An Amur tiger, Far Eastern leopard, lynx and Far Eastern wildcat were caught on camera traps on the same trail in Land of the Leopard National Park. The camera traps photographed the wild cats only several days apart.

The experts believe that the photos demonstrate that the predators have no trouble finding food. It also highlights the uniqueness of Land of the Leopard, which is the only protected area in Russia where four different wild cat species live at the same time. This peculiarity provides researchers with a unique opportunity to study the relations between these predators in their natural habitat.

All the park’s cats get along very well, says Yekaterina Blidchenko, a research associate at Land of the Leopard and a zoologist at the Tiger Centre. “All these cats have a similar lifestyle, and at Land of the Leopard they all can hunt the same prey,” she said. “At the same time, the basic diet of the large predators consists of ungulates, while smaller cats – the lynx and the Far Eastern wildcat – mostly feed on birds, small rodents and hares. This system is very fragile, and any imbalance in the relations between the cats can lead to harsh competition. However, having conducted long-term monitoring, we can now see that there is a certain balance in place, and all members of this family are getting along in the national park. Moreover, they are now using the same trails.”