CHANGCHUN, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- About 30 injured or dead chickens and a injured dog signal that a rare Amur leopard has visited a vineyard in northeast China.
According to the Hunchun Siberian Tiger National Nature Reserve in Jilin Province, Yu Yanqi, a resident from Dongfanghong Village, reported the sighting of the Amur leopard, a critically endangered leopard subspecies, Wednesday.
"I was having lunch with my friend in my house at noon when the dog suddenly started to bark," Yu said, adding that about 30 of the more than 100 chickens on his vineyard were injured or killed. "The dog also suffered injuries to the neck after fighting with the leopard."
Based on its footprints, local authorities have determined that it was a young Amur leopard that had just left its mother.
"It is possible that the leopard did not have enough hunting experience, and hunger or curiosity drove it to the vineyard," said Lang Jianmin, a local wildlife expert.
Amur leopards, also known as the Far Eastern leopard, are one of the most endangered feline species in the world, and have been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
It is believed that there are about 50 Amur leopards living in the wild, mostly in China-Russia border areas.
