Today's Edition
KUNMING (WAM)
Infrared cameras have captured images of snow leopards in two different locations in southwest China's Yunnan Province for the first time, confirming the presence of this endangered species in the province, Xinhua News Agency quoted authorities as saying on Saturday.
Two snow leopards were spotted at altitudes of 4,500 metres within the city of Shangri-La and 4,800 metres in a township in Deqen County, respectively.
Due to the high-altitude distribution of snow leopards and the lack of systematic surveys, the species had not been photographed in the wild in Yunnan for many years, leading to uncertainty about their presence in the province, said Jiang Xuelong, a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"The recent sightings in the northwestern part of Yunnan not only confirm the species' presence in the province but also represent one of the southernmost distribution records within China," said Jiang.
Known as the "king of the snow mountains," the snow leopard is under first-class national protection in China and is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
