The Qilian Mountain National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province is home to a greater variety of wild animals thanks to persistent environmental protection efforts by local governments.

Infrared footage of various wild animals including snow leopards, brown bears and white-lipped deer is proof that these endangered species are thriving in the vast mountain range in northwest China.

In video clips taken from 2017 to 2019, snow leopards, a highly endangered big cat, were seen gamboling around and roaming about in the highland of the nature reserve. While other animals like brown bears, wolves and wild yaks also showed up from time to time.

"The appearance of snow leopard is most persuasive. Snow leopard is a representative species in our national park. Through investigations in recent years, we find their distribution is expanding continuously, with its number also increasing. Our investigation also shows that some animals that were almost extinct before have unexpectedly reappeared in the natural reserve, which are taken by infrared cameras," said Pei Wen, secretary of the Party Committee of Qilian Mountain National Park Administration in Gansu Province.

The Qilian Mountain National Park, which covers an area of more than 50,000 square kilometers, extends to northwest China's Gansu and Qinghai Provinces.

In late 2015, the authorities launched an ecological restoration campaign across the reserve plagued by decades of logging, mining, the building of factories and tourism. Four years of protection efforts have paid off.

(Editor: Zhao Ying)

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