Land of the Leopard

The Russian government has created a new national park. It opened on April 9th in the Russian Far East and it's 1,011 square miles will be a safe place for critically endangered Amur (Siberian) tigers and the Far Eastern Leopard, which is the worlds rarest big cat (there are only approx. thirty surviving today). The park was created through the merger of three existing protected areas and the addition of some previously unprotected land along the Chinese border and in the northeast portion of the leopards range.

This park is one of 13 new national parks and 9 new national reserves to be opened in Russia!! That will mean that 3% of Russia's landmass will be protected. Some of you might be thinking 3% isn't that much, but keep in mind that Russia is HUGE. 3% of Russia's lanndmass is 197,784 square miles, for all of you Americans who read my blog- that's approx. the size of Texas. 

WAY TO GO RUSSIA!!! 

On a completely unrelated note: My personal life is very busy right now, so I apologize in advance if it takes a few weeks for me to post anything new to my blog.