Aeroflot Group and Autonomous non-profitable organization «Far Eastern Leopards» has finished the transportation procedure of the injured leopard accompanied by the best veterinarians from Vladivostok to Moscow. Upon arrival of Rossiya Airlines’ aircraft at Sheremetyevo, the predator was met be the representatives of the Moscow Zoo to accompany it for the surgery at the specialized veterinary clinic.

On February 19, the liner of Rossiya Airlines, which was operating a regular passenger flight, accepted an unusual passenger – leopard. The liner landed at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport according to the schedule, the predator successfully went through the long flight.
The young male of the rarest act in the world under the number Leo 131M was caught by caught by hunting surveillance at the borders of the Leopard Land national park on March 3, 2019. In a bad condition, it was taken to the Center for the Rehabilitation of Tigers and Other Rare Animals (PRNCO «Center «Tiger»). The predator was injured due to a car crash. After the long treatment, veterinarians successfully save the animal’s life and almost completely restored its health. In autumn 2019, the Head of Rosprirodnadzor Svetlana Radionova, who named the animal Elbrus, in honor of the highest mountain peak in Russia and Europe, became the keeper of the leopard.

The leopard successfully completed a rehabilitation course to return to the wild nature: it retained the indomitable personality of the wild animal, safely hunted rabbits and deer. However, specialists noticed that the saved predator has lameness caused by the left back paw muscle atrophy. Due to a severe injury to the scapula, a benign tumor, which, just like a paw injury, can significantly complicate the life of a predator in the wild, developed on its back.

In this regard, it was decided to transport Leo 131M leopard to Moscow, where, with the assistance of specialists from the Center for Breeding of Rare Species of the Moscow Zoo, a tumor removal surgery will be performed and treatment will continue in a specialized veterinary clinic.

ANO «Far Eastern Leopards» appealed to Aeroflot Group with a request for help in transporting the animal to the capital for the surgery. It was decided to carry out this complex transportation free of charge on board of Rossiya’s aircraft, operating the flight from Vladivostok to Moscow.

Upon arrival to Moscow, specialists from the «Far Eastern Leopards» and the Moscow Zoo were waiting for the predator to be escorted to a specialized veterinary clinic to conduct a tumor removal surgery and continue treatment.
Rossiya Airlines, a member of Aeroflot Group, pays increased attention to environmental initiatives. Wild cats were repeatedly transported on aircrafts of Rossiya as a part of the Red Book animals rescue programme. In December last year, the ANO «Amur Tiger Center» presented Rossiya an award for its contribution to the conservation of Amur tigers, noting that the airline is a long-standing and reliable partner of the Center.

To attract public attention to the protection of rare species of animals in 2017, the image of a leopard's face was applied to the fuselage of one of Rossiya Airlines’ aircraft. Since then, «Leolet» has made over a thousand flights and traveled to Sochi, Simferopol, Krasnoyarsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Khabarovsk, Magadan, Saint-Petersburg, Antalya, Larnaca and many other places. Each appearance of this colorful airplane in the sky is a reminder that we are not alone and only together we can help to protect graceful predators.