Primorski (Russia): Despite being home to the Amur leopard – one of the world’s most endangered large cat species with just about 30-35 wild individuals remaining, Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve in the south-western Primorski region in Russia has been paralysed by lack of funds.

“Currently, 24 of the reserve’s 35 employees are on a forced vacation, as they have not received their salaries for the last five months. The reserve even lacks funds to pay for fuel and other basic necessities for those who volunteered to work despite the salary delays. With the fire season approaching, the situation of the reserve is likely to aggravate further,” says Michiel Hotte, Coordinator of the Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA) that works for the conservation of Amur leopards and Amur tigers.

The reason for this acute financial crunch has been attributed to a well-intended but poorly-executed reorganisation of the protected areas in the range of the Amur leopard.

The reorganisation had aimed to bring together three protected areas – which provide refuge to half of the remaining wild Amur leopards – under one improved management structure. Accordingly, two wildlife refuges – Barsovy and Borisovkoe Plato, were combined to create the Leopardovy Wildlife Refuge in October 2008, by the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The responsibility of managing Leopardovy Wildlife Refuge was transferred to Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve.

However, both Leopardovy Wildlife Refuge and Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve now lack funds to support conservation of the critically-endangered Amur leopards. No state funds have been transferred to the common bank account activated in June 2009. Repeated reminders to the authorities to resolve this prolonged bureaucratic process have come to nought.

Vivek Menon, Executive Director, Wildlife Trust of India, said, “Kedrov in Russian means cedar. This reserve is one of the oldest cedar forest in Northern Europe and is also one of the first protected areas in Russia. Even without considering the Amur leopard which is itself precariously hanging on to its survival, the unique ecosystem of Kedrovaya is reason enough for its protection. In the recent past, the Russian government stopped several commercial ventures for the conservation of the Amur leopard, including stopping an oil pipeline through the leopard’s habitat. Their lack of initiative now is disheartening.”

“An Indian equivalent to this situation would be denotification of Corbett!”

Wildlife conservation agencies like the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Phoenix Fund, Zoological Society of London, Tigris Foundations as well as individual donors have offered help. The reserve management believes that it is the government’s responsibility to provide for the salaries of the employees, at the least.

The Phoenix Fund has written to the Prime Minister requesting his intervention for a quick resolution of the imbroglio.

The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), also known as far-east leopard is listed as a critically-endangered species in the IUCN Red List.