Documents

The Khazarskiy State Nature Reserve, the Caspian Group of the IUCN Joint SSC-WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan; e-mail address: mammedowmerdan514@gmail.com

The Persian leopard Panthera pardus tulliana is an endangered large felid living in mountainous landscapes of the Caucasus, Southwest Asia and parts of Central Asia. In this paper, we review available literature to update our information on the status, population, ecology, threats, and management recommendations in regard to this big cat in the region. Most of the Alborz and Kopetdag Ecoregions harbour the largest population of Persian leopard with some protected areas having the highest densities of these carnivores. A total of 348 to 440 leopards are guessed to exist in the region, making it one of the largest continuous leopard hotspots across Asia. Almost 80% of the population exists in Iran, followed by Turkmenistan which holds the second largest Persian leopard population, while the leopard population in Kazakhstan mainly depends on transboundary transient individuals from Turkmenistan.

Objectives of the project included the organization and performance of the coast-wide awareness campaign in Turkmenbashi and Awaza area devoted to the Caspian Sea Day celebration. The project was prepared and agreed with the program of Celebration with the Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan, which supposed to be held in hotel “Dayanch” on the Caspian coast. The events were planned for August 10-11, 2012. However due to force-major reasons, upon arrival of participants of the event to Turkmenbashy city, the organizers were asked to postpone the event. It was decided to perform it in Ashgabat at the premises of the Institute of Deserts. Due to the summer beach time, it was impossible to change tickets and go back to Ashgabat earlier. Thus the Caspian Day event was then again prepared and performed in Ashgabat.