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They have been hunted to the brink of extinction, but now there is hope for the rarest wild cat in the world.

Populations of endangered Amur leopards, which are indigenous to north eastern China and south eastern Russia, have doubled since 2007, a report says.

At least 57 Amur leopards now exist in Russia's Land of the Leopard National Park - up from just 30 cats counted in 2007, according to a new census.

The endangered Amur leopard, which is indigenous to northeastern China and southeastern Russia, has doubled in population since 2007, a report says. A stock image is pictured

Between eight and 12 leopards were counted in adjacent areas of China, meaning the number of Amur leopards has more than doubled over the past seven years, a report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said.

Populations of Amur tigers dwindled largely because of hostile human activities.

Illegal poaching is the greatest threat to the animals and their skins fetch up to $1,000 each. (£660).

Forest degradation has also hit populations hard, as farmers clear trees for farms and burn fields to improve fertility. This has turned forests into grassy savannah landscapes, which the leopards avoid. 

Conservationists used camera traps spread out across 900,000 acres of leopard-friendly habitat to collect ten thousand photographs for the census, which were used to identify nearly 60 individual animals. A stock image of an Amur leopard in its wooded habitat is shown

Large deer farms are also encroaching on the leopard's habitat, while some experts believe that populations could disappear because of inbreeding.

Conservationists used camera traps spread out across 900,000 acres of leopard-friendly habitat to collect ten thousand photographs for the census.

Scientists then used the evidence to identify nearly 60 individual animals using their distinctive pattern of spots to tell them apart.

The census was carried out by the Land of the Leopard National Park, as well as the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, The Amur Leopard Centre and WWF Russia.

'Such a strong rebound in Amur leopard numbers is further proof that even the most critically endangered big cats can recover if we protect their habitat and work together on conservation efforts' said Dr Barney Long, who leads Asian species conservation for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the US.

'There's still a lot of work to be done in order to secure a safe future for the Amur leopard, but these numbers demonstrate that things are moving in the right direction.'

Land of the Leopard National Park, which includes all of the Amur leopard's known breeding areas, was hailed as a lifeline to the critically endangered cat when it was established in 2012.

The park extends across nearly 650,000 acres, and is also home to the endangered Amur tiger, which has also been captured on camera to monitor their wellbeing.

The park has become the main way of protecting the wild cats from poachers.

Conservationists hope to monitor populations across the border in neighbouring Chinese nature reserves, and establish a Sino-Russian transboundary nature reserve.