Big cat lovers captured a rare Amur leopard on video in a remote forest.

Footage from a trap camera shows Velvet, the elusive big cat, sniffing around a marking tree just days after a group of tourists visited the area on a guided tour in the Land of the Leopard National Park in Primorsky Krai, Russia, on October 22.

In the video, the majestic feline rubs its cheeks against the tree, marking its territory before disappearing back into the wild.

The tourists had explored the area for several days in hopes of catching a glimpse of the rare animal and managed to film Velvet walking the same path they had taken, where they had placed the camera.

The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is native to the Primorye region of south-eastern Russia and northern China.

It is classified as 'critically endangered' on IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species, with around 110 individuals remaining in the wild in Russia and China as of 2021.