Animal protection authorities in northwest China's Gansu Province started a survey in October on snow leopards in Yanchiwan Nature Reserve in Qilianshan National Park, in a bid to grasp the latest population and range of the species, so as to make protection strategies. The snow leopard is a rare species under first-class state protection in China, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies it as vulnerable. It is estimated that about 2,000 snow leopards live in China.