MNA � A Persian leopard will undergo artificial insemination in Tehran Zoological Garden next week, done for the first time in the country.

"We have a Persian leopard that unfortunately has lost one hand in a hunting trap in Golestan province, and the Tehran Zoological Garden has taken care of this very unrivaled leopard since then," Chief vet of Pardisan Rehabilitation Center Dr. Iman Memarian told Mehr News correspondent.

Pointing to European Endangered Species Programmes (EEP), Memarian said it is a population management program by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) to aid in reproduction of endangered species.

"We are a member of Persian leopard project of EEP program, which is very important since it is directly rooted in nature" he noted.

Chief vet of Pardisan Rehabilitation Center added that "we have stored sperm of a male leopard named �Rika� in liquid nitrogen; on the other hand, according to EEP plan last year, we transferred a young persian leopard to Tehran Zoo from Portugal, so that we can use his fresh sperm for artificial insemination, with the help of German specialists."

Memarian emphasized that Tehran Zoo could be considered as a reservoir for the Persian Leopard gene in Iran and in the world; this would also require the cooperation of other organizations and institutions to take advantage of Tehran Zoo's current capacity and absolutely standard palces for Persian leopards, which are not available anywhere else in Iran or even in the region.

The chief vet of Tehran�s Zoological Garden in the capital�s Eram Park also said that this potential exists only in Iran as a Persian leopard stronghold, and this is possible only in Tehran Zoo.

Memarian, in response to the chance of successful artificial insemination of Persian leopard in Tehran, said "there are some examples of successful cases in the world; "we will do our best to make use of our possible facilities and provide the best conditions for this great case to happen."