The image of the world’s rarest wild cat now adorns the official insignia of the Primorye Territory’s Barabash, a village bordering Land of the Leopard National Park. The animal’s silhouette – embodying courage, speed and power – is featured at the bottom of the coat of arms, whose green background symbolises the abundance of the taiga, fertility, hope, renewal, and health.

Confirmation of the insignia’s registration with the heraldic council under the Russian President was received by the local administration in late January 2015. The concept of the coat of arms was developed by head of the municipality Valery Kolesnikov, with the design created by Oleg Maskevich of Sevastopol and the rationale for the village’s bid provided by Vladimir Dzhun of Mirgorod.

“We are definitely glad that the coat of arms of the village of Barabash, which borders the national park, carries symbols of environmental protection,” says Tatyana Baranovskaya, director of the federal state budgetary institution Land of the Leopard. “The image of the Far Eastern leopard on the local administration’s coat of arms gives hope for even greater cooperation in the future to preserve the population of the world’s rarest wild cat,” she said.

Barabash is not the first area in the Primorye Territory to depict the leopard on its coat of arms and flag. The Nadezhdinsky district’s coat of arms and flag featuring a leopard were approved back in 2002.

The future of Land of the Leopard National Park depends on active cooperation with local residents. Expanding the network of nature trails in the park, as well as the construction of the park’s central building complex, will go a long way toward boosting tourism in the Primorye Territory’s Khasansky district.