Increase in the Abundance of the Amur Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura, Felidae, Carnivora) in the Southern Amur Region

The Amur leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura Elliot 1871) in the southern part 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 the period 1987-2022 in southern Amur oblast (the left bank of the Amur River in the southern part 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). Tracks 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 Bolshekhekhtsirskii Reserve, located in the research area, for the period 1964-2009 were used. At present on the left bank of the Amur River in the southern part of the JAO, the Amur leopard cat lives constantly, although in the 2010s it was believed that it rarely entered this territory. The number of sightings of cat tracks in the study area on the right bank of the Amur in the years 2011-2021 compared to the period 2000-2010 increased about two times. It has populated areas within the range where it had never been noted previously. 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 in a sedentary manner in southern Amur oblast, 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.