INCREASE IN THE ABUNDANCE OF THE AMUR LEOPARD CAT (<i>PRIONAILURUS BENGALENSIS EUPTILURA</i>, FELIDAE, CARNIVORA) IN THE SOUTHERN AMUR REGION

Abstract

The Amur leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura Elliot 1871) in the south of the Russian Far East mainly lives in flat and foothill landscapes, which have now been mostly transformed by man. The data were collected in 1987–2022 in the southern Amur region (the left bank of the Amur River in the south of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO) and the right bank of the Amur River (the right bank of the estuary of the Ussuri River), Khabarovsk Krai). Traces of cats and dead animals were recorded, and camera traps were used. The data of 4560 diaries of employees of the Department of protection of the Bolshekhekhtsirsky Reserve, located in the research area, for 1964–2009 were used. Now on the left bank of the Amur River in the south of the JAO, the Amur leopard cat lives constantly, although in the 2010s it was believed that it rarely enters this territory. Number of sightings of cat tracks in the study area on the right bank of the Amur in 2011–2021 compared to the period 2000–2010 increased about two times. It has populated areas within the range where it has never been noted. The increase in the number and the process of settlement of the Amur leopard cat, both on the left bank and on the right bank of the Amur River began in the 2000s, and since the beginning of the 2010s it has been observed constantly. Currently, the cat lives sedentary in the southern Amur region, which is confirmed by the findings of its broods. The cat mainly lives on agricultural land, which is due to its ability to adapt well to anthropogenic changes in the habitat.