Members of the Regional Foundation for Snow Leopard and Rare Mountain Species Conservation have conducted a field expedition to Tunkinsky National Park to examine images of two snow leopards captured by trail cameras in the park. It has been suggested that the two animals are a female and her grown cub who had been spotted last year in the Republic of Buryatiya. The researchers are now trying to determine the leopards’ identifiable features.

Previously, one animal at a time was spotted in the ‘snow leopard republic.’ In 2016, a trail camera produced images of a snow leopard from the Kitoy Range on the border between Buryatiya and the Irkutsk Region. In 2015, snow leopards were captured by camera traps on the mountain of Munku-Sardyk and in Tunkinsky National Park. Through monitoring the area it was found that eight snow leopards currently populate the republic.