(editor's note: Rather than become disheartened by the negative news of mainstream media, I challenge you to look deeper -to find healing earth heroes in your own community. There are people all over this beautiful jewel we call Gaia working every day to correct the damage we have done. They are doing the physical clean up work, or putting the intellectual thought into solving these problems. Please join me in sending them all energies of love and support.)
In 2011 for my birthday, my husband arranged a "behind the scenes" tour of the Amur Leopards that reside at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo here in Colorado Springs. It was an amazing experience and I learned so much more about a big cat species I have always admired! At that time there were only 37 Amurs known to exist and we are so fortunate to have 2 of them at our zoo. This report from China suggests that the Amur may have numbers closer to 40! This extremely fragile species will only survive in a healthy ecosystem; here's proof that we indeed live in a Healing Earth!
~All my Love, Boo
("Boo at the zoo" with Katja, female Amur Leopard, June, 2011)
First Camera Trap Photos of Rare Leopard in China
The first-known camera trap photos of an Amur leopard in China have recently been taken by protected area staff in Hunchun Amur Tiger National Nature Reserve in Jilin Province according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Estimates of the total number of Amur leopards have hovered around 30 since the mid-1970s, but these combined Russian and Chinese results suggest that leopard numbers may be rising to 40 or more.
