Kim Jong Un May Be Asked To Become 'Sponsor' Of Russian Amur Leopard - National Park

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may be offered to become a personal "sponsor" of one of the Amur leopards in the Russian Far East, the head of the Land of the Leopard national park told Sputnik in an interview.

VLADIVOSTOK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may be offered to become a personal "sponsor" of one of the Amur leopards in the Russian Far East, the head of the Land of the Leopard national park told Sputnik in an interview.

"[Could we offer sponsorship] to Kim Jong Un? We might. Considering that he travels by train and the Baranovsky-Khasan railway track goes by the border of the Land of the Leopard, it would be convenient for him to visit the national park. If Kim Jong Un supports the idea of studying the Amur leopard on his territory, we might consider making him a personal 'sponsor" of one of the cats that we have chosen," Viktor Bardyuk said.

The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment backed the idea.

"We support the initiative. Protecting animals and nature is beyond politics, and cooperating with North Korea on monitoring the rarest Far Eastern cat may help get the most accurate and full data on its population," a ministry representative told Sputnik.

Pamela Anderson, Steven Seagal and Russian Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov have already become leopard "sponsors."

The national park is located on the border with North Korea. One of new monitoring stations was set up near the Tumen River, not far from the place where borders of Russia, China and North Korea converge. In the summer of 2018, four leopards were seen not far from the border with North Korea, two of them for the first time.

Bardyuk stressed that the national park was interested in collaboration with North Korea, as it was possible, in theory, that leopards were moving across the river. The cooperation on the preservation of animals is ongoing within the UN sustainable development project for Northeast Asia, the national park head said.

"The topic of the research of the habitat of tigers and leopards in North Korea was touched upon at that platform. But there were no tangible consequences after the discussion," Bardyuk said.

Meanwhile, an agreement on a Russian-Chinese nature reserve to protect Amur leopards and Siberian tigers might be signed in two years, Bardyuk said.

"We absolutely have to work with China because our leopards are migrating to China looking for new places ... The Chinese side set up a special protected territory Wanda Shan on its side of the border. Afterward, China merged three reserves to set up the Park of the Tiger and the Leopard, a park that is governed by the Federal authorities. Its establishment has been announced, and, judging by the plans, significant funds should be planned for protection and restoration of the population of tigers and leopards," the national park director said.

Bardyuk concluded that the necessary prerequisites to set up a Russian-Chinese reserve existed, but it would have to be preceded by the expert negotiations, then intergovernmental groups sessions and other panels, which would take about two years.