The winners of the Leopard Keeper contest have unveiled the names they have chosen for seven Far Eastern leopards. Among those given the honour of naming the rare wild cats are school pupils from environmental protection clubs as well as teachers and journalists who have contributed to raising public awareness of this endangered species.

The names were announced at a news conference at Land of the Leopard National Park’s Vladivostok headquarters on Cat Day, celebrated on 2 March. The jury and the winners of the Leopard Keeper contest gathered in Vladivostok for the certificate presentation ceremony. Some of the winners prepared short creative presentations to explain their choice of name.

“We are glad to see that the winners include people who have been helping our national park since the moment it was founded ,” Valentina Pichugina, head of the environmental education department at Land of the Leopard, said during the ceremony. “And even before the park was created, some of them were already helping to protect the Far Eastern leopard. We hope that our cooperation with the winners will continue.”

The winners briefly explained their name choices. One young leopard, whose gender is yet to be identified, was named Roso in honour of Russia. Khasan, a male leopard, owes his name to his geographic location. Another leopard was named Reporter after the profession of his Keepers - reporters with the VladNews news agency in Vladivostok. The four other names are Gratsia (Graciousness), Cleopatra, Alexa and Vasily.