A Photo Dossier on the Far Eastern Leopard was presented in Vladivostok on 10 December. This unique atlas will help people learn more about the life and behaviour of the spotted inhabitants of Land of the Leopard National Park.

This is a joint project of Land of the Leopard National Park, the non-governmental organisation Far Eastern Leopards, and the Russian Geographical Society. Some 300 camera traps installed in the national park throughout 2013 and 2014 provide photo and video surveillance of almost 90 percent of the leopards’ habitat. Thousands of still images recorded by the cameras in the past two years have helped researchers identify each animal and estimate how many rare cats live in the national park. The idea for the atlas came from researchers at the park as a way to make public the results of their work and shine a spotlight on these unique animals.

“The release of this atlas is very important to us,” says Tatyana Baranovskaya, the director of the federal state budgetary institution The Leopard Land. “In addition to providing personalised data on the leopards, the atlas has QR codes on each page, so that readers can gain insight into the animals’ everyday life.  [Users have to scan the QR code with their phones to gain access to the Land of the Leopard website, which has a special section featuring almost all camera-trap photographs – Ed.].  The atlas contains only verified data that can be used for research purposes, among other things.”

There were 2,000 copies in the atlas’ first run, and judging by the sales on the first few days after publication, there is a lot of enthusiasm for the project. The atlas is planned to be distributed for free to schools, universities, libraries and nature conservation organisations.