Sochi is the 10th amur leopard to be born at the Denver Zoo since 1989. There are so few individuals left in the wild that zoos are possibly this species' only hope.
Amur leopards got their name from the Amur region in eastern Russia. It was once possible to find them all the way from South-Korea to the border between China and Russia, but they are now extremely close to extinction ("Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species), with only about 30 individuals left in the wild due to poaching, loss of habitat and trophy hunting.
That's the bad news. The good news is that a new amur leopard now walks this Earth. The young male cub is named Sochi after the host city for this year's olympics, and was born at the Denver Zoo to his mother Dazma (Dazz-mah) and father Hari-Kari (Harry Care-ee).
Amur leopards live further north than any other subspecies of leopard and have several adaptations for surviving in their cold, snowy climates. They have beautiful fur that is longer and paler than other leopards. In winter it can grow to nearly three inches long!
In addition they have long legs to help them move through deep snow in search of prey. Amur leopards are also agile climbers and can leap 10 feet in the air. They can drag a kill up to three times their own weight into a tree to avoid competition from other predators
Source
Amur leopards got their name from the Amur region in eastern Russia. It was once possible to find them all the way from South-Korea to the border between China and Russia, but they are now extremely close to extinction ("Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species), with only about 30 individuals left in the wild due to poaching, loss of habitat and trophy hunting.
That's the bad news. The good news is that a new amur leopard now walks this Earth. The young male cub is named Sochi after the host city for this year's olympics, and was born at the Denver Zoo to his mother Dazma (Dazz-mah) and father Hari-Kari (Harry Care-ee).
Photos Credit: Denver Zoo
Amur leopards live further north than any other subspecies of leopard and have several adaptations for surviving in their cold, snowy climates. They have beautiful fur that is longer and paler than other leopards. In winter it can grow to nearly three inches long!
In addition they have long legs to help them move through deep snow in search of prey. Amur leopards are also agile climbers and can leap 10 feet in the air. They can drag a kill up to three times their own weight into a tree to avoid competition from other predators
Source
Birth of Extremely Endangered Amur leopard cub "Sochi"
Very beautiful animals..
Awe they really are beautiful and I am so happy they are being looked afta and not in the wild where it is dangerous Vee from london !!
Very beautiful animals, sad that they can only survive in a concrete pen due to the inhumanity of people.
He is so cute. Big Cats are my most favorite!
Sochi is a cool leopard, and he needs to be protected!