A new project for restoring leopard populations in Russia was sent for approval to the Natural Resources and Ecology Ministry, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said.

The first leopard conservation strategy to prevent the full extinction of leopards was established in 1998.

"The current project is a long-term program of coordinated actions of various agencies and organizations to restore a sustainable population [of leopards]," the WWF said. "The draft strategy was sent for approval to the Russian Natural Resources and Ecology Ministry."

The Amur leopard, also known as the Manchurian, or Far Eastern leopard, is one of the rarest large cats in the world. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has included the Amur leopard in its list of critically endangered animals in the Red Book.