The Living Planet, a new TV channel of the VGTRK state network, has started working on a series of documentaries about Land of the Leopard National Park in the Primorye Territory in Russia’s Far East. This project is about the national park and the people whose life and work is connected with the world’s rarest wild cat, the Far Eastern leopard.

The filming is financed by the Far Eastern Leopards autonomous non-profit organisation (formerly the Eurasian Centre for the Study, Preservation and Restoration of the Leopard Population). The Moscow film crew arrived at the Land of the Leopard Park in the second half of June and plans to film the first of the 14 documentaries, tentatively called Leopard Stories, within a month. The Living Planet plans to start its broadcasting with this film in the autumn.

As you can easily guess from the name, the films will tell the story of the Far Eastern leopards. They only number about 50, but there are many more people who have devoted their life and work to this unique predator. Each film of this series will tell about one particular activity of the national park and those who help preserve this unique cat.

“Many films have been shot about Russia’s rare plants and animals, but almost none about the people who help preserve them. Leopard Stories will likely be the first film to tell about the hard daily work of all those people, from the national park employees to those who study and protect the leopard,” said Andrei Borodin, director of the federal state budgetary institution The Leopard Land.