This fall was the first time when the ecologists managed to get a 10-second video depicting the Red Book snow leopard in its habitat, at Chikhacheva ridge, Gorny Altai. Earlier the specialists had purchased a calendar where they noted the dates when they saw the animal.

Ecologists observe that the snow leopard is an extremely secretive and cautious predator. For this reason the census of snow leopards is usually made by the marks of their activity and paw prints. In the places where such evidence is most often observed the scientists set the dashboard cameras and trail cameras. Thanks to them, we can determine the number of animals` group with high precision.

Some time ago the Altai Mountains were home for about 80 leopards, and now only 40 animals of this kind live there.