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EurasiaNet.org, NY
June 11 2010
Iran and Russia Swap Cats
June 11, 2010 - 10:01am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
Russian approval of sanctions against Iran may have chilled relations
between the two countries, but there is still enough room left for
diplomacy to swing a cat. Iran plans to send a pair of Caucasus
leopards to Russia to help efforts to repopulate the big cats in the
Caucasus area.
Hunting and poaching have brought the Caucasus leopard to the brink of
extinction; environmentalists rejoice at every occasional sighting of
the animal in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Some claim that the
Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno
Karabakh has also got in the way of the leopards' migration routes.
The Iranian gift will be placed in the Russian city of Sochi's zoo.
Russia plans to start dispersing the cats on the northern flanks of
the Caucasus ridge, hoping that the leopards will spread throughout
the Caucasus area. Russia, in turn, is helping Iran restore the
population of tigers in its northern province of Mazandaran.
From: A. Papazian
June 11 2010
Iran and Russia Swap Cats
June 11, 2010 - 10:01am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
Russian approval of sanctions against Iran may have chilled relations
between the two countries, but there is still enough room left for
diplomacy to swing a cat. Iran plans to send a pair of Caucasus
leopards to Russia to help efforts to repopulate the big cats in the
Caucasus area.
Hunting and poaching have brought the Caucasus leopard to the brink of
extinction; environmentalists rejoice at every occasional sighting of
the animal in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Some claim that the
Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno
Karabakh has also got in the way of the leopards' migration routes.
The Iranian gift will be placed in the Russian city of Sochi's zoo.
Russia plans to start dispersing the cats on the northern flanks of
the Caucasus ridge, hoping that the leopards will spread throughout
the Caucasus area. Russia, in turn, is helping Iran restore the
population of tigers in its northern province of Mazandaran.
From: A. Papazian