Land of the Leopard National Park is planning to purchase 150 tonnes of fodder, 500 hay rolls and 16 tonnes of salt for wild hoofed animals in 2015. As the Far Eastern leopard population increases, extra food is urgently needed for sika deer and roe deer, which are the leopard's staples. This year, 40 additional feeding sites and 22 salt licks will appear in the park. The first batches of fodder have already been purchased.

Feeding sites and salt licks (tree stumps with lumps of pressed salt fastened to them) will provide additional sources of nutrients and minerals for the hoofed animals. Existing ones will be replenished and new ones will be built during the summer.

"Providing extra food to ensure the necessary numbers of hoofed animals is an effective and essential tool in maintaining the populations of endangered wild cat species. As the leopard and tiger populations in the park have been recovering, the need to develop biotechnics has become more pressing. Rare felines must not experience prey shortages. Coupled with effective anti-poaching measures, biotechnics is leading the way in this field," Georgy Likhachyov, deputy head of the forest management service at Land of the Leopard, said in an interview.

Since its founding, the park has always organised winter feedings for hoofed animals. Before that, dozens used to die during the winter months, prevented by thick snow from procuring food. However, there were no losses of hoofed animals for the second winter in a row, which specialists attribute to the intelligent use of biotechnics.