The National Museum of Natural History and the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Republic of Bulgaria presented the photography exhibition "An Expedition in Azerbaijan: Following the Caucasian Leopard" on February 11^th.

The grand opening took place in the presence of H. E. Mrs. Nargiz Gurbanova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Bulgaria, Acad. Julian Revalski - chairman of the BAS (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences), Prof. Nikolay Spasov - director of the National Museum of Natural History, ambassadors, diplomats, journalists and guests.

The photographic exhibition is a result of an expedition of scientists from the National Museum of Natural History in Azerbaijan in 2018 under the guidance of Prof. Nikolay Spasov. Within the exhibition they tell about their observations, research and experiences in this interesting country.

E. Mrs. Nargiz Gurbanova emphasized the profound importance of the expedition for the research of rare and endangered species: leopard and striped hyena, as well as for the collection of evidence about the last tigers inhabiting those territories presumably until the 1980’s. She pointed out that Azerbaijan has 9 out of 11 world climatic regions and, due to its diverse natural conditions, has a fauna of 10-12 thousand species. 223 of them, including the leopard, are included in the Red Book of Azerbaijan.

Nikolay Spasov also shared impressions from the expedition, highlighting the fact that the team, with the help of a photo-trap, had managed to take two pictures of a Caucasian Leopard- something extremely rare. He also noted that the contribution of the Bulgarian scientists will be important for the tracing of the migration path of the rare species.

The photographic exhibition can be seen in the National Museum of Natural History until March 15.

Photos: "Diplomatic Spectrum" and NMNH

Up, left to right:  Acad. Julian Revalski, H. E. Mrs. Nargiz Gurbanova and Prof. Nikolay Spasov