Specialists of the Khakass branch of the Russian Geographical Society have been exploring the habitats of the snow leopard for almost a month, collecting unique materials from automatic photo recorders, the press service of the protected area reports.
«The materials received from photo recorders confirm that, as previously reported, six snow leopards live on the territory of the Sayano-Shushensky Reserve: two grown-up kittens born in 2020, a female brought from Tajikistan and three adult males. All animals were filmed with cameras and subsequently identified by the pattern of spots and rosettes,» the experts say.
The Sayano-Shushensky Nature Reserve is the northern border of the Russian and world range of the snow leopard, which determines the need for systematic monitoring of the group and the implementation of programs aimed at supporting it, as well as contributing to the development of the focus.
The snow leopard (irbis) is a rare animal that is endangered and listed in the Red Books of all ranks. To date, according to experts, the number of snow leopards in Russia does not exceed 90 individuals. This species is one of the priority species of the federal project "Biodiversity Conservation and Development of Ecotourism" of the National Project "Ecology" of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation.