Rare leopard called Lord is singlehandedly saving the world's most endangered big cats

It’s as if Lord is taking it on himself to rescue the entire species from extinction. 

Camera traps in the Land of the Leopard Nature Reserve in eastern Russia show the ‘aristocat’ has been busy. 

He has been spotted close to three separate female Amur leopards - one called Pamela, named after actress and model Pamela Anderson. 

Lord - with distinctive white paw marks resembling gloves - was also seen wooing a cat called Nerussa, plus another known as Leo 113F.

His romantic inclinations are delighting scientists in the park, which was set up six years ago to save the species.

Lord the leopard. Pictures: Land of the Leopard Nature Reserve

The Amur or Siberian leopards are under threat after decades of poaching.

Latest figures show only 80 alive in the wild, although  this is an improvement on the situation a decade or so ago when there were a mere 30, indicating that protection measures are working. 

The number remains critically low because an outbreak of a serious disease could still wipe out the species. 

Little is known of the Amur leopard’s love life but until now in the reserve observation of the predators showed that the males had only a single partner. 

Lord is rather more promiscuous, it is clear. 

'We don't have that much information about the social structure of the life of the leopards in the Russian Far East,’ said Tatiana Baranovskaya, director of the Land of the Leopard Nature Reserve. 

'Thanks to new photographic data, we are receiving precious information, that will allow us to see result of courtships and links to potential kittens.' 

Usually leopards couple for no longer than a week. 

Seeing two adult cats of opposite gender in front of photo traps soon after each other can only mean courtship.

Land of the Leopard Nature Reserve's director Tatiana Baranovskaya, and some of the leopards. Pictures: Land of the Leopard

After the end of brief 'family life' both animals lose interest to each other and part. 

In case of successful conception, the female is pregnant for around 90 days. 

If all goes well during delivery, a litter of one to three kittens is born. The male leopard takes no part in bringing up cubs

Land of the Leopard Nature Reserve boasts Russia's biggest network of animal photo traps. 

More than 360 automatic cameras capture every move of the world's rarest big cats. 

Leopards are born with unique pattern of spots, forming so-called rosettes that never change, like fingerprint in humans; this is how scientists distinguish the animals. 

LORD THE AMUR LEOPARD, video courtesy Land of the Leopard Nature Reserve