For the first time in the last six years, researchers managed to capture a photo of snow leopard cubs, a rare species that is on the verge of extinction. The unique pictures were taken in Mongolia, informs New Scientist.
The expeditions in June and July 2025 were organized by a team from the Snow Leopard Trust. They oriented themselves with the help of GPS-collars, which were previously installed on twenty adult female leopards. However, despite technical support, scientists had to manually survey an area of up to 60,000 square meters in search of a den with babies.
“The dens are in narrow crevices or caves. We only had one chance. If the cubs’ mother had returned before we found the den, we would have had to call it quits.” – explained researcher Oryan Johansson.
In the first six months of life, cubs do not leave the den and stay close to their mother. It is this period that is the least studied, so researchers strive to better document it.
“By visiting dens, researchers can gather data that would otherwise be impossible to obtain. All this information improves our understanding of snow leopard ecology and helps us make informed conservation decisions.”, the scientists noted.
Snow leopards have been officially classified as an endangered species since 1972. The main reasons for this are poaching and the gradual reduction of the natural habitat.
According to estimates by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are currently 3,920 to 6,390 individuals left in the wild. Snow leopards live in the mountainous regions of Central Asia in an area of more than 2 million square kilometers, which covers 12 countries, including China, India and Kyrgyzstan.
Photo: newscientist.com
