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Status in the wild

The Amur leopard is the northernmost of all leopard subspecies. Its historic range extended throughout northeastern ("Manchurian") China, the southern part of Primorsky Krai in Russia and the Korean Peninsula. This range shrank dramatically during the 20th century, due primarily to habitat loss and hunting. For instance, between 1934 and 1965, 39 skins were officially registered in Russia, which represents a significantly higher number of animals actually killed. 

At the turn of the 20th century the leopard was still found throughout much of southern Primorsky Krai. The first reliable estimate of leopard numbers in Russia was made by Dmitry Pikunov and Vladimir Abramov in the winter of 1972-1973. By this time, the population in Primorye had already contracted from one contiguous to three isolated populations. In the southern Sikhote-Alin Mountains, leopards were most common along the coastal regions, but there were only an estimated eight to 10 animals remaining. In the west, near the Chinese border and southwest of Lake Khanka, there were five to six animals that moved back and forth between Russia and China. The third population, in southwestern Primorye, was estimated at 25 to 30 animals. Therefore, by 1973, there were an estimated 38 to 46 Amur leopards remaining in Russia, many of which depended upon habitat on both sides of the Russian-Chinese border. A 1985 survey suggested that leopards had disappeared from the area southwest of Lake Khanka and from southern Sikhote-Alin. The leopard population in southwest Primorye remained approximately the same as the 1972 survey, 25 to 30 animals. A more recent count in the 1990-1991 winter revealed the population size in southwest Primorye to be stable at 30 to 36 animals, if migrants to and from China were included.

Since 2002 WCS has organized camera-trapping surveys to estimate the population of Amur leopards in a substantial, central part of their range in SW Primorye. Camera-trapping has proved highly effective, and from 2002-2007 a total of 375 photographs of leopards were made. Based on the camera-trapping results and the most recent snow track counts, the population is currently estimated to be stable at 25-35 individuals. 

There are probably up to 10 animals scattered throughout the Chinese Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces, with the majority of animals concentrated near the Russian border.

A male leopard caught in the south part of South Korea in 1962 died in a zoo in Seoul in 1967 without having produced offsprings in captivity. The Amur leopard probably went extinct in the wild in South Korea in the late 1960s, although some recent, unconfirmed reports suggest that a few leopards may remain in and around the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. There are likely still leopards in the rugged northern region of North Korea near the Chinese border, and it is also likely that animals from Southwest Primorye in Russia occasionally cross the border into North Korea, but reliable information is lacking.