Skip to content

Wild tiger and leopard populations more than double in China’s Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park

Wild Amur leopard caught on camera trap in woodland
Conservation: Population & status, Habitat protection, Restoration, Management

China’s Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park now reports 72 wild tigers (Panthera tigris) and 115 leopards (Panthera pardus). According to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the corresponding counts at the start of the park-system pilot were 27 tigers and 42 leopards. Its recent five-year anniversary account describes the broader conservation programme, but the baseline comparison reaches back to the pilot’s beginning.

The park spans Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces in northeastern China. Its five-year account describes efforts to reconnect forest habitat and reduce human disturbance—important where large cats need room to move between suitable areas.

Reconnecting forest habitat

The park carried out planting and replanting across 600,000 mu of forest understorey, about 40,000 hectares. It also closed 156 mining rights and ended or cleared 276 contracted activities in valley areas. To reduce disturbance and barriers to movement, the account says the park removed 81,500 free-ranging cattle and more than 1.3 million metres of fencing.

Conservation work also targeted the cats’ food supply. The administration reports that the relative abundance of sika deer, roe deer and wild boar—important prey for the large cats—more than doubled compared with the starting level.

The park reports substantially higher big-cat numbers than at the start of the national-park pilot, alongside conservation work described in its five-year account. These coinciding trends do not demonstrate how much any single measure contributed to the increase.

Sources and image credit

  1. 东北虎豹国家公园：虎豹归来，万物共生的时代答卷Official five-year park account reporting tiger and leopard numbers and habitat restoration and management measures.
  2. 首批国家公园建设取得丰硕成果 生态系统质量和旗舰物种数量实现双提升Corroborates the reported population figures and restoration work.
  3. 我国东北虎豹野生种群数量实现恢复性增长The same tiger and leopard population figures were reported publicly in July 2026; the October account adds details of the park’s five-year conservation work.

Image: Wild Amur leopard photographed by a camera trap. Photo: Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East / Wikimedia Commons. Representative photo. · Attribution only (permission for all uses with attribution) · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

Population & status

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Tiger Panthera tigris Explore species Leopard Panthera pardus Explore species

Independent research and conservation news archive

Did you find this information useful?

Wildlife Vagabond is independently built and maintained. Voluntary support helps cover source verification, hosting and continued work on research and conservation news.

Support Wildlife Vagabond

The news archive will remain freely available.