Mongolian police have arrested two men involved in killing an endangered snow leopard.

The two suspects were arrested in early February while attempting to sell the skin and frozen meat of the snow leopard at the Emeelt market in the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. The case is under investigation.

Under Mongolian law, a person convicted of poaching and killing endangered wild animals will be fined at least MNT 10 million (3,800 U.S. dollars) or punished by imprisonment of at least two years.

It is difficult to say for certain how many of the elusive snow leopards remain in Mongolia. According to a survey conducted at the turn of the millennium, there were approximately 1,000. Over the last two decades, traditional ecosystems have suffered from climate change and human activity.