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Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin listens - Source: Reuters
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin released two leopards into
the wild in a bid to revive the fortunes of the rare cats in the
Caucasus and soothe ecological worries over 2014 Sochi Games.
Caucasian or Persian leopards disappeared from the Caucasus in the
1920s due to excessive hunting.
Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sent two male leopards caught in Turkmenistan by plane to Sochi.
Female leopards are to follow.
"We are standing here and admiring your animals. Glorious animals,
very beautiful," Putin, surrounded by International Olympic
Committee members, told Berdymukhamedov by telephone as he stood by
the cage in the Sochi national park.
Russia won the right to host 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and
major construction works are about to begin.
Critics say huge construction projects may harm the
environment.
They question the need for spending billions of dollars on the
games during a financial crisis and say they do not believe all the
infrastructure would be ready by 2014.
"I think Russia is on its way to organising an exceptional Olympic
Games," French Alpine skiing legend and IOC member Jean-Claude
Killy told reporters.
Russia's most popular politician, Putin, enjoys a tough guy image,
being photographed riding bare-chested on horse back, fishing in
Siberia or saving tigers in Russia's Far East.
On Saturday, Putin stared in silence at one of the leopards, which
initially refused to abandon his travelling cage, visibly stressed
after its long journey.
"Good boy," Putin said as the cat snarled at him and jumped out
while guards and reporters pulled back.
"We have found common language, they understand me," said
Putin.
The leopards will gradually move to a larger fenced area of the
park before they are released into the wild.
Scientists plan to bring female leopards at a later stage and hope some 30-50 cats will be living around Sochi in six years.
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