Rare! Four Snow Leopards Spotted Together
A female snow leopard accompanied by three cubs moved slowly, appearing as a happy and prosperous family. This ‘melted into cuteness’ moment occurred in the Aksai area of Gansu Province. On February 28th, staff from the forestry ecological work station of Aksai County's Natural Resources Bureau recovered infrared cameras set up in cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) China Programme. One of the cameras captured a precious image of four snow leopards together, which was the first time this has been recorded in the area.
The video clearly shows a female snow leopard accompanied by three cubs during nighttime activity. Experts estimated their age to be less than half a year based on the cubs' size. According to snow leopard behavior, cubs usually follow their mothers to learn necessary survival skills, and young snow leopards will leave their mothers to start independent lives within 19-22 months.
‘The key location where the infrared camera photos were taken is outside the protected area and national park, and it captured four snow leopards together, which is very rare. In other infrared cameras recovered during the same period, we also discovered a large number of (leixing -, Eurasian Lynx), wolves, red foxes, and plateau sheep ( - pandyang - Plateau Sheep), demonstrating the high conservation value of this area.’
WWF Beijing Programme Director Zhang Changzhi believes that this video reflects the high conservation value of the Aksai area. He interpreted it as:
‘We can clearly feel that the ecological environment in Aksai is constantly improving, and the populations of wild animals are increasing year by year.’
Aksai County’s Forestry Ecological Work Station Forestry Engineer Li Zhihong believes that the frequent activity of wild animals in Aksai is also related to the Aksai County’s increased ecological protection efforts in recent years. He introduced that they have carried out (jinmu xi mu - rotational grazing and rest), grassland subsidies and prizes, and strictly implemented the Qilian Mountains National Park management system, significantly increasing the ecological environment governance and wildlife protection efforts.
‘The monitoring of a mother with three cubs snow leopards indicates that there are reproductive snow leopard populations in this area, which shows that the snow leopard populations of the Qilian Mountains and Altai Mountains are likely connected. Our work here is beneficial for the long-term health of snow leopards in both areas, and also helps protect the biodiversity of the region.’
The cooperation between WWF China Programme and Aksai County’s Forestry Ecological Management Office began in 2018. Aksai area is located at the terminal of Qilian Mountains, connected to Altai Mountains, which is an important corridor for Qilian Mountains snow leopards and Altai Mountains snow leopards. Regarding the selection of the monitoring area, WWF Southwest Regional Director and Head of Giant Panda and Snow Leopard Project, Xu Qiang said, ‘The distribution range of snow leopards is extremely wide, and the biggest challenge in conservation at present is a lack of basic data, which makes it difficult to formulate targeted protection strategies.’
