Cameras take 1st shots of wild snow leopards at Mt Qomolangma reserve   

西藏珠峰自然保护区首次拍到野外雪豹

Lhasa (CNS) – Cameras set up at the Mount Qomolangma Nature Reserve in Tibet have captured images of wild snow leopards for the first time.

Snow leopards are rarer than giant pandas in China, and are under national protection. They usually live at altitudes of 3,000 to 50,000 meters.

A conservation center at the reserve said the leopards were captured 27 times by 44 cameras from May 31 to September 23.

Further study and individual identification of the leopards in the images will be conducted, said director Gao Yufang, who added that the next phase of research will be to study species population, distribution and habitat.

The conservation center was established in May this year. It is intended to survey the population and habitat of snow leopards, as well as other rare animals in the region.