An interregional snow leopard reintroduction, rehabilitation and breeding centre will be created at the Sviyazhsk hunting reserve in the Zelenodolsk District of the Republic of Tatarstan in 2017, said Aigul Amirova, press secretary of Tatarstan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. Experts from the republic are studying the experience of the Persian Leopard Breeding and Rehabilitation Centre at Sochi National Park in the Caucasus.

“We will create the necessary environment for snow leopards, including rocky terrain, so that it resembles their natural habitat” Amirova said.

A Snow Leopard Preservation Strategy was adopted in 2014 to maintain the snow leopard population at 150 animals at the least. In addition to the snow leopard centre in Tatarstan, a rehabilitation and reintroduction centre for this endangered feline will be established at the Sayano-Shushensky Biosphere Reserve to raise orphaned snow leopard cubs and cubs born in Tatarstan.

A winged snow leopard is the central element in the emblem of Tatarstan. The snow leopard is the legendary patron animal of the republic.