Land of the Leopard National Park staff have obtained new photographs of unnamed Far Eastern leopards in the park.

The leopards, which will receive names as part of the Leopard Keeper contest, include three females (Leo 17F, Leo 23F, Leo 27F), three males (Leo 24M, Leo 28М, Leo 34M), and one leopard whose gender is yet to be identified. In the past 12 months, all of them were spotted again by the trail cameras. Judging by the images, it’s been a good year for them: all animals look well-fed and healthy.

“Seeing new pictures of the unnamed leopards was very important for us as this, along with other things, lets their keepers know that they are doing well,” says Valentina Pichugina, head of the environmental education department at Land of the Leopard. “This contest not only helps get information out about this rare big cat, but also provides feedback from participants. In particular, their submissions give us ideas about the future directions our environmental education efforts should go in and what admirers of these rare creatures are interested in.”

The Leopard Keeper contest kicked off about six months ago. Since then, dozens of new shots have been obtained of the seven leopards to be named by the contest winners.  Following numerous requests from contest participants, the entry period has been extended for one month until 25 January 2015. The rules of the contest can be found at the Land of the Leopard National Park official site.