The first two wild Far Eastern leopards have been released in the Ussuri Nature Reserve. A male and a female leopards were relocated from Land of the Leopard National Park, home to the nucleus of the leopard population. The new inhabitants of the Ussuri Nature reserve are young animals about two years old. The female is registered in the Land of the Leopard database under the number Leo 284F, and the male Leo 270M. One after the other, the first animals were safely brought to their new home. Their release was “soft,” as they were left asleep in a special enclosure and then left it by themselves without people’s participation. Their movements are being tracked with satellite collars.

“The Ussuri Nature Reserve is within the historical habitat of the Far Eastern leopard; they lived here before and we are trying to restore the population in this area. The natural migration of the leopards from the national park to the east is difficult due to some obstacles such as the Vladivostok-Khabarovsk motorway, the villages alongside it, and the Razdolnaya River floodplain. Therefore, we relocate the young animals ourselves and bring them from the national park to the Ussuri Nature Reserve. A large number of ungulates in the reserve and adjacent areas will help leopards successfully settle there,” said Sergei Naidenko, associate member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and director of the academy’s Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution.

There are plans to release another young male, Leo 260M, in the Ussuri reserve. The leopard is currently staying at the Rehabilitation Centre.

“Historically, the leopard habitat covered the entire south of Primorye, but the population decreased significantly with only 35 animals left at the beginning of the century. For over ten years, Land of the Leopard has been conducting intensive environmental work to preserve the rare cat, including measures against poaching and wildfires. The increase in the wild population has made it possible to implement this project designed to promote the natural resettlement of leopards who already take up all new areas, including near the borders of the Ussuri Nature Reserve,” said Land of the Leopard director Viktor Bardyuk.

In all, at least six adult leopards will be relocated to restore the habitat. The long-term goal is to create a new population of at least 25 animals in the historical habitat in the southern part of Sikhote-Alin.

The project is being implemented under academic supervision of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the Russian Academy of Sciences by the institute employees together with experts from Land of the Leopard National Park with support from the Far Eastern Leopards autonomous non-profit organisation.