Social media pages have closed voting to choose the name for a female Far Eastern leopard from Land of the Leopard National Park in the Primorye Territory. The audience of the new film “Land of the Leopard or the Phenomenon of Man” had the opportunity to choose a name for one of the 97 wild leopards. The social media contest had two stages: first, the participants suggested names, then the national park employees selected five finalists – Assol, Vesta, Cassiopea, Eve and Tara.

The last option got the most votes. The viewer who proposed the name Tara received souvenirs from the film crew and the national park.

The name Tara was given to the female leopard identified as Leo 150F. Tara is about five years old, lives an active life, and makes frequent appearances on the national park’s trail cameras.

The tradition of naming leopards has already been going on for several years. Their Keepers and participants in special contests give them names. Land of the Leopard is home to Leo 64M, known as Baikal, who was named by popular TV host and scientist Nikolai Drozdov; Dunya, a name chosen by Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov; Queen Borte and Pamela, who got their names from US actors Steven Seagal and Pamela Anderson; and Simba, given the name by Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev.

The film “Land of the Leopard or the Phenomenon of Man” directed by Alexander Melnik is available on the internet. It can be viewed on its official site, YouTube and its social media pages. The film was produced at the initiative of the Far Eastern Leopards autonomous non-profit organisation.

The previous social media contest to choose a leopard name was held in 2018 to mark the sixth anniversary of Land of the Leopard. Then the users named a female leopard Taiga.