The Khakassky Nature Reserve has received information that several residents of the town of Abaz have spotted a snow leopard. According to eyewitness reports, a leopard was running across a road near the village of Bolshoi On not far from the Pozarym Nature Sanctuary. The paw prints found in the area suggest that Pozarym is a key migration corridor for snow leopards.

“Theoretically, snow leopards may indeed pass here. At certain stages in their life, the animals migrate, for example, in search of partners. In that case, they cover long distances, moving from one area to another,” said Inna Isayeva, a senior researcher at the Khakassky Nature Reserve.

To see a snow leopard in the wild in Khakassia is rare luck. Every year, specialists organise a search for snow leopard habitats in the Pozarym Nature Sanctuary and the Khakassky Nature Reserve, in the highland and above the tree line. Given the fact that the snow leopard was seen in the lowland, the search routes will be adjusted.