Trail cameras in the protected zone of Land of the Leopard National Park have captured images of a Far Eastern female leopard aged over 10 with a cub. The leopardess named Sofia became the first “aged” female caught on cameras with a cub.

Sofia’s story made headlines a few years ago. She was first seen near a reindeer farm in the Khasan District of Primorye in 2011. That was before Land of the Leopard was created. As the female occasionally hunted the farmer’s reindeer, researchers at the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the Russian Academy of Sciences introduced a scheme of payments to the farm owner to reimburse him for the losses in cooperation with the Phoenix Foundation, something that was never done before.

The leopardess was radio-collared in 2011 when she was three-to-four years old. Soon after that, she appeared before the Severtsov Institute’s cameras with two cubs.

Researchers were monitoring Sofia until 2015. In the meantime, she had a litter of three. Then, information about her was scarce. It was not until Land of the Leopard’s trail camera network was expanded in 2017-2018 that images of Sofia accompanied by a cub were obtained in the first half of 2018.

Calculations show that Sofia cannot be younger than 10, which makes her the oldest female among those caught on cameras over the past four years. Moreover, her case proves that a female leopard can reproduce even at such a venerable age. The life expectancy of Far Eastern leopards in the wild ranges between 10 and 15 years, according to research statistics.

“Photo monitoring makes it possible to get accurate data on individual animals and the Far Eastern leopard population as a whole. Long-term research will probably confirm the assumption that the life expectancy and reproductive age of Far Eastern leopards in good conditions even in the wild can be higher than was previously thought,” said Pyotr Sonin, a senior researcher at Vorontsov Land of the Leopard National Park.

New images of Sofia were taken in April 2018. The female is still wearing her tracking collar. It was supposed to come unfastened automatically a few years ago, which did not happen for unclear reasons. Nevertheless, judging by Sofia’s healthy appearance and the fact that she is raising at least her third litter, the collar does not prevent her from living a full life.