This is interesting! This piece was sent to me by Sid Francis in Chengdu. It was written by his brother in law Zeng Zhang (and auto translated into English – if you are wondering why the grammar is a bit odd).
Would anyone like to decide what subspecies of Leopard this is?
Jon
Amazing sighting, according to https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-current-distribution-of-subspecies-of-the-leopard-Panthera-pardus-in-China-O-P_fig1_283478763 it would be Panthera pardus japonensis ( north Chinese leopard)
Actually the subspecies p.p.japonensis was put to the p.p.orientalis in the: “A revised taxonomy of the Felidae” in 2017.
What would mean the north chinese leopard and the amur leopard are the same subspecies, which would still be a very rare subspecies (about 200-350 leopards left).
We have just been very lucky to have seen one specimen in Xinlong on the 28.11.2019.
Greetings Sophie and Manuel