With fewer than 100 individuals remaining in the wild, the Amur leopard is the world's rarest big cat, and welfare monitoring of this tiny population is critically important.
Conservation of the Amur leopard cannot be separated from individual animal welfare given the tiny population size. Each individual has outsized importance for the species, making welfare interventions like mange treatment for identified individuals scientifically justified. Prey supplementation programs, while controversial in wild animal management, are being considered to reduce malnutrition risk. Genetic rescue through managed breeding between Russian and Chinese populations and potential reintroduction from captive-bred individuals requires careful welfare assessment to minimize stress of translocated animals.