Professor Luo Shu-Jin – Wild Beijing 北京自然

US Ambassador hosts Ambassadors for Nature event in Beijing

This post has been published simultaneously on the Ambassadors for Nature webpage.

On 26 November, the U.S. Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, and his wife, Ms. Elizabeth Baylies, hosted the latest Ambassadors for Nature event at their residence. Entitled “Unexpected Biodiversity of Beijing”, the centrepiece was a lecture by Peking University Professor Luo Shu-Jin about Beijing’s leopard cats. The audience, including ambassadors and senior diplomats from eight countries, Chinese academics, and PhD students, were treated to a wonderful presentation about the secret lives of these elusive predators which can be found in healthy numbers in the mountains and wetlands of Beijing, even inside the 6th ring road.

We learned that Beijing is one of only eight G20 capitals to host populations of wild cats and that the leopard cat is one of the “big 10” mammals in China’s capital city, alongside two species of badger, two species of weasel, masked palm civet, raccoon dog, wild boar, siberian roe deer and Chinese goral.

Professor Luo, ably supported by her students, told the story of Beijing’s leopard cats being photographed at the venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics and, at the end of the talk, presented Ambassador Burns with a personalised photograph of a leopard cat walking a trail with the downhill ski slope in the background.

In his remarks, Ambassador Burns highlighted how diplomatic missions can lead by example by incorporating biodiversity and environmental practices into their operations and facilities. The Ambassador underscored the common interest of the United States, China, and other countries to work together on pressing international environmental challenges, including by tackling climate change at the recently concluded COP 29.

The Ambassadors for Nature initiative is an informal group of 37 ambassadors who have developed and committed to the Pledge for Nature with the aim of incorporating biodiversity into the way diplomatic green spaces are managed and promoting biodiversity among staff and in diplomatic exchanges. For more about the initiative, see this link: https://wildbeijing.org/the-ambassadors-for-nature-initiative/

Leopard Cat Research Field Trip with Peking University

Earlier this week I was invited to join Peking University’s Leopard Cat research team on a field trip to their study site. Led by Professor Luo Shu-Jin, the team has been studying the capital’s wild cats for three years, and has recently stepped up its research by fitting tracking collars. The collars, so far fitted to three females, are showing for the first time the movements of these secretive felines. Early results have revealed that the three females are primarily nocturnal, have rather distinct territories and swim often. The closest relative to the Leopard Cat is the Fishing Cat of South Asia, so perhaps we should not be surprised they are not averse to taking a dip.

This week’s trip to the field site was to check and maintain infrared cameras and to set up a trap with the hope of catching and collaring a male. In large cats such as the Snow Leopard, it is the male that has a relatively large territory within which several females may hold smaller territories. It will be fascinating to see whether this is the case for Beijing’s Leopard Cats.

Checking the trap before installation at the study site.

The trap includes a trigger that, via the phone network, will inform the team as soon as the trap is sprung. The team is on call 24 hours per day so that they can react quickly and minimise the time that any captured animal is in captivity.

Professor Luo and her team setting up the trap at the study site. The aim is to catch and collar a male, following the fitting of collars to three females, in order to compare movements and territories.

The trap after it has been ‘camouflaged’.

It was an honour for me to join the team for the day and to learn so much about their work. Beijing is one of the few major capital cities that supports a population of wild cats, so understanding better their ecology, including their habitat requirements, will help to inform land management policies in Beijing with a view to securing the future of this special animal in the Chinese capital.

To keep up to date with the research team’s progress, please check this dedicated page.

Title image: the Peking University Leopard Cat Research Team.

Leopard Cat in Beijing 北京豹猫

Not many capital cities can boast populations of wild cats and some may be surprised to learn that Beijing is one. I am delighted to publish a new page dedicated to Leopard Cats in Beijing. This page provides information and updates from an exciting new project about this poorly known species, led by Peking University’s Professor Luo Shu-Jin in collaboration with the China Felid Conservation Alliance (CFCA). The project has already made some exciting discoveries, revealing just how little we know about biodiversity, even in one of the world’s major capital cities. The page can be found here and includes some fantastic images of Leopard Cat from Beijing. Check back regularly for updates!

Huge credit to Luo Shu-Jin and her team for her work on what must be one of the jewels in the crown of Beijing’s biodiversity.