An organisational meeting on the Amur tiger and Far Eastern leopard count during the winter period of 2014-15 was held on 15 December in Vladivostok. The news conference that followed the meeting marked the official start of this major event.

For the sake of comparing various counting methods in the Lazovsky, Sikhote-Alin and Ussuri nature reserves and southeastern Primorye, where both the tiger and the leopard are found, a photo count will also be performed with the use of camera traps, as well as DNA analysis of the animals’ waste to obtain data on their numbers in the area. But snow tracks will be the main counting method.  

As of 2013, the population of the Far Easter leopard, whose habitat is restricted to southeastern part of the Primorye Territory, numbered some 50 animals. Such comprehensive studies in the habitat are performed to determine the current condition of the population and develop measures to better protect this rare species.

Monitoring and counting the rare species listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation are among the main jobs of Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The count of the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard is being organised and conducted by the ministry and related departments, as well as nature reserves and national parks, and the administrations of the Primorye and Khabarovsk territories, the Amur Region and the Jewish Autonomous Region, with assistance from the non-profit Amur Tiger Centre, the WWF and the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The preliminary results will be released in late May 2015, with the final count to be announced in October 2015. In addition, the researchers will have a unique opportunity to compare the results to a overlapping survey of the Far Eastern leopard population during 2013-15.