As a result of analyzing the data from a specially installed matrix of camera traps in the Caucasian Reserve, unique shots of leopards in nature were obtained.
The happiest news was receiving footage of a leopard named Kodor - says Alim Pkhitikov, senior researcher at the Institute of Ecology of Mountain Territories of RAS, a member of the leopard field monitoring group - after all, this confirms that he is alive, and throughout the period after his release he successfully hunted and adapted to the natural environment.
Kodor’s tracking collar stopped working almost immediately, not even 10 days after release. All this time, absolutely nothing was known about him and about how he adapts to life in the wild, how he hunts – whether everything is alright with him. This is the only leopard out of the four released in 2020 about whom no information was received at all at the Center of Remote Methods for Monitoring Animals in Nature. Judging by the photographs, Kodor is faring well, has acquired a more athletic form, looks healthy, has no external damage. This is important and joyful news for all project participants. The camera also captured a female named Laba released with Kodor in the wild landscape. She is also in good shape and, judging by the photo, is adapting well to the conditions of the Caucasian Reserve.
The program for the restoration of the Central Asian leopard in the Caucasus is being implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia with the participation of the Sochi National Park, the Caucasus Nature Reserve, the World Fund for Nature, the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS), A.K. Tembotov Institute of Ecology of Mountain Territories of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Moscow Zoo, with the assistance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA). Leopard monitoring is carried out with the financial support of VTB Bank. In North Ossetia, the company provides financial support for the population recovery program RusHydro.
