Swedish researchers have
discovered a den of wild snow leopards in the Mongolian mountains, marking the
first time young cubs have been found in their natural habitat.

The discovery was made on the
Tost Mountain Range in Mongolia and gives rare and valuable knowledge which is
hoped will increase the chances of preserving the endangered cat species.

“No one has found and documented
the snow leopard cubs in their own dens before, even though it’s been attempted
since 1982,” said researchers and project leader Orjan Johansson to the TT news
agency.

Johansson and his research team
found the cubs on June 21^st in mountainous terrain that was almost inaccessible.

Since 2008, they have succeeded
in tagging 19 snow leopards in Mongolia with GPS trackers, helping the team in
following the leopards to their dens.

Very little is known about snow
leopards and their life in the wild, but Johansson explains that the new find
is already proving fruitful.

“The information is rolling in:
what they eat, how often they kill, their territorial habits, how and when they
branch out, and more about their social systems. Such information is needed to
understand the species and to know what has to be done to save it,” he said.

The next step is to set up 10-15
motion-activated cameras in the mother’s living area to monitor the family,
with the hope of revealing when the cubs leave.

The snow leopard, also known as
Panthera uncial or Uncia is native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia. They
have an estimated wild population of 4-7,000 and 600-700 can be found in zoos
around the world.