New leopard recorded in Armenia’s Gndasar, named Aghasy after the area’s caretaker
Camera traps photographed the leopard on 9 and 13 October. According to WWF-Armenia, it is the second leopard recorded in the area since 2025.
On 9 and 13 October 2026, camera traps in the Gndasar Community Conserved Area, in the village of Zangakatun, Armenia, photographed a new leopard. According to WWF-Armenia, the animal was named Aghasy after the area’s caretaker, who has worked there since it was set up in 2018. Armenpress and Public Radio of Armenia reported the news on 20 October.
What was recorded
Camera traps photographed the leopard twice, on 9 and 13 October. The cameras stand in the Gndasar Community Conserved Area, in the village of Zangakatun, Armenia. According to WWF-Armenia, it is the second leopard recorded in the area since 2025. The sources give no details about the first one.
The organisation calls the leopard “new”. The reports do not say how it was established that this is a previously unknown individual. Neither source gives the animal’s sex.
Named after the caretaker
The leopard was named Aghasy. That is the name of the area’s caretaker, whose camera traps photographed the animal. Aghasy has been involved in protecting the area since it was set up in 2018. WWF-Armenia points to his long-standing work as an example of local effort.
The name also carries the main point of the story. The organisation treats the new record as a sign that community-based conservation works and stresses the role of local people in protecting biodiversity.
Bezoar goats and brown bears
According to Armenpress, the number of bezoar goats in the area has doubled. The WWF-Armenia press release adds that the number of brown bears has also doubled since the area was set up. The short Public Radio report mentions neither figure.
The sources give no absolute numbers and no counting method. For the bezoar goats, they do not say over what period the number doubled. Bezoar goat is a known leopard prey in the Caucasus, but the sources do not link the two stories as cause and effect.
What Gndasar is
Gndasar is a community conserved area: a place where the local community takes a direct part in protecting nature. It was set up in 2018 under the Eco-Corridor Fund for the Caucasus (ECF) programme. WWF-Armenia runs the programme together with Armenia’s Ministry of the Environment. Funding comes from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through KfW Development Bank.
WWF-Armenia drew attention to the fact that the news comes out during COP17, the conference of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, hosted by Yerevan. In the organisation’s words, international biodiversity goals are also met at the local level, through community involvement and long-term work.
Leopards on both sides of the border
Armenia’s leopards are not a distant story for Georgia. Aren, a three-legged leopard known in Armenia since 2019, was recorded in Algeti National Park in September 2025. The sources do not link Aghasy to Aren or to any other known individual.
Both countries are home to the Persian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana). The IUCN assessed this subspecies as Endangered in 2023. In Georgia the leopard is a rare wanderer; the species profile has more: Caucasian leopard. Georgia’s other mammals are gathered on a separate atlas page.
What we know and what we don’t
Confirmed: according to WWF-Armenia, camera traps in Gndasar photographed a leopard on 9 and 13 October, it is the second leopard recorded there since 2025, and it was named Aghasy after the caretaker. Both sources this article relies on quote the WWF-Armenia press release.
Not established: the animal’s sex and age; how it was told apart from other leopards; what is known about the first leopard; the exact numbers of bezoar goats and bears.
