Researchers have obtained new data about the world’s first Far Eastern leopard that was released into the wild after rehabilitation. The young male Leo 260M, relocated to the Ussuri Nature Reserve together with two other leopards, is regularly changing its hunting grounds. Large territories, not yet inhabited by other leopards, provide the young predator with the opportunity to pick the best sites.

The leopards are being monitored in real time using tracking collars they were fitted with before release. The new data shows that the youngest of the pioneering leopards, Leo 260M, is moving across the nature reserve in search for new hunting grounds.

“Leo 260M is a young and healthy predator. In the first months after the release, he was cautious and covered short distances. He is active now. The animal has long been hunting successfully and its adaptation to the new environment is going well,” said Jose Antonio Hernandez-Blanco, senior research associate at the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences.

The reintroduction project, the first of its kind, is being implemented under the academic supervision of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences. As part of the project, three young predators were relocated in late spring from Land of the Leopard National Park to the Ussuri Reserve, where there were no leopards for over 50 years.