Land of Leopard National Park in Russia's Primorye to join world's first cross-border protected nature area

VLADIVOSTOK. Aug 1 (Interfax) - The Russian government has approved an agreement on creating the world's first cross-border nature conservation area, the Land of the Big Cats, on the border between China and Russia's Primorye Territory that will combine the Land of the Leopard National Park and the Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve, the national park's press service said.

"The world's first cross-border nature conservation area for Amur tigers and Far Eastern leopards will be created on the border of China and Russia's Primorye Territory. The draft agreement with China on establishing the Land of the Big Cats nature reserve has been approved by the government of the Russian Federation," it said.

The new cross-border nature conservation area will also include China's Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, which, along with Russia's national park and nature reserve, will form a unified system for monitoring animals in the wild, will exchange scientific data, cooperate in fighting poaching and forest fires, and promote environmental education and ecotourism.

The Land of the Leopard National Park is home to 125 Far Eastern leopards - the core of the population of these rare predators. Besides, 58 Amur tigers, the world's largest number, inhabit it as well.

Meanwhile, China's Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park is home to 60 leopards and 40 tigers. Many animals simultaneously live in the territory of the two countries, crossing their border now and then. Therefore, the exact number of leopards and tigers in Russia and China is yet to be established.

The Amur tiger is the largest tiger subspecies on the planet. It is included in the Russian and world lists of endangered species. In the wild, Amur tigers live mainly in the Primorye and Khabarovsk Territories, the Amur region, and the Jewish Autonomous Region.