A trail camera in Land of the Leopard National Park recorded a touching moment of communication between two Far Eastern leopards.

The video features a female leopard, Leo 181F, and a male leopard, Leo 104M. The male was the first to appear in front of the camera. He left a urine mark and scraped the ground nearby. Thus Leo 104M displayed the comfortable behaviour of a healthy animal, a confident master of this area, and left “a note” about his sex and age. This is the way animals communicate and seek a mate. The female came to the place where the male had lain several days later. The camera recorded the special movements of her facial muscles, as if Leo 181F smiled broadly. Leopards “smile” to open a special scent organ which lets them smell the scent of other animals.  

The footage shows the special features of the Far Eastern leopards’ interspecies communication. It will help scientists study this endangered subspecies.

Land of the Leopard boasts Russia’s largest network of camera traps – with 400 motion-sensor trail cameras – to monitor the leopards’ population and behaviour.