The Amur leopard, with fewer than 100 wild individuals, is monitored through intensive camera trap programs that provide critical data for managing the world's rarest wild cat.
Amur leopards at such critically low numbers face welfare risks that extend beyond individual animals to the entire population's genetic health. Inbreeding reduces immune function and reproductive success. Individual leopards living in degraded habitats with insufficient prey face chronic nutritional stress. Camera trap monitoring is welfare-relevant because it enables targeted intervention - when a camera shows a leopard with snare injuries or signs of disease, veterinary intervention can be mobilized.