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In 2007 only thirty Amur leopards remained in the wild. Scientists knew they needed to do more to help these big cats. However, details of the leopards' wild lives in their high-altitude forest home were still a mystery. With the help of new technology and the cooperation of scientists and governments around the world, people have learned more than ever before about these rare cats. An innovative plan is under way to give Amur leopards a more secure future. Can these cats rebound from the brink before it's too late?
"Markle introduces the critically endangered Amur leopard, detailing current strategies to augment its numbers using temporarily relocated, zooborn cats. From a 1950s population of around 2,400, the leopard dwindled to about 30 by 2007, despite increasing conservation efforts by such international groups as the Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance. Markle presents the Amur leopard's native habitat, eastern Russia's taiga, or boreal forest. She shows the effects of modern logging, mining, farming, and hunting on a rugged region that previously favored the leopard's large, solitary home ranges and ample access to prey. In 2010, an international coalition began planning for a second, backup population of Amur leopards, recognizing that the remaining cats could be wiped out by disease or disaster. Russia protected the leopards' last natural habitat in 2012, later designating separate taiga land for the spare population. Markle's crisp prose conveys the extensive scientific and technological steps needed to ensure that zooborn adult leopards could mate in large enclosures, with mothers teaching their young to hunt. After two years, cubs would enter their wild habitat, with mothers returned to their zoos. Clear, often riveting stock photos show adult cats and cubs in natural habitats as well as zoos, and maps are effectively utilized. Markle invites readers to track the evolving progress of the plan to help the Amur leopard survive. Excellent writing and documentation distinguish Markle's latest."-starred, Kirkus Reviews
"Markle continues to fill a demand for animal-centered books that satisfy both recreational readers and science-report writers. Here she brings readers in on the ground floor of an initiative to augment an endangered population of leopards in the Amur region of far eastern Russia. Though threatened by poaching and by shrinking habitat due to farming and deforestation, the Amur leopards were already being brought back from the brink through the efforts of scientists and through public education programs. After more than a decade of work, however, by an international Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA), it became clear that a 'spare' population of leopards should be bred and readied for release into the wild in the Lazovsky Zapovednik reserve in Russia, with the first release scheduled for 2020. The plight of the leopards and the multiple considerations that must be juggled to assure their survival are clearly presented, but perhaps the best feature of Markle's account is the invitation for enthusiasts to follow the ALTA program's implementation (website included in author's note.) Moreover, readers who may have learned about the parallel fate of the Amur tigers will be able to see how the two endangered species' fates are somewhat intertwined. Simpler in structure than the Scientists in the Field series, this title offers the readability, depth, and brevity appropriate for a middle-grades audience. A timeline, glossary, interview notes, index, and list of additional resources are included."-The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Similar in approach to Markle's The Great Monkey Rescue (2015), this handsome volume looks at efforts to rescue the Amur leopard. Called 'the rarest big cats on Earth,' these leopards live in the Asian taiga, west of Vladivostok. Their number
