Cubs in a bush shed new light on leopards
Print Edition
SNOW leopard cubs have been spotted in bushes in the headwater region of the Yangtze, China’s longest river.
The two cubs were found by Tibetan Tsering Gyatso at a den on a mountain in Chidu County in northwest China’s Qinghai Province.
He reported his find to local officials and scientists quickly made their way to the site. They said the cubs were about 2 weeks old and in good health, according to Rinchen Nyima, deputy director of the county’s cultural affairs bureau.
The cubs were found in bushes rather than in their traditional habitat on bare rocks high up in the mountains.
The find, which may indicate that the snow leopard population is increasing or that their habitat has expanded, will help researchers learn about their living habits in bushes and forests, said Xiao Lingyun of the Peking University Center for Nature and Society.
Rinchen Nyima said the mother leopard went back to the den to feed the cubs on Saturday morning.
Snow leopards are a Class A protected animal in China and are classified as “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They live at altitudes of up to 4,500 meters and have been spotted in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan and Xinjiang.
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