A dead Amur leopard was lying on the snow-covered ground, with multiple bite marks on its head, abdomen and hindquarters. It was attacked and killed by a wild Siberian tiger in a recent and rare incident in northeast China's Jilin Province.

The discovery came to light when the Hunchun branch of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park administration received reports about a carcass believed to be that of a leopard.

"After arriving at the scene, we followed the drag marks and discovered footprints of another feline species. About 160 meters south, clear signs of a fight were found. It should be the initial site of the encounter," said Yu Hongxun, deputy director of the national park's Hunchun branch.

According to a joint investigation team launched by the national park, local law enforcement authorities and a research center from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), the leopard had been attacked by an adult male Siberian tiger that weighs over 200 kilograms.

Identification of the leopard and tiger

The big dead cat was identified after its fur pattern was compared with the footage from the park's database.

It was an 8-year-old male leopard, weighing around 50 kilograms. This leopard, identified as No. 73, had been recorded over 800 times by the park's monitoring system, and the most recent monitoring record dates back to September this year.

Usually, the leopard is acute and a better climber with its slim figure. It may hide itself and not confront a large-size tiger once it senses the bigger one. However, this leopard didn't get a chance to win because of the huge weight difference.

"This terrain is relatively open and not suitable for leopards to hide. When the tiger and the leopard suddenly met here, the leopard had no time to find a place to hide, so it was soon killed by the tiger," Feng Limin, deputy director of the monitoring and research center of Siberian tigers and Amur leopards under the NFGA, explained. "From the scene, this is a very typical process of ambush-and-kill. The tiger had dragged the leopard for more than 100 meters." 

The investigation team also discovered the most possible killer - No. 112.

"As you can see, this is a very clear print of a hind foot. The width is 11.5 centimeters, which is a typical footprint of an adult male Siberian tiger," said Feng.

Adult female tigers are smaller in size, and the width of the hind feet is less than 10 centimeters, he added. 

Some 10 different Siberian tiger individuals were captured by cameras in the area where the "crime" happened within the year. The suspects are narrowed down to two males after the experts excluded eight females.

The footage shows that No. 112 was around about 10 days ago. Its tracks are most similar in time and space to the hunted leopard. To further confirm the suspect, the team will test and compare the DNA samples.

Should residents worry?

The incident scene is located in the core area of the national park with only one way for a small number of staff to commute.

"There is still a certain distance - about 20 kilometers - from the location to residents' living areas," said Liu Junyu, one of the police from the Hunchun forest police station.

According to the monitoring system, 10 Siberian tigers and a few Amur leopards are living in a 200-square-kilometer area around the scene within the park, which spans 14,100 square kilometers in total. Such a high density of predators in a limited habitat is both a sign of a well-recovered ecosystem and a sign that these rare cats may spread out.

"Next, we will further improve the habitat quality in the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, and then better restore the food chain and the entire ecosystem. In this way, they will expand their territory, settle down and reproduce in other parts of the park," Feng said.