On August 21 children between the ages of five and nine from Сhildren’s Home No 4 in the city of Vladivostok visited the office of Leopard Land national park, where they were greeted by representatives of the environmental education department. The children were treated to an entertaining class on the leopard.

They watched Vasily Solkin’s film “Land of the Leopard: Seasons” and enthusiastically identified the animals and seasons shown on the screen.

Then the children painted their own leopards, even green and red ones, and one “that had the sky fall on its back.” They found out how few leopards are left on our planet and how important it is to take care of each and every animal in order to preserve this beautiful and rare wild cat.

Anna Shcheblykina, chief research fellow at Leopard Land national park, explained to the children why leopards have spots on their fur and how scientists can keep track of them based on their spots. In the end, the children made a collage out of their paintings and wished the leopards happy hunting. Now the leopards have 10 new friends.

Anna Salomatova, chief expert on environmental education at Leopard Land, said: “Surprisingly, these small friends of the leopard did not exhaust their creative muscles. They came up to me for more paper to draw animals from the photos in the press centre. They were truly stunned by the wild cats’ beauty. Some wanted to have their pictures taken with the photos they liked the most. Then the kids tried to pose like graceful leopards in a group photo. I think the visit made a big impression on them, and, most important, they learned that there are very few leopards in the world and that they live in the same area – the Primorye Territory. They now understand the importance of respecting nature and protecting this rare and beautiful cat.”

This was the first event of its kind organised by the Leopard Land office in Vladivostok. It plans to hold more classes for children of all ages and establish a workshop where everyone, regardless of age, will be able to have a good time and be creative, so long as their work concerns the main hero – the Far Eastern leopard.

Leopard Land invites everyone who cares about leopards and all creative people to help make this idea a reality – we are always happy to welcome guests!