Rare Amur Leopard Displayed at Kansas City Zoo

A 10-year-old critically endangered female Amur leopard named Natalia is kept on display at the Kansas City Zoo, reports The Associated Press.

The Amur Leopard is native to the south-eastern regions of Russia and the Jilin province of northeast China. It is said to be one of the most beautiful of the big cats. It is a sub species of the commonly known leopard of the African Savannah.

Amur leopards were listed as a Critically Endangered species by the IUCN since 1996. A census in 2007 recorded just 27-34 of the species remaining, but the latest survey shows that the number has increased to 48-50, according to Planet Save.

"The tiny population that survives today is under extreme risk of extinction," according to the conservation site Arkive.org. "Genetic variation is low in small populations and they are extremely vulnerable to any chance event such as an epidemic or large wild fire."

Previously, Natalia had been staying at the Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot, until it was flooded in 2011. Since then, she has been at the Tanganyika Wildlife Park near Wichita.

Based on the decision of the head of the Species Survival Plan for leopards, who manages the captive population in North America, Natalia replaced Kansas City's geriatric African leopard that died a few months ago. Natalia now stays at a new home that is close to the gorilla exhibit, reports Kansas City.

"We decided not to stay geographically pure. It is more important for people to understand the plight of an animal that is critically endangered than to worry about having an Asian animal in Africa," Kansas City Zoo director Randy Wisthoff was quoted as saying in Kansas City.