Two Persian leopard cubs were born for the first time in Russia in 50 years.
The cubs were born thanks to an effort to rejuvenate the dying species, a Sochi 2014 Environmental program press release via PRweb reported.
"We are committed to staging Games in accordance with environmental and sustainable development principles and determined to protect endangered species such as the Persian leopard," President of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko said in the statement.
The rare cubs were born to parents, Zadig and Andrea, from the Persian Leopard Breeding and Rehabilitation Center.
The cubs will stay with their mother until they have adapted to the wild, and then will be released onto the Caucasian State Nature Biosphere Reserve.
Animal experts will continue to keep an eye on the leopard's well being throughout the years.
The cubs will not open their eyes for seven to nine days, and stay tucked away in their den for at least two months, UPI.com reported.
"It is too early to tell the sex of the cubs," Umar Semyonov, head of the breeding center, said. "They're in the den with their mother and center staff don't want to disturb them."
The program aims to create a stable Persian leopard population in Russia within about 10 or 15 years, the press release reported.
The Persian leopard is on the endangered Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
There are currently less than 1,290 of the leopards left in "Iran, eastern Turkey, the Caucasus Mountains, southern Turkmenistan and parts of western Afghanistan," UPI.com reported.
The Persian leopard is the largest subspecies of the cat, according to Arkive.
They "typically, they have short legs and a powerful stocky frame, uniquely patterned with black rosettes on the back, flanks, shoulders and haunches and black spots and blotches on the head, throat, chest and belly."
