Defying time and odds, an aging matriarch of one of the world's rarest big cats is living a tale of survival in North China's Taihang Mountains.

The leopard known as F9, at 10 years old, has not only become a great-grandmother, establishing China's first-known four-generation leopard dynasty, but also gave birth to three new cubs in 2025, according to the conservation organization Chinese Felid Conservation Alliance.

The story of F9 carries profound scientific significance, particularly because her thriving lineage exists largely outside of formal protected areas, spanning multiple villages in Heshun county, Shanxi province, the alliance said.

F9 was first photographed by an infrared camera in June 2016. The alliance recorded the female leopard as having "a characteristically curled tail tip hinting at a playful spirit".

No one could have predicted that this young feline of the forest would become the "matriarch" and prolific mother of a wild North China leopard population.

The first milestone came in 2019 when infrared cameras delivered the joyous news that F9 had become a mother. The footage showed her guiding three fluffy cubs, two females and one male, through the forest as they foraged and played.

The family tree expanded in 2022 when her eldest daughter, F26, was photographed with her own three cubs. The latest chapter unfolded in late 2024, when footage revealed F26's daughter, who was nicknamed Pingping by the alliance, tenderly guiding her own cub through the moonlit forest.

Even more remarkable than the sprawling family dynasty she founded is the enduring vitality of F9 herself.

In 2025, at the age of 10, equivalent to a human age in the early 60s, F9 successfully delivered three more cubs, her sixth known litter. Of the 11 cubs she has produced, four have already established their own territories within the mountains in Heshun and started families of their own, with some even welcoming grandchildren.

F9's legacy is also one of courageous expansion, according to the Felid alliance.

Her eldest son, M16, is now the dominant male leopard in the nearby Qingcheng forest area in Yuci, a county-level district overseen by Jinzhong city. Her granddaughter, Pingping, has crossed County Highway 337, which crosses the key habitat for North China leopards in Heshun, to establish a territory further east.

Song Dazhao, founder of the Chinese Felid Conservation Alliance, said the miracle created by F9 has occurred thanks to not only the consistent efforts of local authorities in conserving the habitat of these big cats, but also the dedicated contributions from local residents.

Since 2013, an area of about 1,200 square kilometers in western Heshun has been designated as an ecological protection zone for wildlife, covering approximately half of the leopards' territory, he said.

With polluting industries and large-scale development stringently restricted within it, the zone has created a sanctuary for North China leopards and other wild animals that don't inhabit outside established protected areas, he added.

Song also lauded local communities for their significant contributions to North China leopard conservation.

Guided by local authorities, the alliance has helped transform local residents from bystanders into guardians. Established in 2015, a patrol team named Laobaozi, which literally means old leopards, now has 20 members, Song said.

The team is proactively engaged in biodiversity surveys, anti-poaching patrols and community education, he added.

"Large carnivores like leopards and tigers require vast ranges that existing protected areas cannot fully cover," said Song. "It requires a joint force of government departments, research institutions and civil organizations with diverse conservation methods to stabilize the North China leopard population and help it consistently expand."

A leopard subspecies native to China, the North China leopard is under top national-level protection and was included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species in 2012.

According to local authorities, a total of 89 adult North China leopards were identified in Heshun from May 2015 to June 2020, making the county a vital habitat for the species.

It is estimated that fewer than 400 North China leopards exist in the wild.

Contact the writers at houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn