Farmers persuaded to release snow leopard

Source: Xinhua | March 19, 2009, Thursday |

Print Edition

FARMERS in Tibet captured a snow leopard at the northern foot of Mount Everest (Qomolangma in Tibetan), the local forestry department said yesterday.

The leopard was spotted near Cangmujian Village, Rongxia Township in Tingri, a county in southern Tibet, early this month, the Tingri County Forestry Department said.

According to villagers, it was an adult about 120 centimeters long and 50cm tall, and it had a 120cm tail. The sex of the animal is unknown.

Villagers trapped the animal in a cave after it killed a cow, said the forestry department. The department and the Mount Qomolangma administration sent workers to investigate. They persuaded the villagers to free the leopard.

Snow leopards live in mountains and plateaux across China, Afghanistan, India and Nepal. The number of surviving animals is estimated at 3,500, more than half of which live in the remote high mountains of Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan in China, said the International Snow Leopard Trust.

The animal is rarely seen in the wild.

The last capture of a snow leopard, a female, was in 2007 in Qijia Village in Gonghe County, Tibet Autonomous Prefecture of Hainan in Qinghai Province.

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Farmers persuaded to release snow leopard

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