Artificial insemination raises hopes for world's rarest big cat

THE world-first insemination of an Amur leopard in France has lifted hopes of animal lovers for the survival of the Earth's rarest big cat.

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The spotted felines, native to the banks of the Siberian river of the same name on the Russian-Chinese border, are believed to number in just scores in the wild.

So the breakthrough procedure undergone last week by Khala, a 15-year-old leopard at Mulhouse Zoo near the French border with Germany, has raised expectations that breeding programmes in captivity could save the species.

"This is a world first," said veterinarian Benoit Quintard, director of the Mulhouse Zoological and Botanical Park and coordinator of the European breeding programme for the Amur leopard.

Before Khala's 35kg frame could be hauled onto the operating table, she had to be sedated - with the big cat agitating furiously at the sight of the rifle about to shoot an anaesthetic dart.

Minutes later, Khala slept eyes wide open as seven vets set about their work around the leopard, resplendent in black-and-gold fur.

On the morning of the operation Khala had mated once again with Baruto, a 14-year-old male.