In recent days, researchers at the Helan Mountains National Nature Reserve in northwest China have, for the first time, captured precious footage of a snow leopard mother and her one-year-old cub together. This is a major breakthrough for the Helan Mountains snow leopard reintroduction project.

In the footage, a snow leopard mother walks calmly as her one-year-old cub bounces along behind her and even licks the camera lens, looking adorable. The mother was released in 2024, and the cub was born in 2025. Having lived with its mother for a full year, the cub has reached the standard to be counted as successful wild breeding. This marks a breakthrough for China in natural wild reproduction of snow leopards after their reintroduction, ushering the Helan Mountains population into a new phase of self-sustaining reproduction. The snow leopard is a first-class nationally protected species of China that vanished from the Helan Mountains nearly 70 years ago. In 2021, the country launched a reintroduction project and has since introduced eight snow leopards – the parents of this cub among them.