Two West Asian leopards to be delivered in Dagestan this summer

Makhachkala, March 15, 2016. Two West Asian leopards will be delivered this summer to Tlyaratinsky natural reserve of Dagestan, the press service of Dagestan ministry of natural resources and ecology informs.

On March14, the relevant document was signed between Dagestan minister of natural resources and ecology Nabiyula Karachaev and the executive director of Glavspecstroy LLC Michael Barakin  through mediation by Dagestan Permanent Mission at the Russian Federation President.

According to the document, the parties agreed to combine their efforts on breeding populations of rare species of leopards in Dagestan. At present, the leopard wildlife reserves in Russia are created in the Far East and Primorsky Territory. However, the experts believe that the climate of Dagestan highlands will also ideally suit for their habitation.

Recall, the West Asian leopard was found on the territory of Tlyaratinsky natural reserve at the end of last year for the first time over the past two decades. The animal belongs to the same species that will be brought into the republic. The measures to preserve the animals considered to be extinct species in Dagestan, will be carried out within the framework of the World Wildlife Fund Program "Restoring leopard in the Caucasus". The program will be implemented in the republic with the direct participation of Dagestan ministry of environment in 2016 - 2018.

It should be noted, the Republic of Dagestan came to the joint project of WWF and the Global Environment Facility entitled "Saving big cats in the Russian Federation" last year. The republican leadership expressed readiness to provide full support to the project. In order to implement the project in Dagestan, the ministry of environment RD developed a plan of activities.

About RUR 26 million 655 thousand will be allocated for this project. The Global Environment Facility has announced the total funding of the project - more than 12 million U.S. dollars.