KazanSummit 2017: Irbis – experts opinions
The population of snow leopards is important and must be restored. This was said today on a perspective international platform for the implementation of joint environmental projects on the conservation of rare species of animals within the framework of the IX International Economic Summit “Russia - Islamic World: KazanSummit 2017”. Reducing genetic diversity and immunity in animals, increasing susceptibility to infectious and parasitic diseases, and reducing the ability of animals to reproduce. All these factors are of concern to specialists, said Rustam Rabadanov, deputy director of the Department of State Policy and Regulation in the Sphere of Environmental Protection of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia. Now there is a serious work to study and predict the population of a rare species. Director FSBI of the Research Institute of the Environment Protection Sergei Fokin noted that targeted programs to stabilize and increase the population of all endangered species of animals are implemented. One of such program will be implemented in Tatarstan. In the Year of Ecology, it is planned to establish an interregional center for the reintroduction, rehabilitation, breeding, and protection of the snow leopard – irbis.
“Irbis is listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The main cause of perishing is poaching and smuggling. Therefore, today we need a long-term program aimed at preserving this species,” – said Farid Abdulganiev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan. – In Russia there is a Leopard Recovery Center in the Caucasus. We visited Sochi National Park, where specialists pair Asian leopards, take care of newborn kittens, and prepare young leopards for release into the wild. To increase the effectiveness and impetus for the implementation of measures to revive the snow leopards population in conditions of increasing anthropogenic impact on ecosystems, one of the significant activities will be the construction of an interregional center for the rehabilitation, breeding, and protection of the snow leopard in the Republic of Tatarstan.”
As noted by Rabadanov, the discussion of this important issue within the framework of “KazanSummit 2017” allowed the experts to exchange views, and was the beginning of the formation of the working group. The existing experience will be applied in the implementation of other programs to restore the population of rare species of animals.
Press Service of MENR of RT