‘Recently, after liberation of the territories, soldiers were the first to observe leopards. Following this, regular tracking and monitoring conducted by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, IDEA Public Union, and WWF resulted in high-quality photos and videos of leopards in the Kalbajar district,’ said Director of the Azerbaijan office of the World Wide Fund (WWF) Elshad Asgarov at a press conference held at the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources themed “Leopard Population in Azerbaijan: Efforts in Biodiversity Restoration and Ecotourism Development.”

“The presence of fertile conditions for the restoration and development of biological diversity in our country made us confident that leopards would be found in the Karabakh region and in Kalbajar, and this was confirmed as a result of our monitoring,” Asgarov noted.

According to Elshad Asgarov, the Zangezur and Talish mountains are the main areas where leopards are found in Azerbaijan. ‘The observation of leopards in Karabakh,
in the direction of Kalbajar, as well as their appearance in the gray mountains around Lake Mingachevir in the Greater Caucasus, is the result of the purposeful activity of the government of Azerbaijan, including the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, in restoring the leopard population, protecting it, and expanding its range,’ he added.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency