A stars of the show: a highly endangered Amur leopard, a Siberian tiger, a lynx and a wildcat.
Within several days the cameras had snapped all four species of felines living in the park. Picture here and below: Land of the Leopard
All four were snapped on the same trail by two cameras close together in a time span of several days in the Russian Far East. One camera caught the large Amur or Siberian tiger and the next day spotted a lynx.
The lynx is rare in this part of eastern Russia, and it is only the third camera trap sighting of one in five years in the Land of the Leopard Nature Reserve.
Far Eastern leopard - the rarest cat of all in the world, with only 80 or so adults.
A nearby camera in the north of the reserve it clicked on a leopard - the rarest cat of all in the world, with only 80 or so adults believed to be alive in their natural habitat.
Next to walk by on the catwalk was a cautious wildcat, officially called an Amur Leopard Cat, which is in the region Red Book of threatened species.
Within several days the cameras had snapped all four species of felines living in the park, which is especially set up to recover endangered species.
The lynx is rare in this part of eastern Russia, and it is only the third camera trap sighting of one in five years. Picture: Land of the Leopard
Ekaterina Blidchenko, researcher at the reserve, said: 'All felines are similar in lifestyle, and in the Land of the Leopard they can all hunt for the same prey.
'At the same time, the main rations of the big cats (tiger and leopard) are ungulates, while small cats - the lynx and wild cat - hunt mainly birds, small rodents, and hares.
Amur Leopard Cat, which is in the region Red Book of threatened species. Picture: Land of the Leopard
'This is a very fragile system, and if the equilibrium is violated, the cats can be fiercely competitive.
'However, during long monitoring, we see that at the moment a balance has been reached and all the representatives of this family get along in the national park, even using common trails.'
Strong action to ban poachers has led to a recovery in not only feline numbers but the prey of big cats such as roe deer and wild boar.
One camera caught the large Amur or Siberian tiger.
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