Trail cameras at Land of the Leopard National Park captured a new Far Eastern leopard cub with his mother, the unnamed leopardess Leo113F, who had been previously spotted with the famous male leopard Lord.
The endangered leopard family was photographed on the trail where Lord had been seen mating with Leo113F nine months ago. Over this period of time, the leopardess got pregnant and gave birth to a cub, who is now six months old. Experts believe that Lord is the cub's father.
"With trail cameras, we see the growing of the leopard population, spotting a greater number of cubs. Monitoring the movements of every registered leopard allows us to better understand the population's social and spatial structure, as well as the specifics of their migration and expansion, and helps us develop optimal measures to protect them," said Yelena Shevtsova, deputy director for research at Vorontsov Land of the Leopard National Park.
The photos with the new cub were taken in the central part of the park. The leopards look healthy, with no signs of the mother having trouble hunting prey.
This January, Land of the Leopard researchers called the famous leopard in "white gloves" a heart stealer after finding evidence that he had "dates" with three different females — Nerussa, Pamela and Leo 113F.
Experts have been watching Lord (Leo 10) since 2007; he is about 11 years old now. He became popular in 2013 during a nationwide leopard naming contest and was given his name due to the wide stripes on his front paws that resemble gloves.