- Location: London, United Kingdom.
- Founded: 2001 (coalition); became part of WildCats Conservation Alliance in 2018. Implementing partners include Phoenix Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society, Wildlife Vets International, and Zoological Society of London.
- Species: Amur Leopard and Amur Tiger.
What is the Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance?
The Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA) is a coalition of zoos, conservation organizations, and scientific institutions founded in 2001 to fund and coordinate field conservation for the Critically Endangered Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) and the Endangered Amur tiger across the Russian Far East and northeast China. Since 2018, ALTA has operated as part of the WildCats Conservation Alliance, a joint programme of the Zoological Society of London and Dreamworld Wildlife Foundation.
Amur leopards and tigers are both at risk of extinction, though the leopard is by far the rarer of the two. In the early 2000s, only about 25–30 Amur leopards remained in the wild; thanks to decades of conservation work, that number had climbed to roughly 130 individuals in Russia’s Land of the Leopard National Park as of 2024. Amur tigers are considerably more numerous — the IUCN estimates 265–486 in the Russian Far East, plus a smaller population in northeast China, for a global total of roughly 500–600.
Amur Leopards are not content to be passive participants in their extinction. Amur Leopard Alliance is the oldest, most effective Amur leopard conservation charity.
The Alliance funds and coordinates anti-poaching patrols, works with local authorities to curb illegal logging, has established firebreaks to protect Amur leopards’ habitats from wildfires during summer months, supports environmental education in local schools, and funds emergency veterinary care for injured or orphaned cats.
Projects
ALTA is a coalition of various non-governmental organizations, both international and Russian, to protect and reintroduce the Amur Leopards and Tigers. Some organizations implement projects in China and the Russian Far East, whereas others raise funds and awareness.
There are many projects that this alliance has set up to help ensure the survival and conservation of Amur leopards and Amur tigers and work with WildCats Conservation Alliance.
Here are some of the projects the organization has:
Population monitoring
In order to protect Amur tigers from extinction, the Alliance project has been monitoring Amur tiger’s numbers for over 20 years. The Amur leopard population is extremely small, which qualifies Amur leopards as critically endangered.
Support for research
The Alliance has researched wild Amur leopards for the past nine years. This research program aims to discover how many Amur leopards live outside their natural habitat, to know how many Amurs there are at any given time, and to monitor leopard populations.
Habitat protection
The organization works with local people and Western conservation organizations so that they can reduce the Amur leopards’ prey species population, such as wild boar, sika deer, and more. Also, protection reduces human-leopard conflict as well as safeguards the Amur’s habitat, where park guards use camera traps to monitor these wild animals.
Wildlife crime enforcement
The Alliance has also worked to reduce leopard poaching in Amur leopards’ range. They collaborate with indigenous people to minimize wild Amur leopard prey, which reduces human-leopard confrontations such as poaching and endangered wild cat illegal trade and preserves the area.
Others
There are also eco-tourism and community engagement projects that the organization held for these endangered big cats conservation projects.
Partners
Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance is a partnership of governments, scientific organizations, local communities, and NGOs working together to conserve Amur leopards in the Russian Far East.
Who is saving the Amur leopards?
The organization is a globally unique partnership between tiger Amur species specialists, Amur leopard researchers, government agencies, and organizations in Russia, Northeast Asia lands, and Northeast China.
These groups work together with WildCats Conservation Alliance to raise the Amur leopard population through carefully chosen conservation projects.
ALTA’s goal is to protect tigers and Amur leopards through collaborative conservation projects and efforts; however, because of the natural range of Amur leopards that overlaps with the Amur tiger, any project that focuses on one species will have benefits for the other.
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Why Amur Leopard needs our help?
The Amur Leopard population has been decreasing for decades. Amur leopards and Amur tigers face threats from poachers who hunt them for their fur and body parts and habitat loss due to deforestation. Amur tigers also face additional hunting pressure due to their prey species population declines.
Amur leopards are elusive; they live in the Amur-Heilong region of eastern Russia, bordered by China to the south. The tiger also lives in this place too.
Amur leopards remain one of the rarest cats on Earth, but the long-term trend is now cautiously positive rather than downward: numbers have grown from roughly 25-30 individuals in the early 2000s to around 130 today, a recovery credited to anti-poaching patrols, habitat protection, and a rebound in prey species like sika deer. Continued funding and vigilance are still needed to keep that progress from reversing.
Amur leopards are, in fact, strictly protected: they are listed on CITES Appendix I, fully protected under Russian and Chinese law, and their core habitat lies within Russia’s Land of the Leopard National Park, established in 2012. Despite this protection, the population remains small — around 130 individuals in Russia as of 2024 — making the Amur leopard one of the rarest cats on Earth.
Where can I donate to help Amur Leopard and Amur Tiger?
Amur Leopard and Amur Tiger Alliance is a notable organization dedicated to the conservation projects for Amur Leopard and Amur Tiger. You can help by supporting the organization through volunteer work, donations, and raising awareness towards helping these wild cats.
How to help
You can support Amur leopard and tiger conservation directly through WildCats Conservation Alliance (ALTA’s parent programme since 2018) by making a one-time donation, adopting a big cat, or fundraising on their behalf.
Related Resources
- Environmental Organizations in Europe
- Environmental Organisations in South America
- Environmental Organizations in Africa
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