Sichuan first captures snow leopards in motion

World
Europe

Snapshots of a snow leopard family in motion were disclosed on Sunday during a snow leopard conservation and protection seminar from November 4 to 6. It was the first time that southwest China’s Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province spots snow leopards in a group.

Snapshots provided by Wolong National Nature Reserve

In the images, a mother snow leopard and three cubs of hers are moving on a meadow on highland. The three cubs – all around 3-month-old – are playing around on the grass, awaiting their mom hunting for food.

The rare-spotted images were from five footages captured in June by infrared cameras installed in Weijiagou Valley.

Snapshots provided by Wolong National Nature Reserve

A snow leopard is an arrogant, subtle and mysterious creature that people usually catch them moving solitarily. The cub will leave its mother in 18 months, living on its own ever since.

China possesses 60 percent of snow leopards’ habitat and has the largest population of leopards in the world. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in September lifted the “endangered” label on snow leopard, categorized it a “vulnerable” species based on effective breeding and conservation.

As of 2016, the global population of snow leopards was estimated at 4,500 to 8,745 mature individuals.