Mulhouse (France) (AFP) — The world-first insemination of an Amur leopard in France has lifted hopes of animal lovers for the survival of the Earth’s rarest big cat.

The spotted felines, native to the banks of the Siberian river of the same name on the Russian-Chinese border, are believed to number in just scores in the wild.

So the breakthrough procedure undergone last week by Khala, a 15-year-old leopard at Mulhouse Zoo near the German border, has raised expectations that breeding programmes in captivity could save the species.

“This is a world first,” said veterinarian Benoit Quintard, director of the Mulhouse Zoological and Botanical Park and coordinator of the European breeding program for the Amur leopard.

Before Khala’s 35-kilogramme (77-pound) frame could be hauled onto the ope

See Full Page