South Korean environmentalists hope to restore in South Korea the population of the Far Eastern leopard listed in the IUCN Red List using the experience of their Russian counterparts from Land of the Leopard National Park.

Members of the Korean Foundation for the Conservation of Tigers and Leopards visited Land of the Leopard National Park in December to take a look at its activity and results of the efforts to study and preserve the Far Eastern leopard, one of the world's rarest cats.

A century ago Amur tigers and Far Eastern leopards inhabited South Korea, but eventually fell into extinction.

The preparation of a long-term plan to restore the population of the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard has started in South Korea. According to the plan, the first step will include support for the rare cat’s population in Russia and China, and then the population will be restored in North Korea and only after that in South Korea.

South Koreans already support the Foundation’s initiative, whose slogan is “Preserving the leopard in Russia, preserve the leopard in Korea,” and donate money to support a number of Russian projects in this field.