On 15 November, a roundtable on the conservation of Russia’s rare big cats was held as part of the Sixth IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney. It was attended by Sergei Donskoi, the Russian minister of natural resources and the environment, and IUCN President Zhang Xinsheng. Members of the Russian delegation, including Gennady Kiselyov, director of the Sayano-Shushensky Nature Reserve, and Irina Sannikova, deputy director of the Khakassky Nature Reserve, told the panelists about the measures to conserve and study the snow leopard that are being implemented in the Sayano-Shushensky Nature Reserve. Video footage about the Sayano-Shushensky Nature Reserve was shown at the roundtable: an interactive “map” of the protected area illustrating Khakassia’s flora and fauna. The video highlights the rarest predator in the reserve: the snow leopard.

Roundtable experts also presented information about the status of rare cat populations, including the snow leopard, the Amur tiger, the Far Eastern leopard and the manul.

The event was attended by representatives from many countries where big cats live, including Iran, Pakistan, China, India, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Experts say new contacts will help expand cooperation in this field.

At the end of the roundtable, the hosts summed up the results of a public vote and disclosed the names of a young tigress from the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve and a snow leopard cub in the Sayano-Shushensky Nature Reserve. Most of the participants chose the name Sydney for the snow leopard (in honor of the congress venue). The tigress was named Victoria in honor of one of Australia’s states.