Russians see leopards on the road to survival

WE’VE heard of countries going to great lengths to try to save animals from extinction — but the case of the Amur leopard is a bit unusual.

These handsome big cats are near to extinction, and it would be tragic if we were to see them die out completely.

But there probably aren’t too many people out there who thought Russia would go as far as it has, or spend as much money as it has, to save them.

In Russia’s Far East, a major stretch of road saw fast cars and heavy lorries travel the same route as these magnificent beasts, and sadly this led to many Amur leopards being hit by vehicles and killed.

Now, however, Russia has spent a fortune to construct the Narvinsky Tunnel, which cars will have to use, leaving the bit above the ground for the leopards to roam freely.

Sergey Ivanov, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, says proudly: “This will be the first ecological tunnel in the Russian Federation.

“It has been built on a highway which intercepts a national park.”

It could be the difference between Amur leopards disappearing off the face of the Earth, or many new ones being born in that part of Russia, and they are rightly proud of their new tunnel.

As the tunnel will help connect Russia and China, it will be busy and vital for moving all sorts of goods, but not at the cost of a big cat that has roamed the planet for such a long time and fascinated animal lovers for just as long.

It’s thought there are just 57 of the Amur leopards at the Leopard Land national park in the Primorye region, 13 elsewhere in Russia, and fewer than a dozen in China.

Left to mate and live in peace, that population will hopefully thrive, they won’t have to worry about cars, and drivers won’t have to worry about hitting them.

Classed as Critically Endangered for the past two decades, this is its last chance to increase in population.

Sadly, it will still be touch-and-go — so few of breeding age live in the wild that inbreeding-based genetic problems already occur.

If they can increase, therefore, the chances of them growing in population are better.

Poachers are also said to have killed them to sell their ultra-rare skins, with China getting blamed.

However, if you think it’s surprisingly good of the Russians to invest in one tunnel, the story goes much further than that, and gets a lot more expensive.

There were plans for a vital oil pipeline to run from Siberia through here right to the coast of the Sea of Japan, but those have been shelved.

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