environment, after the implementation of key forestry projects such as Natural Forest Protection Project, returning farmland to forest, wild plant and animal protection and nature reserve construction, the ecological environment of Jiying has gradually improved, and the populations of pheasant, hare, sika deer and other species have greatly recovered, which has built a downstream food chain for the Chinese leopard.
The facts also confirm this. In addition to the Chinese leopard, the infrared camera also recorded a variety of key protected wild animals such as Linshi, Yellow Throat Ferret, Sparrow Hawk, Red-Bellied Cock, Spoon Hawk and Black Crowned Eagle.
