September 19, 2009. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin symbolically released two rare leopards from cages to outdoor enclosures in the country's North Caucasus on Saturday to inaugurate a wildlife sanctuary.
September 19, 2009. The center in Krasnaya Polyana near the Black Sea resort of Sochi will be Russia's first hub for saving West Asian leopards from extinction.
September 19, 2009. One of major tasks facing the new facility will be to repopulate the Russian Caucasus with leopards within the next 10 to 15 years.
September 19, 2009. The rare animals are on the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the IUCN, or the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
September 19, 2009. There are still some West Asian leopards in Iran and in the ex-Soviet states of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
September 19, 2009. The two leopards had been brought from Turkmenistan by air. It is planned to catch more leopards for the new center in Turkmenistan and Iran, WWF Russia Sirector Igor Chestin said.
September 19, 2009. "It's good that the project is actually an international one," Putin said.
September 19, 2009. Vladimir Putin, center, was accompanied by IOC Coordination Commission chairman Jean-Claude Killy, left, and IOC Executive Director Gilbert Filli, right.
