The 12^th international children’s drawing contest devoted to Amur tigers and Far Eastern leopards has come to a close in the Russian Far East. It was organised by the Phoenix Fund and the Tiger and Leopard Conservation Fund in Korea, with the support of state nature reserves and national parks of the Far East.

The award ceremony for the participants from South Korea was held on 13 May. At the beginning of the event, the audience listened to summary reports on the current state of the Amur tiger and Far Eastern leopard populations. Jo Cook, co-coordinator for the Far Eastern leopard European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), co-convener for the Far Eastern Leopard Global Species Management Plan (GSMP) and Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance coordinator, also spoke at the event.

This year, the contest jury received almost 4,000 children’s drawings depicting one day in the life of a Far Eastern leopard or Amur tiger in the wild. Among the participants were children from the Primorye and Khabarovsk territories, the Moscow, Chelyabinsk and Amur regions, the Jewish Autonomous Region, and the Republic of Crimea, as well as over 700 children from South Korea. The best entries were featured in the 2018 calendars Let’s Protect Far Eastern Leopards Together and Let’s Protect Amur Tigers Together. The list of winners is available on the website of the Phoenix Fund.