Amur leopard to arrive in Korea to mark 140 years of Korea-UK ties

Arina the female Amur leopard / Courtesy of Seoul Grand Park

A female Amur leopard will arrive in Korea from the United Kingdom, Thursday, in celebration of the 140th anniversary of bilateral ties between the two countries, Seoul Grand Park announced, Wednesday.

The amusement park, which received two male Amur leopards from Russia in 2018, will now accommodate the leopardess named Arina.

Also known as the rarest big cat in the world with beautiful, and spotted fur, the Amur leopard is a critically endangered species designated by the Ministry of Environment.

It is also listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild fauna and flora (CITES).

A small population of the species is known to inhabit in the Russian Far East and northeast China, around the Amur River. The species is also known as the “Korean leopard” here, as it is genetically identical to the wild cat that went extinct on the Korean Peninsula.

The animal is arriving in Korea as part of last year's project to commemorate the 140th anniversary of bilateral relations with the U.K.

The Europe Endangered Species Programme (EEP) annually selects ideal pairs of Amur leopards from zoos worldwide for conservation efforts based on genetic monitoring. The EEP said that Arina, who comes from Scotland's Highland Wildlife Park, was selected in 2022 for mating with the male leopards at Seoul Grand Park.

The two male Amur leopards are living in the amusement park after being transferred from the Novosibirsk Zoo of Russia in June 2018 under the 2016 recommendation of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

Arina will be on display to the public in the second half of this year.