Rangers at the Sayano-Shushensky Biosphere Reserve have had success in filming a snow leopard. The rare footage was obtained by the inspectors on duty at the southern border of the reserve.

“We were in the house, and through the window, Yury saw an animal on the opposite bank, and he thought it was a wolf. I took my binoculars to get a better look, and it was a snow leopard! We immediately turned on the camera and started filming. The animal was moving so gracefully and unhurriedly along the steep slope. We watched it for about ten minutes,” said Natalya Litenkova, an employee at the reserve.

The snow leopard is a secretive animal, active at dusk, with a camouflage colour, so it is extremely difficult to see this predator in its natural habitat.

“After reserve employees found some snow leopard footprints in the area, snow leopards were spotted there only seven times over twenty years. It is a great piece of luck to see the mysterious and secretive snow leopard and even capture it on video in the daytime,” the reserve press office noted.