An Amur Leopard - Pic: Deborah Bardowick

An Amur Leopard - Pic: Deborah Bardowick

Twycross Zoo have appealed on behalf of the Amur Leopard to ensure that conservation projects in Russia can continue.

The Amur Leopard can only be found in the wild in the far-East temperate forsests in Russia and they are classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with less than 36 animals left in the wild.

Twycross Zoo, which is home to two Amur Leopards have learnt about the lack of funds at Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve, in the Primorski region of Russia, due to a lack of agreement between state agencies and badly planned reforms, leaving the reserve without the vital funds to continue its work.

Staff at the reserve haven’t been paid since June 2009, with the director using his own funds to keep the reserve afloat.  24 of the 32 staff have been forced to take holidays and no patrols have been able to be sent out due to their being no fuel in the vehicles.  This means that the already endangered Amur Leopards are at greater risk as patrols can not protect the region from poachers, loggers of dangerous forest fires.

Twycross Zoo are appealing for assitiance to help them help the Amur leopards. Twycross Zoo has supported Amur leopards for over 3 years and is raising funds and awareness of this terrible situation in the hope that it can be resolved quickly. Help us to act today!

You can help by donating to our Amur leopard SOS fund, all of the proceeds will be sent directly to the beleaguered reserve to pay for fuel to resume patrols. Please spread the word and pass this message on to your friends and family. Together we can help save the Amur leopard.

To help this very worthy cause you can donate to Twycross Zoo’s Amur leopard SOS by calling 01827 880250.