An exhibition of snow leopard photos, The Snow Leopard: Russia’s Living Symbol, has opened at the museum and exhibition centre of the Krasnoyarsk Territory's Yermakovsky district. Employees of the Sayano-Shushensky Nature Reserve are running an educational programme for visitors on specially protected natural areas, the wildlife of Sayano-Shushensky, and the life and habits of the exhibition’s focal point – the snow leopard.

Yermakovsky district is a fitting location for the exhibition, as it is home to the sole snow leopard habitat on the vast expanses of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Most of the Sayano-Shushensky reserve, nearly three-thirds, lies in the district, with the rest extending into adjacent Shushensky district. The official emblems of both places feature the snow leopard as a symbol of the bounty and generosity of nature.

Seven years ago, the first ever images of wild snow leopards in Russia were obtained with the help of trail cameras installed in the Sayano-Shushensky reserve. The cameras have enabled researchers to study the behaviour of the rare wild cats and compile files on each snow leopard registered in the reserve.

Aside from the photographs, the exhibition offers souvenir prints from the Sayano-Shushensky reserve as well as from the works featured in the My Snow Leopard international wildlife festival. This year will see the third My Snow Leopard festival, which was founded by the Sayano-Shushensky and Khakassky nature reserves in cooperation with the Russian Geographical Society.

The Snow Leopard: Russia’s Living Symbol exhibition will run through the middle of April, and then travel to Krasnoyarsk as part of the Yenisei-2015 international tourism fair.