Before he left for Sakhalin, Premier-Minister of RF Vladimir Putin went to Abakan, to the Khakass sanctuary. Under  the aegis of the Premier, there are many programs in protection and study of animals, including the rebirth of leopard population in Sochi and snow leopard in Khakassia and Tyva. He also initiated the allocation of means in the form of grants to the Russian Geographic Society.

Several days ago, a male snow leopard was captured. He was documented by photo-traps several times before; he has been walking around with a poacher's noose around his neck for six months. The scientists found wounds on him, and  treated them for a few days. The head of the government took a look at the animal and listened to the specialists.

The snow leopard was given the name Mongol. The Premier-Minister's press-secretary  Dmitri Peskov reminded, that several days before the ecological organizations started demanding "Freedom for Mongol!", and insisting that they are supposedly making fun of him. "We always treat the opinion of public nature protection organizations with respect, but, after all, in scientific work we are guided by the opinion of our scientists and academicians, who considered it necessary to treat his injuries", he explained.

After the Premier-Minister's departure, Mongol was set free, and now the leopard wears a collar with the GLONASS system. In the nearest weeks, the map of the leopard's movements will show up on Vladimir Putin's site.

As an aside, the head of the government explained the origin of the Sochi symbol - a leopard that also looks a bit like a snow leopard.  "Do not look for a hundred-percent likeness, it is absolutely a composite image, connected with the rebirth and increase of the populations," as Peskov transmitted Putin's words.