A snow leopard family has been caught on camera in Sayano-Shushensky Biosphere Reserve. Born 12 months ago, the cubs are now almost as big as their mother. However, they are still acting in a rather childish way, eagerly studying the world around them and romping about as the cameras capture footage of them.

The secretive snow leopards are mostly active at dusk and at night. These cubs decided to wrestle with one another in the pre-dawn hours, with the trail cameras filming their antics. The little ones are mastering the skills of adult life, while watching their mother and exploring the reserve and acting more independent.

“We have been using trail camera footage to track snow leopards for over ten years now. This material helped us compile certificates for all the snow leopards, spotted in the reserve over the years. We are now drawing up certificates for the cubs born in 2020, but we have so far failed to identify their gender,” senior research associate Roman Afanaysev noted.

Snow leopard research and the efforts being made to try and restore their population are crucial. In 2019, a female snow leopard was relocated to the reserve from the Republic of Tajikistan under the Snow Leopard, A Living Symbol of the Western Sayan Mountains programme. The female eventually gave birth to several cubs, an important event that will help expand the rare cat’s northernmost population in Russia.