Residents in the villages of Slavyanka and Volno-Nadezhdinskoye, Primorye Territory, are getting ready to celebrate Leopard Day on 20-21 September. The celebrations of this holiday have become traditional and will include fairs, festivals, dancing and theatrical performances.

On 20 September, Slavyanka will host the Leopard Land Talents Fair, with teams from 16 schools participating. They will take part in various contests, environmental games and workshops in souvenir making. For the guests of the event, a special quiz will be organised at Leopard Land National Park. Those interested will be able to have their pictures taken by the cameras that track the movement of leopards.

On 21 September, the Seventh Leopard Land Environmental Festival will be held in Volno-Nadezhdinskoye. Guests at the festival will be treated to a leopard show featuring the leopards Kedrovka and Shufansky, and will be able to have their faces painted as leopards and to draw leopards on the pavement.

“Over the long history of Leopard Day in the Khasansky and Nadezhdensky areas, local residents have come to know this rare species much better,” said Valentina Vysotskaya, head of the environmental awareness department at Leopard Land National Park. “We hope that thanks to our joint efforts and the work of the national park, the residents of these areas will feel that having the leopard as their neighbour brings them joy and benefits. In fact, today anyone can get closer to this beautiful cat by taking part in the Leopard Keeper contest. By sending an application to the national park, you will be able to choose a name for one of the world’s rarest predators.”

The Far Eastern leopard is one of the rarest species on Earth. With the assistance of the Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Ivanov, about 360,000 hectares of the leopard’s habitat in the southwestern areas of the Primorye Territory have been placed under various types of conservation. These measures have helped increase the leopard’s population by 50%, to about 50 leopards.