On 27 August, Krasnaya Presnya Park hosted Leopard Day, an environmental festival devoted to the world’s rarest cats – Far Eastern leopards. Visitors were able to take part in a quest and workshops, watch films, listen to a concert and test their skill at the sports zone. The event was organised by the Far Eastern Leopards autonomous non-profit organisation with the support of the Moscow Government. 

Anton Kulbachevsky, Head of the Moscow Department for Environmental Management and Protection, opened the festival with a welcome speech. He stressed the importance of holding the festival in Moscow due to the problem of keeping wild animals as pets in city flats and praised the work done to restore the population of the Far Eastern leopard. Much work has been done; some 80 leopards currently inhabit the Far East. It is a very good result, but we must not stop here, because the population must be over 150 animals so that they can survive without human help,” he said.

“Our festival aims to tell Muscovites about the rare Far Eastern animal and explain why it is so important to take care of the environment. I believe that after you learn more about Far Eastern leopards, you will become friends with them, and we will do our best to make that happen,” said Yelena Gangalo, general director of the Far Eastern Leopards autonomous non-profit organisation.

Svetlana Akulova, general director of the Moscow Zoo, showed a live broadcast from the enclosure of Nikolai, the leopard who lives at the Moscow Zoo nursery. He has a bride called Akra, and experts hope that they will have cubs next year.

At the Sporty Leopard site, visitors could participate in workshops on basketball, baseball, skateboarding and workout, and feel like a real leopard when scaling a climbing wall.

At the Wildlife School site, visitors learned about volunteering at nature reserves, environmental safety and ecotourism, and took part in polls and quizzes.

The Far Eastern Cuisine workshop was held at the cooking site.

Kids enjoyed a children’s zone that offered environmental lessons, workshops, face painting and a cartoon studio.

The festival also featured a photo exhibition devoted to Far Eastern leopards and sculptures of these animals made of recyclable materials. In addition, everyone was able to take photos at special photo zones.

The main stage in the park hosted a concert featuring performances by Arseny Borodin, Sati Kazanova, OdnoNo, In2Nation, AloeVera and others.

Also, the results of the In the Leopard’s Land quest were announced at the end of the festival. The main prize was the right to give a name to Leo 54F, a leopardess living in the wild. The winner was nine-year-old Zhasmina Achilova, who named the leopardess Bela.

Leo 54F is a female aged about six years old who lives on the border of Russia and China. She was first spotted by camera traps of both countries in 2014. According to scientists, the leopardess, like many others, was born in Russia but moved abroad as the spotted cat population grew.