Researchers doing some photo monitoring in the Vorontsov Land of the Leopard National Park have identified 91 adult leopards, as well as 22 cubs!

As a rule, a qualitative increase is possible when the population has at least twice as many females as males. The high percentage of cubs too is good news. 

The new trend amongst Far Eastern Leopards suggests stabilisation of this rare cat’s population.  They are also known as Amur Leopards.

The Land of the Leopard National Park accounts for about 70% of the leopard’s natural habitat.  This was a key decision:  it means that the Far Eastern Leopard can now live safely on an area of almost 2,800 square kilometres.  

To count the wild cats, national park employees went through nearly a million camera trap images.  About 10,000 of them had leopards on them!

To complete the picture, experts from the Russian national park are eagerly waiting for the results that their Chinese colleagues are producing; they too have been monitoring photos.

These data are vital now that the Land of the Leopard has become a “birth centre” for the spotted cats; many young leopards move to the Chinese borders to look out new territories.  Some return, but a certain number stay in China – and that means that the leopard population can grow!

Far Eastern Leopards is an autonomous non-profit organisation. Far Eastern Leopards’ mission is “to protect and restore the Far Eastern Leopard population in its historical habitat in the Russian Far East.

It supports the photo monitoring at Land of the Leopard and the Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve.  About 360,000 hectares are being monitored in the national park.  400 automatic camera traps can be found in the national park, so it’s the largest camera trap network in Russia!

Camera trap images enable scientists to do several things:

• to determine the size of the animal population
• to monitor changes in their life cycle
• to estimate their physical condition
• to determine their behavioural traits. 

Find out about Far Eastern Leopards here – there’s lots of information on Far Eastern Leopards and also the organisation trying to protect and restore the species.

Reasons for the very low numbers of these leopards are:

• Reduced feeding supply – the prey they live off have been dying out because of poaching and deforestation
• Habitat destruction and infrastructure development – forest fire risks have increased because of deforestation and mining;  roads make the areas more accessible to humans
• Poaching – leopard skin and body parts are used in oriental medicine

There’s a new Petition on Avaaz which is called World Leaders, Protect Half our Planet.

The petition is calling for world leaders to forge a new agreement such that at least 50% of our lands and oceans must be protected and restored.  

A global study has just found that every insect on the planet is on track to be wiped out – causing life on Earth to collapse – and that includes humans.

The petition says:

To world leaders:

"We global citizens are deeply concerned by scientists warning that ecosystems critical to sustaining life on Earth could collapse in our lifetimes. We call on you to meet existing targets to protect biodiversity, forge a new agreement so that at least 50% of our lands and oceans are protected and restored, and ensure our planet is completely sustainably managed. This must take into consideration the needs of human development and have the active support of indigenous peoples. This long-term goal for nature can restore harmony with our home."

Nature has never needed such a strong voice and scientists are offering a way to defend nature and people too – put half the planet under protection.  At the moment, France, Germany, Canada and other countries are about to hold talks to look at the idea before a global summit on extinction. 

This is all happening at the time Sir David Attenborough’s programme Our Planet streams on Netflix, hoping for an audience in 190 countries.  It could be over ONE BILLION people watch it – that’s one in seven (give or take a few) on the planet. 

The petition calls on these leaders to back protection for half the earth. 

Sign here

There’s some fantastic television to watch on the BBC this week (starting Sunday 24 March 2019), with Blue Planet programmes in abundance.

Pick of the Week, according to The Sunday Times (Culture Section) is Blue Planet Live.   It’s on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings on BBC1 at 8pm. 

This short series sets out on a mission to explore the health of the oceans.  An aquadynamic team will be broadcasting live from different marine locations during the week.

Chris Packham examines the well being of whales in Mexico; this includes mother-and-calf arrivals in the largest whale nursery in the world.

Steve Backshall is in the Bahamas and sees sharks and shipwrecks.

Liz Bonnin is at the Great Barrier Reef.   She is meeting baby turtles and shearwater chicks and she checks up on the coral itself.

Visit Blue Planet Live’s website here

And there’s more!

Blue Planet UK looks at the UK side of marine life.  There’s reports on Yorkshire seabirds, kayak clean-ups and shark science with Gillian Burke, Steve Brown and Chris Packham.

Blue Planet UK is on just after 4pm on BBC1 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Don’t miss it! 

Visit Blue Planet UK’s website here

Get involved in ocean conservation – tips from the programme’s website

There’s been an interesting development in Chitwan between conservationists and the local business community.

The conservationists held an interactive programme with the business community to discuss the responsibility of all stakeholders in conserving wildlife in the area.  The programme was organised by the Ratnanagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.  

The conservationists said that conserving wildlife is vital to both save the ecosystem and help local communities enjoy economic benefits.

The Chitwan National Park is home to areas such as one-horned rhinos, tigers, elephants and others.  It’s the first conservation area of the country and as such the area – especially the tourism industry – will benefit if wildlife is part of the agenda.

Tourists will come far and wide to see the animals.   As well as revenue coming into the area, there will be employment opportunities for local people. 

Businesses were urged to refrain from undertaking activities which could affect wildlife conservation.   And information was distributed about the legal repercussions of harming, poaching and smuggling wild animals.  Businesses were asked for help in raising awareness about smuggling animal parts and helping the local authorities to stop it. 

Businesses were also reminded about their legal responsibilities in meeting and maintaining environmental standards so that the balance of the ecosystem would be preserved.

The business community as a whole agreed to carry out their work while taking steps to protect animals and forests. 

The interaction programme was organised to enable entrepreneurs to be aware of the conservation of the environment and wildlife as they ran their businesses.   About 100 entrepreneurs attended the event.

This is a terrific initiative and wouldn’t it be great if there was more collaboration between businesses and conservationists elsewhere?  Well done to everyone involved :-)