Search

Simple Summary: The Lower Tumen River basin habitat at the Sino-North Korean border is crucial for reestablishing Amur leopards in the Korean Peninsula, where they once thrived. However, except for the Jingxin–Dapanling (JD) and Mijiang (MJ) corridors, most areas have become impassable due to human activities and urbanization. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the MJ corridor by analyzing the species abundance, forest structure, landscape features, and disturbance factors. Our findings indicate that leopard activity is predominantly concentrated in the northern part of the corridor, with little to no presence in the middle and southern regions near the North Korean border. Human disturbances, forest structure, and infrastructural obstacles seem to impede the movement of leopards. To ensure the resurgence of the leopard population in the Korean Peninsula, it is imperative to mitigate or eliminate the impacts of these hindrances. This entails reducing human disturbances, enhancing forest structure, and removing infrastructural barriers. Such efforts are vital to facilitate the revival of the Amur leopards in their former range in the Korean Peninsula. The interconnected forest regions along the lower Tumen River, at the Sino-North Korean border, provide critical habitats and corridors for the critically endangered Amur Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis). In this region, there are two promising corridors for leopard movement between China and North Korea: the Jingxin–Dapanling (JD) and Mijiang (MJ) corridors. Past studies have confirmed the functionality of the JD corridor, but leopards' utilization of the MJ corridor has not yet been established or confirmed. In this study, we assessed the functionality of the MJ corridor. The study area was monitored using camera traps between May 2019 and July 2021. We also analyzed 33 environmental and vegetation factors affecting leopard survival and analyzed leopard movement. In the Mijiang area, the Amur leopard was mainly active in the region adjacent to the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park and did not venture into area near the North Korean border. The complex forest structure allowed leopards to move into the Mijiang area. However, the high intensity of human disturbance and manufactured physical barriers restricted further southward movement. Therefore, human-induced disturbances such as grazing, mining, farming, logging, and infrastructure development must be halted and reversed to make the Mijiang region a functional corridor for the Amur leopard to reach the North Korean forest. This necessitates inter-governmental and international cooperation and is essential for the long-term survival of the Amur leopard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amur tiger and Amur leopard are the flagship species for biodiversity protection, since the eighteenth congress, the Central Committee of the Communist Party and State Council of China attaches great importance to the tiger and leopard conservation. The 12th Meeting of the Central Finance and Economics Leading Group proposed to integrate the main habitat of giant pandas, establish the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park and solve cross-regional and cross-sectoral institutional problems. The Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park is an important environment where big cats and humans live together. The management and zoning of the park should fully consider not only the habitat environment for tigers and leopards, but also the habitat environment and safety for human beings. Based on the overall consideration of sensitivity, endangerment and distribution characteristics of protected objects, migration and reproduction characteristics of tigers and leopards and other big cats, production and living utilization status of residents and social development needs, Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park proposed to adopt the Zoning-based Management and Control Mode for the first time. Through the factor extraction and analysis of the resources, environment, economic and social background in the region, the park uses GIS technology to extract and analyze the factors. It has been found that, according to the three principles of ecosystem, integrity, authenticity and coordination of protection and development, the park mainly aims to implement differential control over human activities, and the protection mechanism divides the control zones. The Zoning-based Management and Control Mode. The Zoning control enables the park to properly handle the relationship between the protection of the habitat of Amur tigers and Amur leopards and the maintenance of border security and stability, the production and life of indigenous residents. It also can make the park realize the harmonious coexistence and common development between man and nature.