A leopard that has become a great-grandmother has been recorded for the first time in Primorye

In the Land of the Leopard National Park in Primorsky Krai, scientists have recorded a unique case: a female named Grace became the first leopard in the history of observations to have a great-grandson. This was announced on July 10 by the press service of the institution.

"The female leopard with the first great-grandson known to science was Leo 23F named Gracia. The heroine mother gave birth to ten spotted predators from five broods, steadily bringing offspring every two years. In the entire history of scientific observations of this subspecies in the wild, the case of such fecundity has become a record," the message in the Maks messenger says.

Gracia's great-grandson was identified thanks to a family tree compiled by the staff of the science department of the park. It was established that the granddaughter of Leo 280F had offspring, thereby making Grazia a great-grandmother. At least seven adult Grace kittens subsequently stayed on the territory of the national park, and one more settled in China.

Gracia's family tree now has four generations and is one of the longest among all the Far Eastern leopards known to science. This achievement confirms the success of efforts to preserve a rare predator, whose population was threatened with extinction at the beginning of the 21st century.

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Viktor Bardyuk, head of the directorate of the Land of the Leopard Nature Reserves, said on June 25 that the true blue eye color is found only in very small kittens of the Far Eastern leopard, while in adults the eye color is mostly gray-blue. He noted that the eyes of adults can sometimes appear blue in photographs, but this is only an optical effect caused by the glow of the tapetum, a reflective layer on the retina that helps predators see better in the dark.