The word used in Russian for snow leopard, irbis, entered the language in the 17th century through Russian fur traders, who first learnt it from Turkic hunters

The habitat range of the snow leopard spans across parts of 13 countries

In the Russian Empire, the snow leopard was ruthlessly hunted for its fur

In the Red Book of the USSR, its first edition published in 1978, the snow leopard was classified as 3rd-category, meaning a rare species with a limited habitat

The most densely populated protected snow leopard habitat in Russia is currently the Sayano-Shushensky State Nature Reserve

Due to the snow leopard’s remote habitat and sparse population, there has been limited research into critical aspects of the animal’s life

In the 2001 release of the Red Book of Russia (Animals), the species was uplisted to the 1st category, which means it faces a risk of extinction

Тhe Snow Leopard Programme research initiative aims to give efforts to preserve the rare species a firm basis in science