Snow leopard and cubs caught on camera in Lhasa

Researchers have recently retrieved video footage for the first time showing a mother snow leopard and two cubs in a mountainous area of Lhasa, Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region.

The video footage shows an adult leopard marking territory on a ridge and two cubs jumping into the screen one by one.

In late December, the infrared camera captured video at an important habitat for snow leopards at Nainang valley in Doilungdeqen district, some 50 kilometers from downtown Lhasa, according to the Nainang ecological protection center.

"As a species of independent activities, snow leopards only appear in groups during mating season or when breeding their cubs," said Zhang Xiang, an expert from Shan Shui Conservation Center, a Chinese NGO found in 2007 dedicated to species and ecosystem conservation.

The video footage shows the mother leopard and her two cubs, Zhao said. Snow leopards usually mate from January to mid March, and give birth in June and July. The two cubs in the video were about six months old.

Infrared camera surveillance was carried out at Nainang valley from 2021, and the first footage of snow leopards was recorded on March 10, 2022. So far, researchers have identified that at least 7 snow leopards live in the area.

Snow leopards are under China's highest national-level protection and are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They can be spotted in alpine areas in China's southwestern, northwestern and northern regions, including Tibet, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Gansu and Inner Mongolia.