On 7 June the embankment of Vladivostok’s Sports Harbour was the venue of the “Let’s save the leopard together!” campaign, dedicated to Ecologist Day.

The event was organised by the Land of Leopard National Park and the Primorye Territory affiliate of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS).

Volunteers of the Your Track movement painted the faces of those wishing to adopt the style of the leopard. They worked on dozens of people for several hours, but there was still a queue at the end of the event.

Participants in the event were able to get a sense of what it feels like to be a leopard caught by a photo trap in a tree. This is how the movements of these rare wild cats are registered. These photos will soon be published on the Land of the Leopard website.

The official portion of the event started on the stage of the embankment’s amphitheatre. Deputy Governor of the Primorye Territory Alexander Rolik and Deputy Mayor of Vladivostok Natalya Maltseva wished all those present a happy Ecologist Day. After that the organisers of the event – Head of the RGS Primorye Affiliate Pyotr Brovko and Land of the Leopard Director Andrei Borodin – took the floor to describe it in more detail. Mr Borodin read a message of greetings to the participants from Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the non-profit organisation “Far Eastern Leopards” Sergei Ivanov.

Then 10 nicknames of Far Eastern leopards were announced. They were given to the wild cats by the first people who participated in their registration, which was a special contribution to saving them. Land of the Leopard  Deputy Director for Science and Environmental Education Yelena Salmanova mentioned the names of these people and companies: Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev, Minister of Nature and the Environment Sergei Donskoi, Minister for the Development of the Far East Alexander Galushka, Governor of the Primorye Territory Vladimir Miklushevsky, Gazprom, Gazprombank, Mumiy Troll founder and lead singer Ilya Lagutenko, the Primorye hockey team Admiral, Vladivostok International Airport and the Komsomolskaya Pravda Publishing House. The nicknames they have chosen for the animals are published in the new section of the Land of the Leopard  website, “Leopard Passports.”

The culmination of the event was a striking flash mob by the embankment’s central fountain. Over 300 people formed five circles that made the shape of a Far Eastern leopard paw print. They launched air balloons and urged all those present to work together to save the leopard. In the end, the most active participants in the campaign received souvenirs from the national park.

Land of the Leopard Director Andrei Borodin summed up the ceremony. “On that day we were lucky in terms of weather, but even more so with the fact that so many people care about the nature of this territory," he said. "This was the first event staged by the national park, and it was a success. We hope to hold such events in Vladivostok many times, because they help people learn about and save our rare predators.”