Camera Trap Captures Stunning Photos Of Rare Tibetan Snow Leopard

By Stephen Messenger

25 September 2014

 

 

 

Camera traps placed high in the Himalaya mountains have captured some stunning images of one of the rarest, most elusive cats on the planet — a critically endangered Tibetan snow leopard.

Researchers based in Mount Qomolangma National Nature Reserve, where Mount Everest is located, say that this is the first time the species has been caught on film there. The South China Morning Post reports that since monitoring began earlier this year, cameras have collected 27 photos of the cats, and the team is now working to identify individual leopards to better understand their population and distribution.

(China News Service)

The photographic evidence of a snow leopard in the remote region comes as welcome news at a time when the species has been pushed to the brink by human activity. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, as few as 4,080 of the leopards are still in existence globally — their numbers plummeted by 20 percent in recent decades due to habitat loss and poaching.

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