Amur-Heilong offers an important refuge for migratory waterfowl like Oriental white storks and red-crowned cranes. It’s home to the Amur leopard, Amur tigers, and 2800 plant species. It’s one of the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world.

The Amur-Heilong landscape straddles the border of China and Russia- as seen in Figure 1. The Amur leopard population also faced habitat loss, which led to a decrease in their population. This would curb the loss of apex predators and stop whole ecosystems from being disrupted due to the loss of them. This would help prevent people from poaching and encourage people to become wildlife scouts and rangers who would help enforce wildlife regulations. Therefore, to protect apex predators we need harsher laws and to educate the public on the importance of top predators. Without officials enforcing wildlife regulation laws, it doesn’t matter if they’re there or not. For example, due to governments directly benefitting from the money brought in by poaching, they might feel inclined to sit back and ignore the poaching rules. However, increased wildlife protection does not always work as people can go around the rules due to corrupt governments. For example, in Russia it is highly protected, with fines of up to one million Russian rubles and jail time of 2 years for killing, storing, transporting, or selling parts of an Amur leopard 3. Attempts to stop the poaching of leopards and other animals transpire through severe consequences. Poaching of the Amur leopard occurs due to their spotted fur each Amur leopard has a unique spot pattern. They are endangered due to poaching and habitat loss, current there are only eighty left in the wild 2. They live up to 10- 15 years in the wild and 20 years in captivity. The Amur leopard is the most critically endangered of all the leopards. Secondly, it will explore the detrimental repercussions of illegal mining and construction on giant river otters.Ģ. Firstly, this essay will investigate the effect of poaching and habitat loss on Amur Leopards and possible prevention methods.

Therefore, it’s important to explore why this is happening and find ways to prevent it. Which can affect the population size of other consumers who rely on that specific vegetation. Allen (2020) looks at the severe consequences a change in behaviour of prey can have, for example, increased browsing for food due to the loss of top predators can cause a decrease in vegetation population. As well as a change in behaviour from species in lower trophic levels. As a result, the loss of apex predators removes necessary interactions leading to a sequence of additional species extinctions (Donohue et al.

Trophic cascades- which can be defined as species interactions that originate with the predator and spread down through food chains (Ripple et al. As they need to eat a considerable proportion of food and traipse territories that intersect with human territories, causing conflict. Due to the high rate at which species diversity is being reduced and because predators are often considered to be more in danger of extinction than other trophic levels.

Land use change has led to an estimated 30% decrease in biodiversity and overexploitation has led to a 20% decrease 1. Increased intensity of land use has led to the loss of natural habitats, which has impacted the amount and perseverance of single species and species diversity (Ryall and Fahrig, 2006). Since the start of industrialisation in 1800 humans have become a global geophysical force (Crutzen, 2002), influencing changes in the Earth’s environment. This can be done through the introduction of harsher laws, the education of the public, and more sustainable consumption. This essay analyses ways in which apex predators are being lost- through poaching, habitat loss, illegal mining, and construction- and explored how these events can be mitigated through a carnivore-human coexistence. This can lead to a loss of equilibrium in a food chain. The increased population of prey will consume more vegetation than before, decreasing the population of vegetation overall. It is important to investigate this because a reduction in apex predators leads to an increase in their prey population. This article explores ways in which humans can prevent the loss of apex predators, as humans have been one of the main factors that have led to apex predators becoming extinct. (2022) Preventing the loss of apex predators.

Top 10 apex predators