On 23 October, Snow Leopard Day, encouraging news arrived: after years of systematic protection, the population of these rare cats in China has doubled — from roughly 2500 to about 5000 individuals. The country now has the world's largest snow leopard grouping and the most extensive habitats — more than 2 million square kilometres, which makes up over 60 % of the global area.
The snow leopard, or irbis, lives in the high mountains of eight provinces and autonomous regions — from Xinjiang and Tibet to Yunnan and Inner Mongolia. It serves as an indicator of the health of alpine ecosystems: where there are stable leopard populations, the chain of "predator — ungulates — vegetation" is also in good order. Since 2013, the authorities have strengthened protection: they restored pastures, brought back the numbers of the main prey — blue sheep, markhor and argali — and in key areas created two national parks and 78 specially protected territories.
The success is especially noticeable in the Helan Mountains, where the leopard had previously disappeared. Here the country's first reintroduction project was launched: healthy animals were selected, trained to live in the wild and released. By 2026, cases of natural mating and the birth of cubs in the wild had already been recorded — a full recovery cycle that had previously been achieved nowhere in the world.
Besides nature reserves, modern monitoring methods played an important role — infrared cameras, satellite collars and DNA analysis from excrement. At the same time, local residents are involved in patrolling and receive compensation for damage caused by wild animals. This approach turns protection from a prohibitive measure into a shared interest of people and nature.
The results show that targeted actions can restore balance even in harsh high-mountain conditions. The next step is to strengthen habitat connectivity and reduce human–leopard conflicts so that population growth becomes sustainable.
