The Amur leopard is the rarest big cat in the world, with a wild population that dropped below 30 individuals before conservation action began reversing the decline. Current estimates suggest 100+ individuals, offering cautious hope.
The Amur leopard recovery story demonstrates that even critically small populations can recover with intensive protection. At populations below 30 individuals, the species was at high risk of inbreeding depression, demographic accidents, and stochastic extinction. The establishment of protected areas, anti-poaching efforts, and prey restoration have combined to increase the population substantially. Individual welfare in this tiny population has conservation significance - each individual's survival and reproduction matters for population persistence. Leopards in fragmented landscapes face vehicle strikes, snaring, and insufficient prey as they move between protected areas. The welfare of the remaining wild individuals is intimately tied to the political and economic support for protection in a geographically remote region.