Fox “try on the image” of the Far Eastern leopard in Primorye

Unique shots with the “communication” of the Red Book Far Eastern leopard and fox were obtained by scientists of the Directorate of Reserves “Land of the Leopard”. Scientists consider the behavior of the fox ambiguous. The Far Eastern leopard is a Red Book big cat that lives in the south-west of the Primorsky Territory. In the vicinity of it live and small predators, such as the Indian marten harza, Asian badger and common fox. All of them are protected in the national park “Land of the Leopard”, where scientists follow the life of animals thanks to the largest network of photo traps in Russia – automatic forest cameras. There are more than 450 of them, and with the help of one specialist captured infrequently hit the lenses of the “animal mini-series”. First, a relaxed Far Eastern leopard with a clear comfort rests on the stone and curiously looks around. A rare cat chose such a place for rest for a reason: single large stones that stand out in space are sometimes used by wild animals as “observation points”. And animals can leave their smell on them as a marker. After a while, when the leopard had already left, the “second series” began: a fox got into the lens of the same forest camera. Smelling the smell of a big cat, she decided to apply her smell to the place where the smell of the leopard was. 

Animals do so to strengthen their own and, as it were, “appropriate” a new personality at the expense of someone else’s smell. Such "smell tuning" can play a role in the communication of this fox with relatives. There is another version of this behavior: the fox is ambitiously trying to “remark” a larger predator. This behavior scientists call the tergore reaction: the beast puts on itself the smell of another animal or strongly smelling substance (for example, resin). One of the main functions of the unusual procedure is signaling and information, that is, animals are able to communicate with each other using a tergore reaction. Most likely, this is the interspecies communication and got on the video. However, one can never exclude another probable cause: animals can “smother” someone else’s smell just for pleasure.

This reaction is commonplace in the animal world, but its fixation is not. Some animals have adapted to masquerade as various objects and other animals, but infrequently animals show their entire natural “arsenal” on camera. Therefore, such data help us to better understand the world of the inhabitants of the national park, said Marina Syritsa, head of the science department of the Land of the Leopard.

The Land of the Leopard National Park preserves unique natural complexes full of contrasting combinations of southern and northern species. Relic landscapes and the richest animal world attract tourists, photographers, documentary filmmakers from all over the world. According to the latest data, 125 Far Eastern leopards have been recorded in the protected areas of the Leopard Land.

Materials, photos and videos provided by the press service of the national park