Investigators find hunting tiger killed Amur leopard in NE China national park

 An investigation team has determined that an Amur leopard whose remains were recently found in the Hunchun area of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park was the victim of an Amur tiger in a rare case of one big cat hunting another.

The Amur tiger is the largest cat species in the world and a first-class protected animal in China. The global population is estimated to be only around 600 individuals, and it is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The Amur leopard is also a first-class protected animal in China and is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, with a population of only about 30 at the beginning of this century.

The investigation team comprised staff members from the National Park Administration and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration's Northeast China Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center, and police from the city of Hunchun in Jilin province.