The Great Leopard Rescue: Saving the Amur Leopards

Gr 3–6—Amur leopards, native to eastern Russia and parts of northern China, are at risk of becoming extinct. Markle, a former science teacher, was inspired to write this work after learning about the dire state of these creatures. The narrative begins from the perspective of a young male Amur leopard on the hunt for his next meal. Markle segues into a brief history of these once well-established big cats and emphasizes the importance of their natural habitat, the taiga (a type of high-altitude forest), to their survival. Large-scale deforestation, made possible by advances in farming technology in the 1950s, began a chain of events (after the lumber industry cut down much of the taiga, the mining industry came in) that would push the Amur leopards to the brink of existence. The text then goes on to thoroughly cover the ways in which scientists, zookeepers, antipoaching teams, and other groups like the Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA) are working to protect and reestablish Amur leopard populations. In the end, the author returns to the young male from the beginning, only to reveal that the Phoenix Fund, part of ALTA, has been watching over him the whole time. Clear, beautiful photos will keep readers turning the pages, while maps, sidebars, and the main text keep them informed.