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In St. Petersburg Russia, a rare leopard cat was stolen several weeks ago during car jacking.  The cat, an Asian Leopard Cat belongs to one, Mikhail Barakin who is the television producer for a local private television station. 

According to Barakin, ‘My driver and I were in the process of settling the leopard in the trunk of my Mercedes... when three masked assailants attacked us. They managed to get away with the car… I am worried about the leopard. I don't need the Mercedes. If someone returns the animal, I won't press charges.’

In fact Barakin is offering a reward of 70,000 euros, which translates to roughly 90,000 US dollars for the safe return of his exotic pet.  He says that the cat is actually worth more to him than the Mercedes SUV.  He claims he won’t press charges if the cat is returned.

The cat was a gift to Barakin from a Moscow Businessman that he has dealings with, but he is unable to state where the rare exotic cat came from.  It is extremely rare and very valuable.  It’s estimated that the leopard cat is worth around 270,000 euros or 350,000 US dollars.  

The rare cat is one of the world’s most highly endangered species of cat.  There are fewer than 45 of them left in the wilds of Eastern Russia.  About 300 captive leopard cats exist in zoos around the world.

Barakin further stated, ‘She's a female leopard cub and she's incredibly tame…She's just over a month old. The leopard was brought up in captivity…We had been driving all night with the leopard in a travel cage. The plan was to take her to the vet. The driver was fiddling with the cage when two men jumped into the vehicle and threw us out. My suspicion is the theft was done to order.’

The Asian Leopard Cat is about as big as your average house cat.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/29/russia-leopard-st-petersburg-theft