^{Photo Credit: Vladimir Medvedev}

Spotting an Amur leopard in the wild is one of the rarest wildlife experiences on Earth. These critically endangered big cats live in the remote, snow-covered forests of Russia’s Far East, mainly inside Land of the Leopard National Park near the border with China.

There aren’t many of them, less than 130 adults, so most “sightings” come from camera traps or spotting tracks in the snow, not just bumping into one on a hike.

Every now and then, though, luck strikes. In 2021, a camera caught a young female, Leo 117F, walking through the forest with three tiny cubs. For scientists, it wasn’t just cute—it was proof the population is bouncing back and actually breeding.

For travelers, the odds of seeing an Amur leopard are still incredibly slim, but visiting Land of the Leopard National Park offers the chance to explore the same wild landscapes they roam.

You might track their prints in fresh snow or even glimpse them on a park camera feed. Just being in the same forest as one of the rarest cats on the planet?

That’s enough to give you goosebumps.

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