The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mongolia Programme Office is to implement a project on protecting snow leopards in the country’s westernmost province.

According to the environmental and tourism authority of Bayan-Ulgii province, the five-year project will be implemented from the beginning of next month.

Under the project, the WWF experts in cooperation with its provincial office will attempt to protect the snow leopards’ range and species of prey animals, conduct a relevant population census, and implement measures to better manage the animal’s hunting area and proper pasture land.

According to the last survey, conducted in 2000, there are between 500-1,000 snow leopards in Mongolia,.