Q4C Spotlight – Amur Leopard & Tiger Alliance (ALTA)

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Quarters for Conservation (Q4C) program is helping to save Amur leopards and tigers in Far East Russia by supporting the Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA). Staff members Rachel Downing and Catrena Voci are champions of the ALTA Q4C project, and they are excited about the progress the group has made this year. 

Due to poaching and loss of their forest home, Amur tigers and leopards are two of the most critically endangered cat species. Funds given to ALTA are providing hope for the potential release of captive-bred leopards into the wild. ALTA also works to educate native people on the importance of saving Amur tigers in the region.

“When you look at the numbers of Amur leopards left in the wild, which is less than 40, and Amur tigers, which is less than 400, the numbers are scary and alarming, but it’s not hopeless,” Downing, Conservation Highlands Animal Keeper, said. “Great things are happening and great people are working on a solution. We are proud to be a part of the conservation work that is taking place.”

This year, ALTA’s Q4C funds will assist in building a research laboratory located in a future Amur leopard release area. Specifically, Downing and Voci are working towards raising enough money to buy a portable anesthesia machine for the research lab.

“A portable anesthesia machine would allow field researchers to anesthetize, take blood samples, and monitor the health of future released cats on the ground,” Voci, Conservation Highlands Animal Keeper, said. “In the past, researchers have had to wait for months to get lab results.  The portable machine and research lab would provide them with real-time, on-the-spot information.”

Voci and Downing explained that in addition to poaching and loss of their habitat, Amur leopards and tigers are also suffering from canine distemper, which is more prevalent due to the lack of vaccination of dogs in the region. The new research lab and equipment would help track and monitor canine distemper in leopards and tigers, too.

Q4C money from previous years funded a field team that tracked poachers and helped to educate locals about the issues that Amur leopards and tigers are facing. The funds also helped field teams promote the co-existence of people and animals by reimbursing farmers for livestock killed by big cats. Additionally, they used Q4C dollars to purchase a field vehicle. The vehicle has allowed ALTA to place camera traps in areas not originally available to them, as well as expand their educational outreach programs.

“Education is a key component of conservation,” Downing said. “ALTA is working hard in Russia to get people involved and excited to save our big cats, and we are doing the same at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.”  

Downing and Voci enjoy talking about the Zoo’s Amur tiger and leopard species ambassadors with guests, and have hope that someday ALTA will report that a captive-bred decedent from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will actually be released in Russia.

“The hope is that someday, in the near future, ALTA will be able to pull Amur leopards from zoos for wild release,” Voci said. “It’s amazing to think that we could play a role in those efforts, too.”

To learn more about Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s ALTA Q4C project, or to make a contribution, visit: www.cmzoo.org/conservation.