Native Chinese leopard species reappear after 14 years

A north China leopard was captured by surveillance camera for a second time near the same village in north China's Hebei Province on August 23. 

It appeared for the first time on August 12 and was roaming about in the backyard where a herd of sheep was kept. It is the first time in 14 years for wild north China leopard to make its appearance to human. The last spotting was recorded in 2005.

The leopard was first spotted after a villager found one of his geese missing during his regular feeding routine. The video footage of the leopard chasing off the sheep in pen proved that it was a north China leopard, a precious animal under first-class state protection in China, and is listed as Near Threatened by IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species.

The north China leopard is a leopard species that is native to China. The body length of the north China leopard is about 170 cm to 210 cm, slightly smaller than its northern neighbor, the Amur leopard, which measures 180 cm to 240 cm. 

Nowadays, the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi have the most population of this beautiful species. However, due to insufficient data, the exact population of north China leopard is unclear. The Ziwuling forest region in Shaanxi Province, where 28 leopards were recorded, is the most densely populated region for the leopard.