Rare leopard dies at Seneca Park Zoo

ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 12 (UPI) -- A rare Amur leopard has died at the age of 17 at the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, N.Y., officials said.

Nikita the leopard suffered from chronic age-related kidney failure, said Dr. Jessica Keen, the zoo's veterinarian.

Nikita was born in July 1992 at the St. Louis Zoo and came to the Seneca Park Zoo in May 2002.

She was believed to be one of the oldest Amur leopards in captivity. The oldest Amur leopard on record is 20, the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle reported Wednesday.

"Nikita was a rather shy feline who had a close relationship with her keepers," zoo spokesman Larry Sorel said.

The Amur leopard, also known as the Manchurian leopard, is the world's most endangered big cat, with only 25 to 35 of the cats still living in the wild in the Koreas, Northeast China and the Russian Far East.