Snow leopards, China's protected and endangered species, were spotted for the first time in Tibet, authorities said today.
Twenty infrared cameras installed at a 100 square kilometres area in the Nujiang River valley in eastern parts of Tibet captured the footage of the cats several times since November, according to local authorities.
Snow leopards, Class A protected animals in China, are classified as "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
They live in the Himalayas in central and south Asia at an altitude of 2,500 to 4,500 metres, with 60 per cent of the population in China.
"We have captured images of baby leopards with their mother, which indicates a certain quantity of the rare species live in the region," head of the Shan Shui Conservation Center Zhao Xiang was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Local official said their appearance in the populous region in eastern Tibet showed that efforts to protect the local ecosystem and biological diversity were successful.
A number of highland species, including red fox, white- lipped deer, Chinese serow and alpine musk deer were also spotted in the region.
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